Jemima Khan - Marriage To Imran Khan

Marriage To Imran Khan

Jemima married Imran Khan, a retired Pakistani cricketer turned politician, on 16 May 1995 in a traditional Islamic ceremony in Paris. They also had a civil ceremony on 21 June 1995 at the Richmond Register Office, followed by a midsummer ball at Ormeley Lodge. A few months before her wedding, she converted to Islam, citing the writings of Muhammad Asad, Charles le Gai Eaton and Alija Izetbegović as her influences. In Lahore, Pakistan, she learned to speak Urdu and also wore Traditional Pakistani clothes. she wrote in her 2008 article for The Times that she "over-conformed in eagerness to be accepted" into the "new and radically different culture" of Pakistan. Diana, Princess of Wales, was a close friend of Jemima, visiting her twice in Lahore, Pakistan, the year that Diana died. In 2003, she received her MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, focusing on Modern Trends in Islam.

In 1998, Khan launched an eponymous fashion label that employed poor Pakistani women to embroider western clothes with eastern handiwork to be sold in London and New York. Profits were donated to her husband's Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. She ran the organization until December 2001, when she shut down the business due to the economic situation following the September 11 attacks, and so she could focus on fundraising and on supporting her husband in Pakistani politics. She established the Jemima Khan Afghan Refugee Appeal to provide tents, clothing, food, and healthcare for Afghan refugees at Jalozai camp in Peshawar.

In 1999, Khan was charged in Pakistan with illegally exporting Islamic era antique tiles. She claimed that the charge was a fabrication to harass and damage her husband, but nevertheless, left Pakistan to stay with her mother for fear of incarceration. After General Pervez Musharraf overthrew elected Prime Minister Navaz Sharif in a coup d'état, in 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Archaeology verified the tiles were not antiques, and the Pakistani court dropped the charges, allowing her to return to Lahore.

Khan became an Ambassador for UNICEF UK in 2001, and went on field trips to Kenya, Romania, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last of which she later helped victims of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake by raising emergency funds. She has promoted UNICEF's Breastfeeding Manifesto, Growing Up Alone and End Child Exploitation campaigns in the UK.

Khan supported her husband as he became more involved in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (a.k.a. "Justice Movement") party. Imran became a member of Pakistan's parliament in 2002 and has been a "vociferous critic of President Pervez Musharraf". However, on 22 June 2004, Imran announced they have divorced; he stated that "my political life made it difficult for her to adapt to life in Pakistan" and "This was a mutual decision and is clearly very sad for both of us. My home and my future is in Pakistan."