Kirsty Bertarelli
Kirsty Bertarelli | |
|---|---|
| File:Kirsty Bertarelli.jpg Kirsty Bertarelli on 14 December 2010 | |
| Born | Kirsty Roper 30 June 1971 Staffordshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, singer |
| Known for | Miss United Kingdom, 1988 "Black Coffee" (All Saints song) |
| Spouse | |
| Website | Bertarelli's music website |
Kirsty Bertarelli (born Kirsty Roper on 30 June 1971) is a British songwriter and former beauty queen who earned the title of Miss United Kingdom in 1988 and secured third place at Miss World 1988. She was previously married to Ernesto Bertarelli, an Italian-Swiss entrepreneur known for owning the biotech firm Serono until 2007 and for leading the yacht syndicate Alinghi to victory in the America's Cup in both 2003 and 2007.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2017, her ex-husband’s family ranked sixth among the wealthiest in the UK with an estimated net worth of £11.5 billion, which positioned her as the richest woman in Britain at that time. In addition, Swiss magazine BILANZ placed the family fourth in its wealth rankings with assets exceeding CHF11 billion.
Early life and career
Kirsty was born in the United Kingdom on 30 June 1971 and raised in Stone, Staffordshire. Her family previously owned the prominent ceramics company Churchill China.
Following her success as Miss UK in 1988 and achieving second runner-up at Miss World, she relocated to London to develop a career in songwriting and secured a contract with Warner Records.
In 2000, Kirsty married Ernesto Bertarelli, a biotech industry leader. The couple resided near Lake Geneva in Switzerland until their divorce in mid-2021. Post-divorce, she remains among the wealthiest divorced women in the UK, with an estimated fortune surpassing £400 million. She serves as a trustee for The Bertarelli Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing neuroscience research and promoting marine conservation.
The Foundation funds neuroscience initiatives at the Centre for Neuroprosthetics within the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, collaborating closely with Harvard Medical School. Its marine conservation efforts have supported establishing protected areas such as those in the British Indian Ocean Territory, Easter Island, and Belize’s Turneffe Atoll.
Additionally, Kirsty champions local community projects near her roots, including providing a £4,500 scholarship for underprivileged students attending Staffordshire University, partnering with the regional YMCA, and supporting the Stoke-on-Trent Literary Festival.
Music career
In 2000, she co-authored the international hit "Black Coffee" performed by All Saints, which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top ten across seven other nations.
Kirsty has continued her songwriting pursuits by composing tracks for the UK-Swiss charity Smiling Children Foundation. Her vocal talent was described as a "golden voice" by Le Matin. She secured a deal with Universal Music Group, releasing her debut single "Don't Say" digitally on 9 December 2009. Her album Elusive followed on 15 January 2010, debuting at number 20 on Swiss charts.
Throughout 2010, she released two additional singles—"Elusive" and "More Than Anything"—in Switzerland and performed live at notable venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as opening for Simply Red in Edinburgh and Zürich.
In 2011, WWF selected a remix of her environmentally themed track "Green" as their anthem for its 50th anniversary Panda Ball event. All proceeds from this release were donated to support WWF’s conservation projects. The acoustic album Green was digitally released in February 2012, with earnings also benefiting WWF initiatives.
That same year saw the launch of her single "Set Your Body Free," featuring remixes by Loverush UK!, Jason van Wyk, Full Intention, and Nova.
In January 2012, Kirsty entered into a long-term exclusive publishing agreement with Sony/ATV Music. She collaborated with trance DJ Armin van Buuren, whose remix of her track "Twilight" remained on dance charts for nine weeks, peaking at number two on Music Week's club chart. Their collaboration extended to van Buuren producing her single "Free of War".
Her album Love Is, partially recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, was released during this period. In autumn 2013, she signed with Decca Records and subsequently issued Indigo Shores on 12 May 2014.