Tamara Beckwith Veroni joins HELLO! for an exclusive interview and photoshoot with her lookalike daughter Violet as she prepares to open her charity's garden at this week’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Not only does Violet – who goes by the nickname ViVi – bear a striking resemblance to her mother, but they also share the same fun-loving nature, which is evident as they playfully pose for the camera.
"I have never been serious, ever," admits Tamara, who is a campaigner for women’s health. "To me, life is about fun. I mean, if you put me in McDonald's, or a DIY shop, I’d have a great time. Being serious is hard work. I don’t really enjoy it."
Teenage mum
At 17, Violet is the same age Tamara was when she had her eldest daughter, Anouska – something Violet finds difficult to comprehend. "Can you imagine?" she says.
Violet’s life is certainly different to that of a teenage Tamara, who left school to have her baby and later juggled single motherhood with her Nineties 'It-girl' lifestyle – socialising on the party circuit in London and Los Angeles while writing columns for newspapers and glossy magazines.
'ViVi is much more responsible than I was'
"There's a whole room in our house that has magazines stacked everywhere, and mum has put Post-it notes in between [the pages] where her friends are and where she is," Violet says. "When I was little, I used to go in there and go through those pages. It’s so funny to think that she was my age doing all of that and I’m still at school figuring it out. She had different experiences, which is interesting."
"ViVi is much more responsible than I was at that age," Tamara says. "I was in trouble at nursery school, I was in trouble at prep school, I was in trouble at ballet. It wasn't like I was trying to be naughty, but I think my thirst for life is just unquenchable."
That passion for life – and living for as long as possible – galvanised Tamara to co-found a women’s health charity, the Lady Garden Foundation, 12 years ago alongside her friends Jenny Halpern Prince, Chloe Delevingne and Mika Simmons, following the death of her mother from endometrial cancer at the age of 68.
Royal connections
Davina McCall, Trinny Woodall and Vernon Kay are among the celebrity supporters who will take turns hosting the charity’s 'Silent No More' garden, which has a prime position opposite the King and David Beckham’s Garden, created for The King’s Foundation.
"The Chelsea Flower Show is the biggest flower show in the world, so I don't think we have ever worried about having visibility, but with the King having his foundation’s garden this year, and David Beckham having just been made a Sir, I think the interest is going to be even more than normal," Tamara says. "I have met David Beckham many times, but I haven’t been properly introduced to the King."
Designed by the award-winning Cornish landscape designer Darren Hawkes, the garden features abstract clay sculptures representing the female anatomy and water that connects spaces, to symbolise communication. There is also seating and a communal area where people can share stories.
"Our brief was that we wanted people to be more vocal and not be embarrassed, or feel like this is taboo," Tamara says.
The Lady Garden Foundation's Silent No More garden is at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show from 19 to 23 May
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