(Christmas party, 11th 2007)

After viewing these pics of Rocky, of whom I am so proud, scroll down to my BIO.

(Rocky on his drums, Feb 2008, aged 51 yrs.)

                       ~ Gwydir Castle Courtyard view, and lit up at night.~

{Scroll down for more details on my beginnings and to read the excerpt of the first chapter of my Autobiography. More chapters in the 'book' section, and more to be added later.}

  

                         SYNOPSIS of my Autobiography.        

     How many people have had such a brilliantly bad life as me? None I would wager! From a Colonial family, baronettes on my father’s side, with an ancestral castle. My beautiful mother was the daughter of a Polynesian Princess. Growing up with stories of grandeur and servants. (I always wanted my own black mama, to look after me, and I still hope for this.) Then a manic type of LIFE happened!

     I lived the kind of life that might have driven some people crazy. Filled with non-stop action, emotions, trauma, disasters, physical and mental abuse, illnesses, operations (and not only mine) guilt, grief, loss, being blamed for things I never did, but sometimes had to lay claim to.

     I moved house one hundred and eighteen times. (ALL the addresses have been listed and there is a story attached to each one.) I found it necessary to move home every two or three weeks, the reasons mostly, were to avoid men who stalked me once they knew me, and when I became somewhat of a celebrity.

     My incredible life has been filled with grief, loss, highs and excitement, disasters, mental and physical pain with many escapes! In the process, I became a celebrity, once met Prince Charles and Lady Di face to face (on their side of the red carpet.)

     I have experienced many supernatural encounters and undergone an enforced exorcism performed by my Doctor and Pentecostal ministers who said I was possessed by the devil. The story appeared on the front page of, ‘The News of the World’ newspaper. I also unwittingly became involved with the Soho Mafia when I was twenty-one years of age.

     I survived with my life on many occasions when I should have died. I actually saw my guardian angel, when he saved my sister and myself in a car on a UK Motorway. Another car ordeal on the motorway, with a friend was a near miss, when something in the engine blew up and I struggled to keep control. Some years later, not long after my mother died, I miraculously survived a car crash that took two and a half hours for me to be cut out of. That should have killed or at least paralyzed me. I was also blown up in a gas explosion, to only mention a few of my dangerous mishaps.

     Each choice was a total gamble, consisting of decisions between the worst of situations. Searching for, and trying to keep my children was one of the most painful situations. Many risks did not pay off and I lived on the edge constantly. I became an adrenaline junkie. But, I never completely lost hope or my ambitions. Neither did I become bitter or paint everyone with the same brush.

     I was involved with some terrible people, but also met all types of kind-hearted and decent folk. My accomplishments along the way have been many, but the main one is surviving the life I led, and walking my unusual path for so many years without going insane. Also, it is very strange that I do not look anywhere near my age. I look twenty or more years younger and am truly unique.

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First, there were the five husband's.

     My first husband Ken, was also my first boyfriend. At the age of eighteen, I did not know anything about boyfriends and at nineteen tied myself down way too early with marriage.

     The second was a vicious karate black-belt and alcoholic, Gavvy. Who became the father of my second child. He probably did me the most damage for he was the reason I lost my two small daughters, one as a newborn. His true nature was hidden from me until the day we were married. I then unsuccessfully tried to leave him the day after, when on our honeymoon. Two days later he phoned to say he would cut my legs off when he arrived back at my home, which had now become the marital home. It was the beginning of a short period of absolute hell.

     Next there was a powerful, astute businessman, Bob, who was also a witch and healer.

     Because of his beliefs, we had a 'hand-fasting,' which is a witches wedding as well as having the civil one. He was multi-talented (not in the musical sense) and could turn his hand to anything. This talent helped him amass over £1.5 million (Approx., $3.0 million) in properties, with some of my help. He seemed very charming and kind. During this marriage I suffered many illnesses...

     They included almost daily Migraines, and severe IBS. I also suffered dreadfully with symptoms similar to arsenic poisoning. I am still trying to get these poisons out of my system, eleven years later, and still suffer the affects. My health became so bad I was unable to fully comprehend all his business dealings and the benefits at the time. I did not even know how many properties he had acquired. I demanded he leave. Remarkably, within three months after separating from him, I became healthier.

     Then, the fourth time, I married a recovering alcoholic, self-confessed ‘assassin.’ ‘Paul Bruce,’ who wrote the worldwide best selling book, ‘The Nemesis File.’ An autobiography about his life and his assassinations whilst being in the British Army in one of their ‘S.A.S. Execution Squads.’ He had almost conquered the need to destroy himself, but his self-destruct button turned itself on again. The nature of an alcoholic can never be hidden for long...

     I found he was not able to hide his coldness once married to me. Much later and to my detriment, he caused much hurt and also conned me out of a great deal of my remaining money. I helped him keep his own home on, where he kept his rare collections. Only after marriage, did I realize the qualities I believed to be in him, were not there at all. In reality, he was a cold, uncommunicative, unaffectionate, uncaring, unsupportive and calculating brute.

     After I threw him out of my house, he threatened to turn up inside my house. He said that as I had tried suicide in the past, it would be easy to make it look like that again. He said I could not escape as his comrades in the SAS would know about the contract our on me. His threats were most frightening, and I had to barricade myself in, for three months over Christmas. Then I left the country.

~2005~

     The fifth. Now we come also to my closest friend, who I finally found on the internet. Because of him, I decided to turn my back on all I knew in the UK, and leave many of my material possessions behind. I gambled on a totally fresh new life, by leaving the UK. I came to live with Rocky, a Chicagoan. (We have since married and moved near Nashville, Tennessee. Although we have a very large home in TN, we still spend time in Chicago, which we greatly love.)

     Rocky has an MBA in Business Studies gained at the University of Chicago and is one gorgeous, young looking 47 year old, extremely strong, weightlifter. A Chief Financial Controller, in a billion dollar, top consulting company. I introduced him to the drums. We found he has a natural ability, and is very musically talented. 

     After the life I've lived it is not easy for me to 'give' myself as I'm such a free spirit. But,  to have such a great, trusted friend and partner who is always there for me, is all that I need. I am the same to him and that will make this my best and permanent relationship.

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Then there were also the six common-law-husbands.

     The first one, Nick, the son of a heart consultant (from Swindon) became the father of my first daughter, Donna. But, I nearly lost her at birth, and trouble started with Nick and I. We were no longer able to communicate, and many fights occurred between us. I had to leave him when my daughter was fourteen months old. He is now married to Susie Denton, of Denton Real Estate, Southern California. Although he moved to the States, around 1974. His brother Richard, or Dick as he was called, lives nearby Nick and his family comprising of wife and two daughters.

     The second man, John Marney, was a kind person who I stayed with for two and a half years. He had been the best friend of a married man I unwittingly fell for, not knowing the truth that he lived with a wife and six children. Eventually, John and I argued over his not being able to look after my daughter and myself properly. He was a divorcee still paying for his previous family.

      Third, was Parky, (Tony Parke) who gambled heavily and drank all the ‘Guinness’s placed in front of him, whilst still being an incredible Pool player. He was unable to financially add anything to our security, and due to my having to pay many of his debts regularly, I often left him. But, he followed me from one town to another. Sixteen times I moved away, but each time he persuaded me to take him back. He eventually got murdered in an argument over me, when he finally quit gambling and was about to buy us a house with his saved up winnings. He was helped by someone on the inside of the horse racing business. It was a woman I knew casually, Pat, a jockey, who worked at a famous Lambourne horse riding stable, that killed him with a knife-wound in the heart.

     Fourth, was David Roberts, a man who was both a ‘fur-dyer’ by trade and professional drummer. He encouraged me to be a musician in his band where I played and sang. We went on to form many different styles of bands, but after two years we had almost daily volatile arguments, mainly over his liking for football and television. He did not like my friendship with other musicians in the bands. After I left him for the second time, he married my eighteen year old sister, Mandy. Sadly for me, on having her third and fourth children she told me that my kind of life was disruptive to her, as she had a home to run. This broke my heart as Mandy and I were always so close and her being fifteen years younger than me, was almost like my own daughter.

     Fifth, was Tony Kay, an extremely creative and talented multi-instrumentalist musician, singer and songwriter. Also, an artist and author. He was friendly with the band ‘Pink Floyd’ and played socially with them. His guitar style is the same as Dave Gilmour, their lead guitarist. Tony's mother, Mary, had been manager to the famous UK comedian Tommy Cooper for eighteen years, and it was her who was with him on the night he died on stage, in front of a huge audience and millions of television viewers. Tony is a wonderful spiritual person and is still a great friend of mine to this day.

     Sixth, was a lovely gentleman named Lambo, just eighteen months older than I. He was a millionaire architect, with a nine-bedroom mansion in Sunningdale, near Ascot, in the UK. This is where the Queen races her horses at one of the biggest equestrian events of the year. Lambo looked after me for five years, and did so much to promote my show business career. He had great faith in me and loved to show me off at top London clubs, like ‘The Sportsman’s Club,’ Park Lane. ‘Les Ambassadeurs’ club and ‘Morton’s’ which is part-owned by Michael Caine. I met many celebrities and other millionaires, some becoming our friends.

     There was a surprise meeting with Lady Di and Prince Charles, when they visited the Hammersmith Palais, London, after it’s renovation. Lambo had been working on the new design as an architect. (We found ourselves on their side of the barrier and were inches away from them as they had to walk past us!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     My tiny Pomeranian, Ching, came over with me from the UK in April 2004. After six months and at the age of fourteen years, she succumbed to kidney problems. But, still grief-stricken, three months on, I acquired two tiny Show Poms, ‘Seva’ and ‘Tiko,’ who will be 10 months old in Sept 05. I have since given Tiko to my friend Carol Ann, who is a doting mother and treats Tiko as I do Seva. I had to let one go, as together I could not take them everywhere with me. It is much easier to have Seva in her mesh handbag and my own handbag on my shoulder. It is also much better for giving one on one love, and that is what tiny dogs need. I have Ching back in a ‘freeze-dried’ form. She looks almost life-like, and at least I have what is remaining of her.

     I hope Rocky will be with me for the rest of my life too, as we work so well together and the business is beginning to thrive. I now see a chance for good health and will soon have all I require from life. I see success and happiness at last, as I am about to be hugely launched as an author, singer, songwriter, & performer, in 2006. Publishing, marketing songs and books through my company, registered in June 2004, in the United States.

     All this, thanks to Rocky, and his massive faith in me!

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{Excerpt from the book.} 

THE CONFLICTS AND STRUGGLES, of ‘Donni-Jay De-Ville.’

Chapter One.

    I was born on the Twenty-First of July, at The Towers, in ‘Millionaires Row,’ Bishops Avenue,  one of the most affluent areas in North London. Near Hampstead. The house belonged to ‘Gracie Fields.’ One of the UK’s top singers around at the time.

   My late mother was part Polynesian, part British and of royal birth, actually a princess, but this embarrassed her. Especially, now that she was in England. She always had great dignity and a powerful presence which everyone recognized. We all knew she was an heiress, but Mum told me many stories of her past, which were not shared with the rest of the family. Her mother, a Polynesian Princess, was crippled by my Mum's birth which caused great psychological problems. At three years of age, Mum was given an Ayiah to raise her and be her nanny. Her parents placed both of them in a convent, for Mum to be taught by strict Irish nuns.

   When Mum turned eighteen, the Ayiah’s job was completed and there was a painful parting of the ways. They were now to pursue their own separate lives. Mum went on to train as a nurse, and whilst still training, she lost both her parents. Her mother died of a long-standing illness, and her father died of a broken heart one week later.

   Mum's wealthy parents had relocated to India soon after her birth, but during the Indian Uprising of 1947, she was forced to leave the country. I listened as she described how people were attacked, and of one occasion when a man was knifed and died in front of her (Strangely, this exact re-enactment happened to me in 1972, when I was in Soho, London.) The Uprising was a very frightening time, and all who stayed would have to take Indian nationality. The India she knew, governed by the British, had changed. It was no longer possible to live the luxury lifestyle she had grown accustomed to, and Mum wanted out quickly.

   She had been involved with a man, John, who owned many movie houses, until meeting my father at a nurses dance. He was a pilot and a boxing champion in the Royal Air Force. My father found out about John and threatened him to stay away from my Mum. She often reminisced about John to me and wondered if she made a mistake in not marrying him. When the Uprising occurred, just after the death of her parents, she was so alone that she succumbed to my father and got engaged to him. As they all needed to leave India as soon as possible, Mum travelled to London to live with my Colonial grandparents.

   Unfortunately, the Uprising and Mum’s leaving was prior to her twenty-first birthday, when she would have reached an age to collect her inheritance. Her uncle had kept the money in trust for her, but subsequently disappeared with it. Now, living in London, she was shocked to find everyone did not have servants. Also, she thought that television were making up lies about India, when she saw the squalidness and Indians who lived in poverty. She had not been in these areas and so never saw that side of India. Mum was now forced to find a trade to help support herself and my father. She became a dressmaker, later on becoming a nurse again.

   Mum discovered the skill when my father's brother, Uncle Mervyn secured her a job in this trade. My uncle had been a medic in the Forces as he refused to use a gun and would not kill anyone, not even in self defence. He, like all of Granny's children, is an accomplished musician and singer. He is also one of the kindest people I know. I loved to hear him play keyboards and sing. He was likened to Sir Cliff Richard, of great UK fame. A cherished memory is of the time he made a beautiful dress for me. It was Christmas and he made one for my cousin, Lindy Benson also. But, mine was far prettier and I still remember how good I felt wearing it.

   My mother taught me to read and write. By the age of four, I could read aloud from newspapers, write letters and keep diaries. I loved to write stories and make little books to sell when I started school. I believed that made me a REAL writer!

   The books portrayed my thoughts and insights into adult behaviour. I knew they did not completely understand the things I said or the way my mind worked. Mostly, they only 'pretended' to understand. I also wrote about incidents that happened around me, or to me.

   From the time of my birth until I was eight years old, the whole family lived with my grandparents. Granny spent the most time with me. We sat together in her room for hours, while I listened enthralled to stories of her past Colonial life. Granny and my grandfather, affectionately known to us all as ‘Papa,’ had lived in India in a mansion with acres of grounds. There were separate quarters for the many servants.

   Papa worked with the British Government, as a Commissioner with the Great Indian Railway. They lived in their mansion along with their four children. They also entertained a great deal and had 'social events' which Granny used to call 'balls.' Everyone wore either ball gowns or dinner jackets. I was fascinated as Granny described the dresses she wore. Granny was of Catalan, Spanish descent and Papa had come from Wales.

   Our ancestors owned the, ‘Gwydir Castle,’ in Llanrwst, North Wales, which is in the Conwy valley, with Snowdonia behind it. Dating back to the close of the Sixteenth Century, when its deer park alone, occupied 36,000 acres, Sir John Wynn, one of my direct ancestors owned the castle.

   Papa changed our name from ‘Wynn,’ the Welsh spelling, to ‘Winn.’ He added his middle name of ‘Eden’ and our family became the 'Eden-Winn’s.' We were evidently fighting with the other half of the family, called the ‘Burgess’ Wynn’s. There is much to say on this topic but, it is all too historical for me, although I am researching hugely ino it all now. I heard that the castle had been handed over to the Preservation Society, with some of my ancestors still living in the back.  My Uncle Merv has visited there and signed the guest book. I wish I had listened to the stories Papa told me back then. I do remember him saying that Sir John Wynn was the black sheep of the family.

{Five years ago, 1999, it was bought and renovated by Judy and Peter Welford. Judy wrote a book about ‘Gwydir Castle, called, ‘Castles in the Air.’ I have this book and feel very drawn to the place. It feels as if I’ve lived there before, in a past life. After seeing the photos in Judy's book, and on the internet, I remembered dreaming in the past, about being in and around this castle. The dining room with it's fine panelling and carving looked very familiar to me. Almost as if I had spent many times there.

My ancestral castle home, is known as the most haunted castle in Wales, UK.

One day I hope go go back and stay overnight, and at least sign the guest book, in my maiden name. I wonder if anyone, especially the infamous Sir John Wynn, will come back to see me? I am not new to seeing ghosts, but in a setting like the castle, it may be a tad scary! But, hey, he is a relative of mine, even if reputed to be a wicked man. But, what of the fortune left by Sir John Wynn? His direct next of kin did not see any of it. I wonder what I'll be able to turn up by the time the researching reaches it's culmination.

There is approximately fifty-five billion dollars unclaimed. Well worth a bit of research on my part I think.}

Back to my Grandparents ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     My Granny and Papa had a Rolls Royce car, with a chauffeur. My Papa even had his own personal train. They lived an amazing lifestyle until Papa lost his high position during the Uprising. At that point, he had to take his family from India in a great hurry, and was only able to take part of their money. 

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CLICK here for Chapter Two. {CHILDHOOD AND SIBLINGS} Continued in my book....
                                                

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