Annabel Karmel paid £725 for chauffeur… to get dog home from French holiday

Children’s cookery writer Annabel Karmel has said she once paid £725 for a private chauffeur to drive her and her pet dog back to their London home from a luxury ski resort in the French Alps.

The celebrated author said she flew the dog out by plane, to be with the family on the £10,000 holiday, but that she could not fly him back, and after Eurostar refused to take the animal, she said she had no other choice.

“It was unbelievable,” she said in an interview with The Sunday Times. “It was the only way I could get him back. He’s a very expensive dog.” Elsewhere in the interview, she said: “I’m a spender, but I spend wisely.”

Karmel, who began her working life as a classical musician, was last year accused of being a sexual predator by a young male employee, who said he was sacked after spurning her advances. All claims were later dropped.