This Tatler project reminds me a little of the time Madonna landed on the cover of Vogue, in her English Country House glory. I am not saying Rita Ora doesn’t have fancy friends in high places, or a posh life in Primrose Hill, but the pictures and the accompanying assertion that she’s the dazzling star of the social scene feel like a strenuous rebranding. “Even clad in wellies, she looks every bit the chatelaine of a grand Oxfordshire estate,” the story gushes, even as it notes that her plan to take Taika Waititi to “the wilds” of the country involves them staying at a five-star hotel in Somerset. It also asserts her global impact multiple times and lists her as having “starred in the billion-dollar-making Fifty Shades film trilogy.” That is true, in that she occasionally APPEARS in some scenes, but she did not carry that franchise on her back or even really at all. The whole thing is very well-meaning and friendly, but I don’t know why it’s NECESSARY exactly — much like with Madge, it’s overkill, and fits like a shoe you ordered that’s a half-size too big.
