Chef's £450 trip just to make soup
The Mirror
May 11, 2007

STING and his wife Trudie Styler spent £500,000 a year on running their lavish kitchen entertaining celebrities including Madonna and Sir Elton John.

Details of their huge catering bills were revealed as an employment tribunal ruled that they broke the law by sacking cook Jane Martin, 41, because she was pregnant.

Tribunal papers show incredible details of the couple's opulent lifestyle with no expense spared catering to their whims.

Once, Ms Martin was ordered to take a train and taxi from their Wiltshire mansion to their London home at a cost of £148 and paid £300 overtime just to prepare them soup and a salad.

The super-rich couple also had truffles couriered from France for a photoshoot.

And they spent £6,000 on caviar for a party even though Ms Martin had told them that £3,000 worth was enough for their guests. Ms Styler ordered the whole stock to be served and much was wasted.

Ms Martin, of Winchester, Hants, worked as a £28,000-a-year chef at the 170-acre Lake House estate - with organic farm and dairy - in Wiltshire for eight years.

She told the tribunal that she knew she had fallen out of favour when Sting and Ms Styler, whose previous birthday gifts included a Hermes watch, Tiffany jewellery and a ruby and sapphire necklace, gave her eight tulips for her 40th birthday in 2005.

She had been off sick with a stomach bug and Ms Styler was allegedly furious. Ms Martin claimed staff lived in fear of actress Ms Styler who had a "grandiose ego" and wanted to be treated in a "royal manner".

Ms Martin went on maternity leave and the couple's management company told her she was redundant because they had too many chefs.

The tribunal in Southampton said Ms Styler was behind her dismissal and condemned her actions towards Ms Martin as "shameful". The judgment said: "She is without doubt the driving force manipulating others to perform her dirty work."

Yesterday Ms Styler said she was devastated by the judgment that she was guilty of sexual discrimination. She added: "Jane Martin was always treated well and we remain stunned at her actions and at the verdict."

Compensation will be decided at a hearing on June 8.

LOL, I didn't think this one would get many posts. I was just interested in the article cuz there's been stuff in the press lately about peeps' image vs the way they "really" are. A friend of mine met Sting once and he was super nice but Trudie was an ice queen and looked annoyed that Sting was being nice.

see wot i mean, plye?!!!
i'm seeing so many celebs who aren't as nice in 'real life' as they seem to be on the screen, that i'm thinking it's better for me to just maybe base my opinions of them on liking their acting/singing/etc and not them personally... otherwise the magic is ruined for me lol...

i'm so glad i keep hearing that our pirate leader is nice, period, not just when cameras roll!

i agree, ufo. Lisa's realness is one of her best of many great qualities. I try to judge an artist on their work and not on the media's or other people's version of who they are. If I only read books, watched films or enjoyed art by people living up to some high standard I would be living a nearly art-free life lol.