PAs in the news

Nelson Mandela’s personal assistant has exposed the power struggles that went on within his family over the last few years of the much-respected South African leader’s life. In her memoir, Good Morning, Mr Mandela, Zelda La Grange points the finger at his oldest daughter, Makaziwe, who apparently attempted to stop some of his old friends from visiting after he became too ill to communicate with them properly.

Even at Mandela’s funeral, there was tension in terms of the arrangements, according to Zelda, who recalls that Irish rocker Bono of legendary group U2 and actress Charlize Theron were initially refused entry into the VIP suite where the memorial service was held. Former South African president FW de Klerk is said to have had to intervene to get supermodel Naomi Campbell and himself accreditation to attend Mandela’s lying-in-state in Pretoria.

Zelda first started working for Mandela as a typist in the president’s office when she was just 23 and later became his PA for nearly 20 years, as well as his spokesperson and trusted confidante.

Meanwhile, the PA to Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, has filed a lawsuit against him, claiming that he fired her after she rejected his sexual overtures. Maiko Maya King also alleges that Sterling made racist remarks about her former husband, who is African-American.

Staying in the US, it seems that the first lady’s PA has a special task: as well as all the mainstream admin duties she’s called upon to perform, Meredith Koop also takes a hand in ensuring that Michelle Obama’s wardrobe befits a lady of her stature. Since all the different outfits that the president’s wife wears for her public appearances have to be paid for out of her own pocket, it’s understandable that Meredith has been tasked with recycling various looks to keep Mrs Obama’s style fresh – and she has been known to obtain some decent discounts on occasion too.

We’ve all got to start somewhere and, as celebrity gossip site thedailybeast.com reminds us, even Kim Kardashian, one-half of the world’s most high-profile couple, Kimye, following her wedding to rapper Kanye West, started out as a PA. Her boss at the time was none other than hotel heiress and perennial party girl, Paris Hilton.

The site has dug deep into its archives to unearth some photos from before Kim hit the big time, which show her engaged in such hands-on tasks as reorganising the reality star’s closets and even giving her a soothing foot rub – clearly a necessity given La Hilton’s habit of wearing gravity-defying footwear.