Britain’s richest woman and former Miss UK, Kirsty Bertarelli, is set to release a debut pop album.
The former beauty queen, from Stone, Staffordshire, who tops the Birmingham Post Rich List, is releasing an album called Love Is.
Ms Bertarelli’s husband Ernesto ran the family company Serono – the biggest biotechnology company in Europe and a leader in reproductive treatments, as well as drugs for multiple sclerosis.
He sold the company in 2006. He is a yachting enthusiast and owner of the Swiss team which won the America’s Cup twice in succession.
The Bertarellis live on the shores of Lake Geneva, own the largest yacht ever made in Britain and worth £100 million and also own a house in Knightsbridge – a far cry from Ms Bertarelli’s childhood growing up in Stone.
Ms Bertarelli, aged 40, already has links to the music industry. In 2000 she co-wrote the All Saints hit Black Coffee which made number one.
“I feel elation and sometimes pain like everyone else and that’s what I draw on in my songwriting,” she told a national newspaper.
The album, recorded in Nashville, has been likened to the anthemic sound of Oscar-winning singer Adele.
“I’m from Staffordshire and I’ve been very fortunate but I’m the same girl I used to be,” Ms Bertarelli said. “I’ve always been a creative and sensitive person.
“I feel elation and sometimes pain like everyone else and that’s what I draw on in my songwriting.”
