Tamara Ecclestone has ‘no plans to return to UK from Dubai’: F1 heiress, 36, and husband, 39, will continue ‘extended holiday’ after leaving Britain eight months ago following £25m jewellery raid at Kensington mansion
- EXCLUSIVE
- Tamara Ecclestone has no plans to return to London following multi-million pound jewel heist at her home
- Formula One heiress’s husband Jay Rutland says couple have only been in UK once since June
- He admitted concerns over family’s safety following Kensington raid was one reason they had not gone back
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Tamara Ecclestone has no plans to return to London following the dramatic security lapse that led to a multi-million pound jewel heist at her West London home, MailOnline can reveal today.
The Formula One heiress’s husband Jay Rutland has told how the couple have only been back to the UK once since June and admitted concerns over his family’s safety was one reason they had not gone back.
Jurors at a recent trial related to the burglary heard the home was so huge that security staff did not notice the thieves breaking in through the back garden or plundering several rooms of the house during the hour-long raid.
One guard was not on duty at the property in exclusive Kensington because he had gone to Tesco to buy groceries including vegetables for a roast dinner, the court was told.
Tamara Ecclestone with husband Jay Rutland on a beach in Dubai with their daughters Sophia, six, and Serena, four months
Miss Ecclestone and Mr Rutland have been sharing photographs on Instagram of their family of four while living in Dubai
Speaking from Dubai about their plans, 39-year-old businessman Mr Rutland told MailOnline today: ‘We do not intend to return to the UK from Dubai.
‘There are a host of reasons why we are not going back to London any time soon and security is one of them. The truth is we are playing it month by month and watching how the situation develops.’
Mr Rutland denied that he and Miss Ecclestone, 36, had broken travel restrictions as they had not returned to the UK since leaving the country in June 2020.
‘We have not broken the lockdown rules to come Dubai, that is not what we have done,’ he told MailOnline. ‘At the beginning of the outbreak last year we really stuck to the rules.
Mr Rutland and Miss Ecclestone’s daughter Sophia is pictured with their baby Serena (left; also with Miss Ecclestone, right),
Formula One heiress Miss Ecclestone has been posting pictures of her time in Dubai (above, with daughter Sophia)
‘From March to May we locked down and did not leave the house [in London]. We went to Croatia in [June in] the summer, but that was only after the rules changed and everyone was allowed to travel.
‘From there we went to Switzerland and we stayed there until Christmas when we came here to Dubai. There are a host of reasons why are not planning to return to London any time soon.
‘Security is one of them but certainly not the only reason. There is not a strict plan about when we are going to return to the UK or to Switzerland. Switzerland is in lockdown as well.
‘Therefore, my gallery is closed and I can do any work I need to do remotely. We are here on an extended holiday while all this stuff is going on.’
A dramatic security lapse led to a multi-million pound jewel heist at their home in Kensington, West London
Miss Ecclestone has become nervous since their 55-room mansion on this road in Kensington was burgled in December 2019
Earlier this month it was revealed that Miss Ecclestone has become nervous since their 55-room mansion was burgled on December 13, 2019.
Mr Rutland told police that he found it ‘incredibly difficult’ seeing the impact on his wife after burglars made off with £25million in cash and jewellery.
The father-of-two claimed their six-year-old daughter Sophia had asked whether the thieves were ‘coming back’. The couple also have a baby Serena, aged four months.
Miss Ecclestone, the daughter of Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, was on holiday in Lapland with Mr Rutland, Sophia and their dog when their house was raided.