Hidden Hills has a number of entrances and exits, so the photographers split up and wait at each one. Kim will leave eventually, but they won’t know in advance which exit she is going to use. When she is spotted, the photographer stationed at that particular gate texts everyone else that she is on the move. By clubbing together in this way, they ensure that they all have the opportunity to get a picture. It is reminiscent of the days when squadrons of paparazzi used to hang around outside Kensington Palace in the hope that Princess Diana would go out. A Kim picture guarantees a sale in much the same way as one of the adored royal icon did.
I popped into a hotel in Calabasas to ask for some directions and told the receptionist, probably a resting actress, that I was writing a book about Kim Kardashian. She volunteered, ‘I don’t really like her. I don’t see what her point is.’ It reminded me of local hostility against Britney Spears when I visited McComb, Mississippi, where she was born. Perhaps it’s the way people always feel about the most famous face in their midst.
I enjoyed my day in Calabasas, but I needed to beat the traffic on the freeway to return to downtown Los Angeles and civilisation. Before I left, there was time to ask an elegant woman shopping for clothes in a boutique very similar to DASH what she thought of the Kardashians: ‘You don’t get anywhere in that family without a vagina. Bruce has realised that …’
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Kim Kardashian West demonstrated to the world the global power of her celebrity when she arrived at the Armenian Memorial Complex in that obscure country’s capital of Yerevan in April 2015. The pictures of her, solemnly carrying a bunch of bright red tulips that matched the colour of her dazzling jumpsuit, went round the world.
After she had laid the tribute at the eternal flame, bedlam broke out as TV cameramen and photographers – and the public brandishing phones – battled for pictures of Kim and her family. It had been the same story ever since she had touched down in Mother Armenia, as she calls the land of her ancestors.
‘Armenia, we are here!!!!!’ She posted to her then 30 million Instagram followers when she arrived. ‘We are so grateful to be here and start this journey of a lifetime. Thank you to everyone who greeted us. I can’t wait to explore our country and have some yummy food!’
On the flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Kim had slept completely hidden from prying eyes by a blanket. She always does this on planes so nobody can snap an unglamorous shot of her snoring with her mouth open. They flew the last part of their journey economy class, much to the amazement of other passengers.
When she arrived, she appeared completely refreshed, in ripped white jeans and a tight white top, although she hid her eyes behind a huge pair of sunglasses, in case the ravages of jet lag had caught her before her make-up artist, who always travels with her, could step in.
The visit saw Kim, and her younger sister Khloé, give an object lesson in how to combine glamour with tasteful respect. For their audience with the prime minister, they wore figure-hugging outfits that showed off all their curves. Kim chose beige and combined it with killer heels. Yet for their trip to the sacred Geghard Monastery, a World Heritage Site, she chose understated black.
Kanye West was on hand to secure his wife’s veil affectionately, although her wardrobe assistant took over to make the necessary adjustments for the perfect picture. Arguably, Kim has never looked lovelier than in this respectful homage to the country’s tradition. She looked very Armenian, with her coal-black eyes, long black hair and curvaceous silhouette.
This was Kim’s first visit to the land of her father’s family. Inevitably, there was nothing low key about it, especially as the plan was to feature her journey to the homeland in her long-running reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The television crew from E! tried to look as inconspicuous as possible – as if carrying around a large boom microphone were the most natural thing in Armenia.
A stills man from the Splash News & Pictures Agency, Brian Prahl, a sort of unofficial official photographer at the court of Queen Kim, travelled with them to record the trip, ensuring that the pictures taken were pin sharp and of the highest quality. Brian did his job well and everyone looked their best.
Wherever she went, the streets were lined with hundreds of people anxious to get a glimpse of her or, most prized of all, a selfie with the most photographed woman in the world. It was like a boisterous royal tour, with Kanye and Kim in the role of Prince William and ‘Princess Kate’. Their little daughter, North, captured hearts with an array of cute expressions, just as the baby Prince George had on his first overseas trip to Australia a year earlier.
Even Kanye broke into the occasional smile, usually when playing with North. He stayed a pace behind his wife, much in the manner of William with Kate, or Prince Philip accompanying the Queen. The men understand that they are not the focus of attention on these occasions.
Kanye did have his moment in the spotlight, however, when he gave an ‘impromptu’ concert for thousands of excited Armenians and was able to display some rock ’n’ roll behaviour by jumping fully clothed into Yerevan’s romantic-sounding Swan Lake. Apparently, he made the decision to go out and sing for the people only that night, although it’s doubtful if his Armenian security detail would have allowed such spontaneity. It proved to be good fun.
He had just started singing ‘Good Life’, when he took everyone by surprise by leaping into the water, which, a little undramatically, only came up to his knees. He managed to get his microphone wet, which brought the song to an abrupt halt. That didn’t bother his audience, who began to jump in and splash around as well. Kim, who, dressed in sweats, was looking about as casual as she ever gets, explained that he wanted to be closer to the fans on the other side of the lake. ‘It was an exciting, crazy night!’ she said. After he had been firmly helped out of the water by guards, Kanye sang another five songs: ‘Stronger’, ‘Jesus Walks’, ‘Power’, ‘Touch the Sky’ and ‘All of the Lights’.
His escapade lightened the mood of what could have been a very sombre few days. Despite the excitement her journey to Armenia generated, there was a serious point to it all. Kim wanted to draw attention to what many – and certainly all of the Kardashians – regard as the first modern genocide.
She had flown in just before the one hundredth anniversary, on 24 April, of the slaughter of more than 1.5 million Christian Armenians by Muslim Ottoman Turks. It preceded the Holocaust in Nazi Germany by a generation, but became a footnote in the history of the twentieth century, scarcely covered in school history lessons. Kim was determined to change that. She blogged, ‘Every year, I honour the memory of the martyrs who were killed during the 1915 Armenian Genocide.’
This didn’t sound like the sort of issue that might concern a woman posting selfies to her Instagram followers or sharing information online about her favourite salad or how to bleach your eyebrows. She explained, ‘So many people have come to me and said, “I had no idea there was a genocide.” There aren’t that many Armenians in this business. We have this spotlight to bring attention to it, so why would we just sit back? I will continue to ask the questions and fight for the genocide to be recognised for what it was.’ There are a few household names from Armenia: Cher, Andre Agassi and the popular French singer Charles Aznavour were three of the best known before the Kardashians became so famous.
Not only is their country a fleeting presence in history lessons, it doesn’t feature largely in geography classes either. The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked, mountainous country wedged between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Turkey is to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and Iran to the south. Since it achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has relied on tourism to the beautiful country to bolster