30-year-old Claudia has been a regular
visitor to the Balearic island for two decades.
“My parents built
a house here 20 years
ago and since then my summer and Easter
vacations
have been based on this island,”
she says
As the balmy Majorcan twilight
falls,
flickering candles and soft
lighting transform Claudia’s villa into
a
fairytale palace
Even in a night shirt Claudia remains
every
inch the supermodel. She is
seated in front of a picture of an
elephant
taken by the renowned
wildlife photographer Peter Beard,
who discovered
the Somali-born
supermodel Iman
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CLAUDIA SCHIFFER
INVITES US
INSIDE THE DREAM HOME SHE’S BUILT FOR HERSELF IN MAJORCA
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Claudia Schiffer is an empire unto
herself, a top model who stays on top of everything without any apparent
effort. There is no doubt she comes about as close as can be to physical
perfection. But that alone is not what’s made her the world’s
wealthiest model ever. She combines her porcelain doll looks with a consummate
professionalism.
One of the most photographed people in the world, she
has been on over 600 magazine covers - a feat which has propelled her into the
Guinness Book Of Records. So one would hardly expect her to be camera-shy. But
in her Majorcan retreat, she posed more naturally than ever.
And here at
home, the woman often treated as a goddess showed she’s very much a
household deity. As the sun set, she abandoned herself to the sound of the sea,
swathed in a simple wrap, as dozens of candles lit up the dusk. Then, with
darkness fallen, the goddess ate a bit of chocolate, had a glass of juice, and
asked her hairdresser to trim her hair.
During the afternoon, the
German-born supermodel, who is engaged to an Englishman, Tim Jefferies, talked
about everything, from plastic surgery to her work for UNICEF, a project to
eliminate polio worldwide, about which she says: “Seeing how these people,
who are so poor, so in need of material goods, confront life. Feeling their
inner strength, their generosity, their happiness and their big hearts. That is
the best thing that has happened to me.”
The model turned actress
also talks about the future. “Some day I’ll have children and make a
home. I love children, but this is not the right moment. I have to wait awhile.
For now, my priorities are my family and friends and my work.”
She
also reveals a very strange obsession. “Insects and all other animals. I
love them,” says Claudia. “My house is full of elephants, ants,
butterflies, crickets.... And one day, on this very estate, I will have many
real live animals, such as donkeys, goats, sheep, dogs.” |
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