Shropshire Star

Danielle de Niese: How our daughter made a ‘dramatic entrance’

The soprano and her husband Gus Christie have become parents to Sheherazade.

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Danielle de Niese

Opera singer Danielle de Niese has said her baby made a “dramatic entrance” in the world – in her amniotic sac.

The soprano and her husband Gus Christie have become parents to Sheherazade, named after the character from One Thousand And One Nights.

“It was a big, dramatic entrance,” de Niese told Hello! magazine.

“She came out intact in the amniotic sac.

Danielle de Niese and husband Gus Christie
Danielle de Niese and husband Gus Christie (Hello! magazine)

Christie added: “It’s very rare – only one in 80,000 babies are born like this.

“It’s part of her enigma. We had to do lots of googling as there’s so much superstition around it. It’s supposed to bring good luck.”

The new arrival, born on December 13, is the first girl in 54 years to be born at their Glyndebourne home.

The couple already have five-year-old son Bacchus, while Christie, executive chairman of Glyndebourne, has four sons from a previous marriage.

“I always thought it would be lovely to have a girl, but Gus kept saying: ‘I make boys, so don’t get your hopes up,”  de Niese said.

The baby was born just one hour after the couple got to hospital.

“I couldn’t deliver the baby without looking at Gus. I needed to look at him,” de Niese said.

“I was shaking and trembling from adrenaline, which I wasn’t expecting. I think my body was in some sort of shock.”

The full interview is in Hello! magazine, out now.

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