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What do Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, Richard Branson and Camilla Parker Bowles have in common? They are the latest additions to a burgeoning new category of celebrity: those whose children threaten to be more famous than they are.
There was a time when people largely became famous because
they had a special talent or a unique ability. George Best was the most brilliant footballer of his generation. Lenny Kravitz was a genius rock star. The Hiltons ran some successful hotels.
But their children were born famous. To dazzle they had merely to exist. Which Paris Hilton does decadently, Zoe Kravitz does with breathtaking beauty and Calum Best does, just.
Fame used to be the by-product of a career: acting dynasties such as the Redgraves and the Douglases, and singing families like the one that includes Whitney Houston and Dionne Warwick, spread their talented genes through the generations. Now fame itself is a family business.
Last year, Mario Testino was commissioned by Vogue to photograph teenagers who epitomised cool, glamorous London. The result was a rash of familiar names: Max Irons, the model son of the actor Jeremy; Alice Dellal, the photographer daughter of the model Andrea.
Towards the end of last year in Britain it was difficult to pick up a newspaper or magazine without discovering the latest feuds of Lily "daughter of Keith" Allen and Peaches "daughter of Bob" Geldof, or Paris "hotel dynasty" Hilton and Nicole "Lionel's child" Richie.
Now, a new campaign by Burberry shows that, more than ever, it is the name that matters. The presence of Kate Moss only seems to highlight that not all of these children are lovely. But it is not their looks that are important, it is their names: Max Irons; Otis and Isaac Ferry (sons of singer Bryan); Theodora and Alexandra Richards (daughters of the coconut tree-climbing rock star Keith) and Sam Branson (son of Richard).
A fashion industry insider who understands the thinking behind this says: "The ads are about a fusion between a quintessentially British, aristocratic heritage and a rock chic, edgy image.
"Somebody like Otis Ferry combines history with the contemporary. If you're the child of a megastar you probably have a high disposable income and a glamorous lifestyle. It conveys a sense of choice by people who can afford to do and wear what they like."
Otis is notorious for storming the House of Commons to protest against a ban on hunting, and in a recent interview he vowed he would never enter the music world.
"Being a pop star's son is irrelevant," he said. "What's interesting is that I am a 21-year-old hunt master in the thick of it."
Some aspiring superstars are more upfront about the benefits that a famous name can offer.
India Waters is a successful model. She is also the daughter of Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.
"Life has been easier for me," she admits. "For four years after I started modelling I didn't use my father's name. Then, when I'd got a Vogue shoot without anyone knowing who I was, I thought, 'Sod it, let's sell out'."
But the traditional musical and theatrical dynasties still exist too. Rufus and Martha Wainwright are the children of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. Their friend Teddy Thompson's parents are the folk musicians Richard and Linda Thompson. Kate Hudson, who seems to have inherited her looks and her career from her mother, Goldie Hawn, complained: "When you start out, people don't necessarily take you so seriously. They're expecting a spoiled little rich kid to come in."
Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh said: "When I was 18 all I did was go to interviews. I didn't get any special treatment. Instead they were very keen to say, 'Tony Curtis' daughter? She can't be any good.' You'd think, if genetics meant anything at all, everyone would have been very keen to hire me as an actress."
Mickey Sumner, the model daughter of Sting and Trudie Styler, says her role model was another celebrity daughter.
"I met Stella McCartney at her show in Paris, and she was inspirational. I said to her, 'You make me want to do something with my life, because you've done the hardest thing - with that name'."
Professor Mark Griffiths, who has researched the psychology of fame at Nottingham Trent University, said: "All children are obviously highly influenced by their parents and it's unsurprising when they take things from them. My children have two psychologists for parents and I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them were to become a psychologist."
But it is unlikely the children of a builder who grew up to make houses would go through the kind of torments that some celebrity children face.
"In some cases it is impossible to achieve the same kind of success," says Griffiths. "Julian and Sean Lennon are both very gifted musicians but they will never touch their dad. They're on a hiding to nothing. You've always got problems if you go directly into exactly the same thing. You'll always be compared."
Given the way that celebrities complain about press intrusion and the tedium of fame, you might think that having celebrity parents would send a child hurtling into self-imposed obscurity, like Zowie Bowie, who changed his name to Duncan Jones and became an ad manager.
Keith Richards' daughter Dandelion also shunned the limelight, unlike her half-sisters Alexandra and Theodora, who are models. Dandelion renamed herself Angela and married a carpenter.
Griffiths believes this is uncommon. "Wanting to be famous is endemic in society now," he says. "Children have nothing to compare their childhood to, so they don't know it isn't normal."
Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin's daughter now has her own TV show, Bindi, the Jungle Girl. She is 8.
There is no shortage of ready young volunteers being added to the celebrity gene pool. Prepare for the latest single by Bluebell Halliwell and the new film with Shiloh Nouvel Pitt-Jolie, coming soon.
- INDEPENDENT
