Tamara Ecclestone left living in fear after relative’s kidnapping

Ecclestone said she was "frightened" by the incident at her father’s mother-in-law's house
Rumours: Tamara Ecclestone and Jay Rutland deny marriage difficulty claims
Hello!
Alistair Foster6 February 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Tamara Ecclestone says she “does everything she can” to protect her family after her father’s mother-in-law was kidnapped and held to ransom.

The socialite described Aparecida Schunck’s ordeal last summer as “shocking and disturbing”. Ms Schunck, 67, the mother of former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone’s Brazilian wife Fabiana Flosi, was abducted from her home in Sao Paulo by kidnappers demanding a £28 million ransom. She was held for nine days and freed by police who found her tied up. No ransom was believed to have been paid.

Ms Ecclestone, 32, told Hello! magazine: “It was really stressful. It was something so out of the ordinary, shocking and disturbing. Thank God she was okay. But it was definitely a frightening time. I can’t imagine what my dad’s wife was going through, worrying about what would happen to her mum. Just thinking it could have been any of us was pretty unsettling. We have security and I do everything I can to make sure we’re safe and protected at all times but it’s definitely frightening. It’s fear of the unknown.”

Ms Ecclestone lives with her property developer husband Jay Rutland and their daughter Sophia, who turns three next month. Last year, Mr Rutland, 35, was accused and later cleared of having helped criminal James Tarrant, 66, avoid capture ahead of a 2010 gun and drugs trial. Tarrant fled overseas before being convicted in his absence and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment.

On the cover: Meghan Markle graces the new Hello! 
Hello!

The case led to claims that the couple’s marriage was in trouble. Mr Rutland insisted the rumours were false. He said: “I know the truth and it only bothers you if there’s any truth to it. It’s like water off a duck’s back now and it annoyed me rather than bothered me because I had people ringing me asking if everything was all right. And I’d say, ‘Yes, everything’s fine.’”

Ms Ecclestone said the couple were now looking to expand their family, adding that she had consulted various psychics who told them their second child will be a boy.

She said: “Every psychic I’ve seen said we’re going to have one more and it will be a boy. But I don’t see them any more. Jay doesn’t believe in psychics and mediums. He thinks you shouldn’t live your life around what you think is going to happen.”

Party People - In pictures

1/63

The couple disagreed on when the baby was likely to arrive. Mr Rutland said: “I would have another one tomorrow. In an ideal world I’d like three.”

Ms Ecclestone said: “I can tell you now that three isn’t happening. I do want another child but 2017 isn’t the year. I personally don’t feel ready. My body doesn’t feel ready.”

Follow @StandardEnts or like us on Facebook for more entertainment news.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in