Lauren Harries

Lauren Harries
Born James Charles Harries
1978 (age 37–38)
Residence Cardiff, Wales
Nationality British
Other names Lauren Charlotte Harries
Occupation Media personality
Years active 1988–present
Religion Buddhism

Lauren Charlotte Harries[1] (born James Charles Harries in 1978) is a British media personality. In childhood Harries was known as James, a purported "child prodigy" in the field of antiques, appearing on numerous television shows including Wogan. In later life, as Lauren Harries, she has become more notable as an aspiring transgender celebrity.

Early life

Her father is Mark Harries, who worked in the hotel business and catering trade.[2] Harries was the youngest of three children. The family moved to Cardiff when Harries was still a baby. From the age of five, Harries enjoyed art and antiques, and had an apparent ability to spot bargains at local jumble sales and second-hand shops. Harries spotted a piece of porcelain that was bought for pennies and sold for several thousand pounds,[2] a story picked up by the Western Mail.

Early career

Harries appearing on After Dark on 23 March 1991, aged 12

Harries began making television appearances in August 1988 on Terry Wogan's UK chat show,[3] Wogan. The ten-year-old[3] demonstrated what seemed to be a knowledge of antiques which, combined with an odd appearance including bow ties, curly golden hair, formal attire and a precocious manner of speaking, made Harries memorable to British viewers.

Harries's father ran a kissogram business among others; after Harries's appearance on Wogan, Mark supported the perception that Harries was an antiques expert.[4] At 13, Harries wrote an antique guide, Rags To Riches.[4][5]

Harries's schooling suffered from the heightened publicity. By the age of 14, Harries, whose family had already been subject to abuse because of their unusual child, suffered depression and agoraphobia, which led to a nervous breakdown and suicide attempt.[6] Media opportunities and resulting business reduced as Harries grew up.[2] In the recession of the early 1990s, the family's businesses failed. One family shop was destroyed by fire, and Mark Harries was convicted of insurance fraud. Harries sold some of her collections to assist in the support of the family.[2][4]

Sexual reassignment

As a child, Harries had been taken by her family to see a doctor because she displayed feminine mannerisms. Later, Harries decided to transition from male to female, change her name to Lauren Charlotte, and investigated sex reassignment surgery, which was carried out in 2001.[3] Funding for this was generated from publicity arranged by Max Clifford.[2]

Later career

In 2004, after Harries had undergone gender reassignment, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary Little Lady Fauntleroy made by actor Keith Allen in which he interviewed the Harries family.[7] The documentary was released on DVD on 4 July 2005.

On 8 July 2005, a gang of five to seven men attacked Harries, her father and her brother in the family home.[8] One 17-year-old boy was later fined and given a supervision order for his role in the incident.[9]

In October 2006, Harries appeared in the Channel 5 television series Trust Me – I'm a Beauty Therapist,[10] which was filmed on location in a beauty therapist's in Swansea, Wales.

In November 2008 Harries was featured as a cover girl in the specialist lifestyle magazine Transliving.[11]

Harries is a Buddhist and a vegetarian;[2] she lives in Cardiff.

In August 2013, Harries became a housemate on the twelfth series of Celebrity Big Brother.[12] She finished in third place.[13]

In September 2013, she appeared on Celebrity Juice.[14] Harries has cited past sexual relations with comedian Russell Brand, claims he adamantly denies. Harries repeated her claim in January 2015 stating "It’s all true [...] he doesn’t want people to find out, maybe he doesn’t want his mother to know!"[15]

Her debut single "I Am a Woman" was released in January 2015.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Two Programmes - Where Are They Now?, Lauren Harries". BBC. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Seaton, Matt (13 April 2001). "Just call me Lauren". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Transsexual to move to 'safer' LA". BBC News. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 Stuart, Julia (April 13, 2001). "The boy in the made-up world". The Independent  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Harries, James Charles (1991). Rags to riches (2nd ed.). Cardiff: Adviser and Weekly News. ISBN 1873798008.
  6. ↑ Anna Hammond, South Wales Echo (2005-07-13). "Sex change ex-child star in brutal attack - Wales News - News". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  7. ↑ Joe Joseph (29 June 2004). "TV Review". London: Times Online. Retrieved 13 April 2008. (registration required (help)).
  8. ↑ Anna Hammond (13 July 2005). "Sex change ex-child star brutally attacked". icWales. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
  9. ↑ Gareth Llewellyn (19 September 2005). "Youth who attacked transsexual spared jail". icWales. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
  10. ↑ Rachel Mainwaring (15 October 2006). "Sweet link for sexy Welshies". icWales. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  11. ↑ "Stacy gets up close and personal with TS celebrity Lauren Harries". Transliving. No. 27. Transliving International Magazine. November 2008. ISSN 1746-8329. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  12. ↑ "About Lauren". bbspy. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "'Celebrity Big Brother' Final: 'Geordie Shore' Star Charlotte Crosby Crowned Winner". Huffington Post. 14 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Celebrity Juice 2013: Lauren Harries talks about 'having sex' with Russell Brand". One News Page. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
  15. ↑ "Lauren Harries - Interview". www.EQView.com. 2015-01-10. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO-fXARNCrs
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