By Matt Demarco for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 1:43 AM EDT, March 22, 2024 | Updated: 02:21 EDT, March 22, 2024

The better known names include steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas.

The Election Commission (EC) recently uploaded data on electoral bonds of the State Bank of India (SBI) on its website. This action was taken to comply with the Supreme Court’s order and was implemented just a day before the court-imposed March 15 deadline. The list of entities that have purchased electoral bonds to make political donations reads like a who’s who of the business world. However, the top donor, according to the list released by the Election Commission on Thursday, is a lesser-known lottery company called Future Gaming and Hotel Services. Closely followed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), the second largest donor, a prominent infrastructure company from Hyderabad recognized for its contributions to major projects such as the Zojila Tunnel.

“It may be recalled that in the said case, ECI has consistently and categorically weighed in favor of disclosure and transparency, a position reflected in the proceedings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and also stated in the order,” said the press release.

While it is already known that the ruling BJP received the highest donation amount of over Rs 6,000 crore, followed by the Congress Party, the data dump only disclosed the amount donated by each entity or individual. It does not say who donated to which party. While most of the bonds were issued in the name of political parties, the donations to Congress and Samajwadi Party were made in the name of ‘President, All India Congress Committee’ and ‘Adyaksha Samajvadi Party’.

Top donors of electoral bonds

Future Gaming and Hotel Services bought possibly the highest number of bonds worth Rs 1,368 crore, followed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd at Rs 966 crore. Future Gaming was investigated by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2022.

The better known names include steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, DLF, PVR, Birlas, Bajajs, Jindals, Spicejet, IndiGo and the Goenkas.

Among the well-known companies, Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd bought Rs 398 crore worth of bonds, while Sunil Mittal’s three companies together bought a total of Rs 246 crore worth of bonds.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal in his individual capacity bought Rs 35 crore worth of bonds. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, which has won contracts for several major infrastructure projects, bought bonds worth Rs 966 crore.

According to the data uploaded by the poll panel, the buyers of electoral bonds included Spicejet, IndiGo, Grasim Industries, Megha Engineering, Piramal Enterprises, Torrent Power, Bharti Airtel, DLF Commercial Developers, Vedanta Ltd., Apollo Tyres, Edelweiss, PVR, Keventer, Sula Wines, Welspun, Sun Pharma, Vardhman Textiles, Jindal Group, Phillips Carbon Black Limited, CEAT tires, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, ITC, Kaypee Enterprises, Cipla and Ultratech Cement.

Besides Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, donors through electoral bonds included Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Varun Gupta, BK Goenka, Jainendra Shah and one person going by the first name only Monika.

Ghaziabad-based Yashoda Super Specialty Hospital bought 162 bonds, mostly of Rs 1 crore each. Bajaj Auto bought bonds worth Rs 18 crore, Bajaj Finance Rs 20 crore, three IndiGo companies Rs 36 crore, Spicejet Rs 65 lakh and Rahul Bhatia of IndiGo bought bonds worth Rs 20 crore. Mumbai-based Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd bought bonds worth Rs 410 crore and Haldia Energy Rs 377 crore.

Parties that have redeemed electoral bonds

The parties that have redeemed electoral bonds include the BJP, Congress, AIADMK, BRS, Shiv Sena, TDP, YSR Congress, DMK, JD-S, NCP, Trinamool Congress, JDU, RJD, AAP, the Samajwadi Party, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, BJD, Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, JMM, Sikkim Democratic Front and the Jana Sena Party.

According to an earlier report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), electoral bonds worth Rs 16,518 crore were sold between March 2018 and January 2024.

The BJP received the highest contributions through the electoral bonds worth Rs 6,566 crore or 54.77 per cent, followed by the Congress with Rs 1,123 crore or 9.37 per cent, and the Trinamool Congress Rs 1,092 crore or 9.11 per cent, had said it.

By Sam Joseph Semon for Dailymail.com

Published: 3:57 PM EDT, March 11, 2024 | Updated: 4:15 PM EDT, March 11, 2024

The Prince of Wales  is to spend £3 million on affordable housing at Newquay on land controlled by his Duchy of Cornwall. 

This sounds impressive – but less so when you read the small print. 

Only 40 per cent of the proposed development will actually be classed as affordable. One hundred per cent of the rental income will go into William’s coffers.

The unvarnished reality is that the Duchy, which William has inherited now that he has succeeded his father as Prince of Wales, is a hard-nosed business that seeks to maximise its profits. 

It provides William with a regular income estimated at £24m.

Of course any investment in affordable housing is welcome but let us not be fooled by the idea that this is unbridled generosity. It isn’t.

When, last November, a cheeky 11-year-old asked Prince William what was in his bank account, the heir to the throne feigned a sort of jocular ignorance.

A wise move. 

‘Too much to count,’ might be one answer. One billion pounds is another.

That’s the answer according to the calculations of the Sunday Times, which compiles an annual Rich List.

It is all rather opaque – deliberately so, no doubt.

For example, we don’t know how much has been passed to William in the way of money, art works or property by his wealthy relatives, including his late mother and the late Queen Mother.

Uniquely, royal wills remain secret.

We do know about William’s main source of annual income: the £24 million or so he now receives from his semi-feudal ownership of the Duchy of Cornwall, a sprawling estate of landholdings, businesses and properties.

The title is misleading as the bulk of the land it controls is in neighbouring county Devon, along with 160 miles of coastline plus residential and commercial properties galore across the country.

The tentacles of the Duchy stretch as far as Kent and include the Oval cricket ground in London.

It has become a formidable money-making machine.

Previously owned and controlled by his father as Prince of Wales, the Duchy of Cornwall is particularly interesting, not least in the light it sheds on how the royals first got rich – then stayed rich.

An often neglected point about the British Royal Family is that by 1760, as George III came to the throne, they were effectively bankrupt. 

That’s why the King did a deal with Parliament to hand over Crown lands to the state  in return for an annual maintenance grant known as a civil list. The lands in question are today managed by the misleadingly named Crown Estate – misleading because they now belong to us, not the Royal Family.

Parliament, meanwhile, would pick up the bill for costs previously falling to the monarch, such as for the army and the civil service.

The royals certainly did hand over a great deal of land – but this included neither the Duchy of Cornwall nor the Duchy of Lancaster (the companion land and business holding, which is now controlled by William’s father, the King.)

Why was the transfer never made? Only because wild tracts of south west England and the Bowland Forest were essentially worthless back in 1760. 

It has proved a costly oversight for the tax payer – and increasingly so as the years pass and modern property values inflate Prince William’s profits.

Not that modernity and the Duchy of Cornwall – which dates from 1337 when Edward III was on the throne go – hand-in-hand.

Some of its rules still have a feudal taste.

Take, for example, the dubious and little-known practice called Prince’s Consent whereby the Prince of Wales receives notification in advance of intended legislation.

Well before MPs get a chance to examine certain proposed new laws, a Prince of Wales can  argue for exemptions should the laws affect his private interests.

We know a little about this because, during a House of Lords debate in October 2021, Lord Berkeley asked for details of the issues on which the Consent of the Prince of Wales had been requested. 

There was a long and somewhat surprising list, including provisions to give direction to waste carriers and those concerning the way that smoke control areas were to work. 

On other occasions, Consent has been sought from the prince for Bills such as the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) Scotland Act 2021 and the Parking (Code of Conduct) Act 2018. 

Why, we do not know. 

However, the fact that consent had been requested and then recorded means, in practice, that the exemptions are available to the Prince of Wales.

Another exemption can be found in Section 14 of the Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Act 1998.

This means that William can get out his chemistry set and cause a nuclear explosion safe if the knowledge that he won’t be prosecuted. 

This is absurd, perhaps, but other exemptions are rather more sinister. 

The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 exempts the Duchy of Cornwall from its provisions  meaning that William’s tenants are unable to buy their properties in perpetuity. 

Most other people in the country can. Just not William’s tenants. 

They do not even have a right to secure a lease extension.

Leasehold arrangements  – under which a landlord owns the ‘freehold’ and a resident can only buy a form of ownership, a ‘lease’ for a number of years – are hugely controversial and undergoing important changes.

Once again, however,  it seems the Duchy will be exempt from parts of the relevant legislation, in this case the new Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill currently winding its way through parliament.

One Duchy resident, Jane Giddins, has called this ‘naked feudalism’. 

The leases themselves are often abnormally short, perhaps 21 years, loading the dice still more heavily against the tenant. 

In one case, the Duchy allowed someone to fund and build a house on Duchy land, but demanded they sign a short lease enabling the transfer of the building to the Duchy after the death of the leaseholder – without compensation.

The Mail On Sunday reported that local people were asked to apply to live in a bungalow on a short, two-year lease. Yet the same building was offered with a much fuller ten-year lease to the doubtless more affluent readers of Country Life magazine. 

Meanwhile, rent increases, particularly on the Scilly Isles – which are claimed by the Duchy – have been rising steeply beyond inflation. This is fine for wealthy incomers wanting holiday homes, not so fine for the native population who have been there generations.

We can be in no doubt about Prince William’s personal involvement, by the way.

The latest Duchy report notes that ‘the Dukes of Cornwall have traditionally managed their own estates, and today the new Duke of Cornwall will carry the custom forward by actively leading the Duchy and chairing the Prince’s Council.’

The Prince’s Council  is the hands-on management committee of the Duchy. 

The senior officer is the new Lord Warden of the Stanneries, Hugo van Vredenburch C, FAC, IC, Rem, RC, CPDC, NZTF. His background is in investments and a new Investment Committee has recently been established to maximise income for William.

It is questionable how familiar the elevated Lord Warden is with the day-to-day challenges of the ordinary people who comprise the 600 or so Duchy tenants.

One aspect which will certainly be of interest to him and the Prince relates to those who live in the Duchy but subsequently die without leaving a will or any obvious relatives.

Under an antiquated provision called Bona Vacantia, which dates back centuries, the estates of such individuals are captured by the Duchy. 

In 2022, this amounted to the tidy sum of £293,000. A further £811,000 is being held in case of future claims, and is no doubt earning useful interest at the bank.

The Duchy has long said that this income is used for charitable purposes, after generous processing costs have been deducted of course, but recent revelations have shown that money from this source is in fact being used to improve Duchy properties, so pushing up potential rental income for William.

The latest Duchy report shows £109,000 was made in charitable donations in 2022, which seems modest when the overall profit is north of £20million.

The Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are significant to the royals – and should be significant to us to. Not just because they were acquired in doubtful circumstances and not just because they are exploited with  acumen.

They are important because they sum up the ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ approach to finance that sees the Windsors’ income  balloon even while the rest of the economy flatlines.

The Royal Family, and especially King Charles, insists that this sprawling assemblage of land is a ‘private estate’. And that questionable assertion is used to avoid public scrutiny.

As they are judged to be private concerns, we have little means to establish the facts about the business conducted by the Duchies or the profits that they generate.

Yet, at the same time, the royals insist that, unlike every other private estate, no corporation or capital gains tax is payable. 

In fact, when he was  Prince of Wales (and owner of the Duchy of Cornwall), Charles tried to claim everything he could as a business expense so as to minimise tax. 

He included all 28 of his personal staff – butlers, valets, gardeners and the like – and costs related to Camilla’s Wiltshire home long before they were married. He even tried to claim his polo pony bills. 

You might think this had little to do with the operation of the Duchy.

The claim that these are private estates might seem to be undermined by the fact that the Duchies are regulated by the Treasury under an 1838 Act.

There is a requirement to produce an annual report for Parliament – which doesn’t sound so very private to me. 

In my view, all  profits from the Duchies should be paid over to Parliament as are the profits from the Crown Estate. 

For William to keep the £20 million plus that comes from the Duchy of Cornwall is daylight robbery.

So far, King Charles has been adamant that profits from the Duchy would end up in only his pocket.

Can we expect anything different from William?

Charles says he wants to modernise the monarchy, and William has if anything been even more robust on this point.

But modernising has to mean more than simply reducing the numbers on the Buckingham Palace balcony. 

To be at all meaningful, modernisation has to mean, among other things, the end of medieval slush funds.

William is not King, but he can lead the way by publicly accepting that the Duchy should be a public asset, not a private one, and oversee its integration into the public Crown Estate.

So is he going to be a truly reforming prince? On current evidence, I doubt it.

• Norman Baker is author of …And What Do You Do? What the Royal Family Don’t Want You to Know, published by Biteback 

Anthony Albanese was among a string of political elites invited to an Australian billionaire’s VIP party, which included a private appearance by Katy Perry.

The 220 guests had to run the gauntlet of protesters outside Anthony Pratt’s mansion to get in for the VIP event in Melbourne on Saturday evening.

In addition to the Prime Minister, attendees included Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and her predecessor Dan Andrews, Federal Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.

There was a heavy security presence – both state police and private security guards – around Raheen’s estate, along with traffic restrictions to allow drop-offs.

The Grade II listed mansion is located in Kew and is believed to be worth at least $100 million.

The event was held in honor of the food and beverage industry, a customer of Mr. Pratt’s Visy packaging company.

As guests filed in, pro-Palestinian protesters called for the release of jailed Australian Julian Assange and a ceasefire in Gaza.

There was a banner that read “Honk for Assange” – which some passing cars did – and the chants included “Don’t be a Pratt, free Julian Assange” and “Welcome to Prattville, where’s Julian?”

Around 7:30 p.m., about twenty Free Palestine protesters began singing and banging on pots and a drum, but this was unlikely to have been heard inside where the party was in full swing led by the master of ceremonies, comedian Vince Sorrenti.

In addition to the big name politicians, guests from the business world included ANZ head Shayne Elliott, Allan Myers, Michael Chaney, Jack Cowin, Sir Rod Eddington, Ashok Jacob and Roger Corbett.

Perry, who reportedly earned $1.5 million for the one-night private concert, took the stage at 9:22 p.m. and started her set with a cover of “What A Wonderful World.”

“It certainly is, isn’t it,” Perry said after playing the Louis Armstrong classic.

‘Guys, I came all the way from London and I’m so happy to be here. Thank you for having me,” she said.

In videos posted to social media, the American star performed many of her own hits during the hour-long show, including ‘Smile’, ‘Roar’ and ‘Firework’, to the delight of the VIP audience.

Melbourne artist DJ Femme was also on the bill at the $20 million mansion and said it was an incredible, amazing and stunning event.”

“So grateful for moments like this in life,” she added of the show that took three weeks to complete, including the construction of a huge marquee, stage and kitchen to feed guests.

A number of Katy Perry also gathered on the footpath outside the mansion, hoping to catch a glimpse of their hero, but were happy enough just to hear the free show.

The oldest guests, like Mr. Albanese, entered the property through a second gate, about 100 yards from the main driveway and away from the protesters.

“I think if it is a national stadium and a catalyst for the regeneration of that part of south Manchester… there needs to be a conversation with the government.”

While much of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s round of media interviews on Wednesday, after his takeover of 27.7 percent of Manchester United was finally confirmed, might have excited United fans, there were more than a few elements that caused surprise .

Between the lines about ‘dethroning Manchester City and Liverpool’ and fun stories about dealing with Sir Alex Ferguson, his comments about the women’s team sounded like an afterthought, merely indicating that ‘if it’s a team that’s a Manchester United badge is on their shirt, then it’s Manchester United and they have to be focused on winning and being successful.” But to give the benefit of the doubt, this is just the early days and big plans may be on the horizon.

His response to the question about Mason Greenwood and making a “new decision” about the forward’s future also raised alarm bells, but it is probably only fair to judge him on this as the nature of the “new decision” is made clear.

Also notable were his comments about Old Trafford and the possible renovation of United’s home stadium or the possible construction of a new stadium.

Ratcliffe suggested that when the time comes to rebuild or replace Old Trafford, he would look for some sort of public funding, and also suggested that this would be part of a possible regeneration of that part of Manchester.

Ratcliffe said: “People in the north pay their taxes and there is an argument that you could think of a more ambitious project in the north, which would be appropriate for England, for the Champions League final or the FA Cup final and if catalyst would be to revitalize south Manchester, which has quite an important history in Britain.”

The easy (and not unreasonable) problem is that Ratcliffe was appealing to the British taxpayer when he himself was not. Asked about his stay in the tax haven of Monaco, he replied: “I paid my taxes in Britain for 65 years. And when I reached retirement age, I went downstairs to enjoy the sun. A happy coincidence that the only possible place ‘to enjoy the sun’ is also the place where the income tax rate is zero percent.

But while that is true, it distracts from the main problem, which is trying to guilt-trip taxpayers into subsidizing a new stadium for Manchester United.

Fans of American sports will be familiar with the tactic: a sports team owner pressures the local government to provide millions of dollars in financing or tax subsidies for a new stadium, earnestly promising that it would cost nothing at all because it would be a deliver a range of economic benefits to the local community.

However, several studies in America have exposed this claim as, at best, wildly exaggerated and, more realistically, complete nonsense.

There are many examples of this, but one of them is the Atlanta Braves: in 2013, Cobb County authorities pledged $300 million (£237 million) to build Truist Park, the team’s future new home (which replaced Turner Field , itself only built in 1996). ), which was accompanied by a range of other surrounding retail and residential developments. The suggestion was that the whole thing would be a sound public investment. In 2022, a report by JC Bradbury, an economist from Kennesaw State University, found that while there were increases in things like sales taxes, this did not cover the money initially invested by authorities.

Bradbury wrote that “the evidence does not support the widely held claim that the $300 million the county invested to finance the stadium was a sound financial investment” and that “the stadium is experiencing significant annual deficits that are likely to last the remaining 25 years of the financing will continue. the efforts of the province.’

That example is cited because there has at least been enough time to assess the benefit or otherwise – but it is only increasing. The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, which recently hosted the Super Bowl, cost $1.9 billion, of which $750 million came from public financing. A recent NBC report states that approximately $33 billion in public funds has been spent over the past fifty years to build new stadiums or renovate old ones.

Ratcliffe doesn’t have the same clout as those American owners, as the threat they hang over the authorities is invariably that they will move their team to a city more suitable to provide them with a shiny new home. Even to hint at the vague possibility that he might consider such a thing would be the easiest way to forcibly incinerate any goodwill toward him anywhere.

Government subsidies for stadiums are a mess that is deeply ingrained in American sport but should not be allowed in Britain. For starters, where would the money come from?

A report from Manchester Council’s budget process recently revealed that they could face a budget deficit of £71.9 million in 2026-2027, which is likely to be around the time work on Old Trafford could start, if Ratcliffe gets his way.

There will no doubt be an argument about which government agency would provide United with the funding, not least because Old Trafford is not technically in Manchester, but the point remains: at a time when councils in Britain are going bankrupt (often, amusingly enough, because they became involved in unwise and economically unhealthy construction projects), which means that basic services are catastrophically affected, how can anyone justify spending public money on refurbishing a football club’s stadium or buying a new stadium?

Ratcliffe is not wrong when he talks about the southern (by which he means London) bias when it comes to national sporting venues in England.

He is also right to say that the north of England has historically been neglected and ignored by the British government.

But even though Ratcliffe has a point, it’s hard to take it seriously because we know he’s being disingenuous at best. He is not asking for a separate ‘Wembley of the North’ to be built for the benefit of the people: he is asking that the redevelopment of his own club’s stadium be paid for (at least in part) by the people.

United don’t need the money. They brought in £648m last financial year, an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year. They were fourth in the recent Deloitte Money League rankings of the richest clubs in the world. You’d imagine they could easily secure financing just based on the increased revenue that would come from a new or renovated stadium. They even have a recent elitist example with Tottenham, who managed to build their new stadium without public money. The expenses wouldn’t even hurt their profit and sustainability calculations as infrastructure costs are exempt.

And at the most basic level, it’s hard to take seriously a man worth £29.7 billion personally, according to the Sunday Times’ latest rich list, which suggests his latest addition needs a new home and that you have to pay for it, which would also mean increasing the value of his investment.

Ratcliffe’s suggestions were only early suggestions, and there is no indication that any government body would actually be open to them. Yet the idea that public money should be used to help renovate or rebuild Old Trafford must be stopped as early as possible.

(OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Tom Cruise has reportedly split from his Russian socialite girlfriend Elsina Khayrova just days after meeting her children.

The Top Gun actor, 61, and Elsina, 36, are said to have met for the first time last December at a party in Mayfair where they were spotted canoodling.

But now The sun reports that they broke up just days after he met her children.

The publication reports that Tom has 'cooled off the romance' but wanted to remain friends as they live in the same block of flats in London.

A source said: 'It would have been awkward if they had bumped into each other in the lift.

'There are no hard feelings between them and for Tom their relationship just ran its course.'

Elsina has a son and daughter from her previous marriage to Russian oligarch and diamond trader Dimitry Tsvetkov.

MailOnline has contacted Tom's representatives for comment.

Elsina is the daughter of Rinat Khayrova, a leading Russian politician who is estimated to be worth £5 billion and is a close ally of President Putin.

It comes after it was reported last week that Tom was becoming 'closer' to Elsina – regularly spending nights at her swanky London apartment, friends told MailOnline.

The pair recently attended a glittering gala dinner in support of London's Air Ambulance Charity at the five-star Raffles Hotel, where Prince William was guest of honour.

The pair arrived separately at the glitzy event, but friends said at the time they were spending more and more time together with the Hollywood actor, a regular visitor to her lavish £10 million Knightsbridge apartment.

A source told MailOnline that the pair had made things official, explaining: 'It's common knowledge within Elsina's circle that she and Tom are now a couple.

'They have become very close in recent weeks, but are careful not to have their picture taken together as they want to maintain their privacy.'

They continued: 'Tom spent the night at Elsina's apartment, which, as you can imagine, is a very nice place. They enjoy hanging out together and despite their wealth they do many things that normal couples do.'

The source revealed that the couple had also dined privately at a number of exclusive London restaurants and also walked together in Hyde Park while in disguise, which is close to Elsina's home.

Elsina posted photos and a video of herself in a stunning black evening dress as she attended the London Air Ambulance Black and White gala, which raised £1.2 million.

Tom was pictured chatting with Prince William, who jokingly recalled his stylish fashion choice from the 2022 premiere of Top Gun: Maverick.

The Hollywood actor and Elsina are said to have met for the first time last December at a party in Mayfair, where they were spotted canoodling.

One guest claimed: 'They were inseparable, clearly a couple. He seemed in love with her.'

Elsina was previously married to 43-year-old Dimitry, who claimed their bitter three-year divorce battle had cost him a whopping £150 million.

Speaking to MailOnline after news of his ex-wife's romance with Cruise emerged, he claimed he bought her a whopping £10 million worth of clothes and a further £2 million worth of handbags during their tumultuous 11-year marriage had issued.

He said: 'No matter who she is with, Tom Cruise or anyone else, they should be aware that she likes the finer things in life and has expensive and luxurious taste.

“Tom needs to keep his eyes and wallet wide open.”

But he added: 'I'm happy for her, I wish her all the best.'

Tom was first spotted with her in December and is said to have rented an entire floor of exclusive Mayfair eatery Novikov for the romantic meal for two.

According to The sunTom, who is worth £500million, spent a £500 dinner on lobster and sushi for the couple.

Tom was previously married to Katie Holmes, 45, and the pair share daughter Suri, 17.

Tom and Katie's £2million wedding ceremony in November 2006 took place at the 15th century Odescalchi Castle in Italy, with opera singer Andrea Bocelli serenading, the Beckhams and J-Lo among the guests.

But rumors that 'TomKat' was in trouble surfaced when gossip site TMZ reported that the actress was unhappy with Scientology's demands, including suggestions that women should give birth silently so as not to alarm the baby.

Katie filed for divorce in 2012 and was given full custody of daughter Suri.

More recently, in 2020, he was rumored to be dating his Mission Impossible co-star, British actress Hayley Atwell, 41, with whom he reportedly “hit it off from day one.”

A source told The Sun at the time: 'They met out of hours and she went to his London pad. They get along great and seem very happy.'

Still, they reportedly split the following year and last July, Hayley dismissed the rumors of their relationship as “weird,” asking, “Why are things assumed or projected onto me about my relationship with my co-worker and boss?”

She is now engaged to music producer Ned Wolfgang Kelly.

Lisa of K-pop group Blackpink is the latest star to join the cast of HBO’s hot comedy-drama series The White Lotus.

The 26-year-old performer – originally from Thailand – will be making her acting debut in the show’s highly anticipated third series, Variety has revealed.

Her on-screen breakthrough comes following a busy year for the singer and dancer, who just last week announced the opening of her own label – called LLOUD.

In an Instagram post – which featured a sleek black and white photoshoot that showcased the entertainer in a glamorous suit and tie – Lisa, introduced her ‘platform to showcase my vision in music and entertainment’.

‘Join me on this exciting journey to push through new boundaries together,’ she added.

The move – followed by fellow bandmate Jennie Kim’s launch of her agency ODD ATELIER – along with Lisa’s White Lotus role, appears to be the latest in a move to establish herself as a solo performer in the wake of the group’s split from huge South Korean agency Young Entertainment (YG) as individual artists. 

While they remain under their long-time label as Blackpink, Lisa, Jennie, Rose and Jisoo now have the opportunity to establish more of their own endeavours, Rolling Stone says.

And it’s not the first time one of the girls has taken up an acting gig. Jennie made her showbiz debut in HBO’s controversial The Idol as villain Dyanne – whereas Jisoo is known for a number of K-drama appearances and film work.

Lisa will be filming The White Lotus in her native Thailand, and will be credited under her given name Lalisa Manobal, but not much is known about her role yet. The series is expected to air sometime in 2025.

The K-pop star – who is revered for her dancing skills – most recently sparked controversy after taking part in a Crazy Horse cabaret performance.

She hit the stage for a string of super exclusive five shows at the Parisian venue during Paris Fashion Week in October.

The limited space could only accommodate a small number of fans, leaving the rest to have to peep the event via photos shared online.

Among those able to snag seats were Lisa’s Blackpink group mates and stars including Rosalía, Kaia Gerber, and Austin Butler.

Crazy Horse is known for nudity and a no-filming policy, although TMZ  reported that Lisa did not strip down to nothing.

The raunchy performance sparked fears that Lisa was being blacklisted in China – after she had her account suspended on the country’s biggest social media site Weibo.

While there was no nudity, the provocative nature of the revue combined with Crazy Horse’s racy reputation sparked outrage across Asia, where Lisa is a top star. 

Weibo hadn’t given an official reason for suspending Lisa’s account outside of a message stating, ‘This account can no longer be viewed due to reports of violations of laws, regulations, and Weibo community agreement’.

On top of that, the official Weibo accounts for luxury brands Celine and Bvlgari, which Lisa is a celebrity ambassador for, removed all of the star’s images from their accounts. 

However just a month later, the idol – alongside her Blackpink bandmates – was invited for a prestigious state banquet in Buckingham Palace and received an honourary MBE from King Charles III.

The monarch, 75, appeared to be in high spirits as he held an Investiture, in the presence of The President of the Republic of Korea and the First Lady, during their official State Visit to the United Kingdom.

He invested the Blackpink members in recognition of the band’s role as COP26 Advocates for the summit in Glasgow 2021. 

Blackpink were first appointed by the UK Government as COP26 Advocates in January 2021. Non-UK citizens can be considered for an honour for their work within the UK. 

The group released a series of videos aimed at encouraging young people to learn more about climate change, which resulted – the government says – in ‘significantly increased engagement’ with the Summit from a young audience.

Lisa later said she will ‘forever cherish’ the moment in a gushing Instagram post.

She had shared an excited photo of herself holding up the award, seemingly moments after the investiture ceremony, and posed for a smiling selfie in a chic strapless grey dress, adorned with a cape, from clothing brand Asava.

The star teamed her look with white leather pumps from Stuart Weitzman and a BVLGARI watch, styling her raven tresses into a sophisticated half-up half-down look.

Other glamorous snaps in the carousel showed the star glamorously posing in what looked like a luxurious waiting room and a private car.

‘So deeply honored to be a part of this great moment,’ Lisa wrote in a post to more than 101 million followers on Instagram.

‘I would have never imagined standing here receiving an Honorary MBE so thank you and will forever cherish this moment.’

Over the summer, Lisa and Blackpink made history at BST Hyde Park by becoming the first Korean band to headline a major UK music festival.

The girl group closed out the second weekend of the annual event in London to a sold-out crowd of 65,000 fans.

Opening to screams and pink fireworks shooting up from the stage, the girls launched into the Pink Venom before performing 16 more songs and having three outfit changes. 

Introducing themselves to their young crowd, they performed a mix of K-Pop favourites including Kick It, Pretty Savage, How You Like That, and Shut Down. 

Even their first ever single, Whistle – the one that made them famous – was among the setlist. 

The roaring audience included Hugh Grant who revealed himself as a new fan of Blackpink after taking his daughter. 

Taking to X, the A-lister in July wrote: ‘Very grateful to three eleven year olds for taking me to see @BLACKPINK yesterday. Am rabid Blink now. Slept with my heart hammer.’

‘Blink’ is the name given to fans of the K Pop group and the hammer is Blackpink’s official concert glow stick, known as Hammer Bong.

As well as their combined group success, Lisa has also found immense musical success in her own right.

After she came out with solo hit Money in 2021, it became the first album and song by a K-pop solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify, respectively.

And in October, Pinkvilla reported that she became the first ever K-pop soloist to get two 14 million-like music videos on YouTube.

Last year she was also inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame for her work as a ‘Cultural Icon’. 

Over the Christmas period, she released a cover of Britney Spears’ My Only Wish – with the YouTube video racking up more than 10 million views in just a couple of months. 

Aside from Lisa’s professional successes, she has also recently been romantically linked to LVMH heir Frederic Arnault.

The pair sparked a flurry of dating rumours after they were spotted giggling together at an event in Venice this summer – prompting a furious investigation by amateur internet detectives who have aired even more evidence of a budding romance between the pair. 

Speculation about a relationship between the pair began when photos emerged of the alleged couple enjoying a laugh at the Bulgari Mediterranea High Jewelry event in Venice back in May, a moment that quickly sent fans on the hunt for more evidence of a blossoming romance.

This unearthed another photo of the pair sitting together at an airport lounge in Los Angeles as well as sightings in Paris and at multiple fashion events – while others began analyzing Lisa’s Instagram, insisting that her posts revealed a slew of clues hinting at a romance between the 26-year-old pop princess and the billionaire luxury fashion heir. 

Frederic, 28, is the son of the richest man in the world, Bernard Arnault. The patriarch is the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and he and his family are worth about $212 billion, according to Forbes.

It is not clear when the pair first met, but Lisa has previously worked alongside brands that are part of the LVMH group.

She was Celine’s global ambassador for three years and collaborated with Bulgari on a limited-edition watch in 2023.

In November 2022, Frederic attended one of Blackpink’s concerts at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles before posting a snap alongside the band members.

He and Lisa were then spotted giggling together at the Bulgari Mediterranean High Jewelry Event in Venice back in May as well as hanging out in Paris when the K-Pop star was on the group’s world tour.

Another photo also surfaced of the two at a private airport lounge in Los Angeles, California.

Neither Lisa nor Frederic have confirmed the status of their relationship.

DailyMail.com at the time had contacted representatives for TAG Heuer and Blackpink for comment.

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By Charlotte Griffiths

Published: 5:00 PM EST, February 10, 2024 | Updated: 03:26 EST, February 11, 2024