As one of Britain’s most industrious self-publicists, Katie Price was furious when she was banned from her daughter Princess’s reality TV show.
Nor was her mood helped when she subsequently learned that she was not invited to the influencer’s 18th birthday party amid a feud between her and ex-husband Peter Andre, who was there along with his second wife (and Katie’s nemesis) Emily.
This row comes just weeks after Kieran Hayler, the father of former glamour model Price’s two youngest children, was arrested and charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl.
But now Katie, the troubled party girl, finally has something to smile about – the children are now again living with her at her new rented home.
And under pressure from the the wiser heads in her social circle, she has promised not to feature them on social media.
Friends of the star tell me she is ‘elated’ that she has regained custody of them three years after they went to live with their father back in 2022.
‘Katie is thrilled to have them back living with her full-time,’ says one. ‘But she has made a vow that she will not be sharing any pictures of them online. She wants to do the best she can for them and if that means keeping their home life private then so be it.
‘She had been told by those around her that she cannot publicise them, they need to be given some privacy, that’s something that Katie finds hard.’
Kieran Hayler, who was married to Katie Price for eight years, has been charged with rape and is on bail
Katie has promised to keep her youngest children’s private lives away from social media and the public eye
They add: ‘She’s very excited to be spending Christmas with her youngest children and is doing everything she can to make sure they are both happy and settled. It’s been a tough few years for them.
‘Things have become very, very awkward but she’s happy they are back now. It will be a bit of a wrench not to be sharing them online, after all they spent so much of their early years on the covers of magazines.’
Indeed, Katie has had an empty nest for some time. Princess and her older brother Junior both moved in with their father Peter some years back, while her eldest son Harvey, 23, who is severely disabled, spends most of the time in a care home.
Until the arrest of Hayler, 38, Katie had limited access to her youngest children after she breached a restraining order taken out against her by his fiancée Michelle Penticost.
Katie had been banned from contacting Ms Penticost directly or indirectly in June 2019 after hurling abuse at her and another woman in a school playground.
When she pleaded guilty to the breach in March, the judge warned her that she faced going to jail but, in the event, she was given an 18-month community order at Lewes Crown Court, which obliged her to carry out 170 hours of unpaid work.
Speaking on her Channel 4 documentary Katie Price: Trauma And Me, she said that not seeing her youngest children every day was ‘the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with’.
Hayler arrived at Crawley Magistrates’ Court last month. He is due to appear at Lewes Crown Court for a plea hearing on December 17
She added: ‘Recent events have meant I’m seeing my youngest children less and the relationship between me and their father has broken down. It’s not good for my mental health and it’s certainly not good for their mental health.
‘They should be having their mum in their life. At the moment I’m stuck in this rut… and it is frustrating for me. You know, seven months, how has it even got to this? It’s heartbreaking and I just wish it wasn’t like this. All I can do is hope that this won’t be for ever.’
However, while Katie might be thrilled to be reunited with her children, some members of her wider circle ‘feel sorry’ for the youngsters because of the unstable lives they have endured.
Katie’s life has been chaotic for a long time now, with regular fall-outs between her and former partners. Quite apart from her excessive partying, there is the grave matter of the rape charge against Hayler, who is currently on bail.
He appeared in court on November 19 accused of raping the 13-year-old at an address in West Sussex in 2016. He is due to appear at Lewes Crown Court for a plea hearing on December 17.
‘[The children’s] childhood hadn’t exactly been the most straight forward. Lots of people in the Katie circles feel tremendously sorry for them,’ says an associate.
‘Katie is wild, and then their dad gets arrested… Those poor children have been through a lot, their parents split and they’ve seen their mother date other men. She loves a night out. She goes away on holiday. She lives a chaotic life. Hopefully this will be just what she needs to calm herself down.
‘We all just pray that Katie will give them the love and stability that they so desperately need. They need time with their mum, in private.’
And keeping quiet, of course, isn’t something that comes naturally to Katie.
