Hicksville II

‘IF you are creating a retreat, does it not suggest that you have something to retreat from?

‘Retreat!’

This should be the first point Hello! hacks address when they meet with Allegra Hicks, who tells of her “labour of love with husband Ashley in creating the perfect retreat”.

“The house is our private place where we come to escape,” explains Allegra, as she shows us round it. “The only people we invite here are very close friends.”

Aw, shucks! She’s embarrassed us by her flattery. But we are friends, dear, dear friends, and that makes us close enough to ask Allegra what she’s retreating from.

And the answer is…her hectic London life.

“When I am in London I work a lot,” explains Allegra. “I’m always back by six to do homework with the children, give them a bath, put them to bed, then we might go out.”

Busy? You betcha. And it seems she’s too busy to feed the little loves, Angelica and Ambrosia, who have surely suffered enough already.

But while others more qualified than we, her friends, look deeper into Allegra’s oversight, she has already taken to her retreat in the Cotswolds.

And she needs to retreat “to keep me living my life instead of having my life lived by me”.

Do you see? With thoughts like that it’s clear that Allegra has not been using her time in retreat lightly.’

Posted: 3rd, June 2004 | In: Media Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink