Nicholas Brandram, a 44-year-old private banker who was arrested on suspicion of being the so-called Putney Pusher, has been found dead.

Mr Brandram, a descendant of Queen Victoria, was detained at his home in Chiswick, west London, on June 15 on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm.

The arrest related to the widely reported incident of May 5, 2017, in which a jogger pushed a female pedestrian into the path of a double-decker bus on Putney Bridge. The woman was spared only by the rapid reaction of the bus driver.

Police searched Mr Brandram’s £1.4million home before rearresting him on suspicion of possessing Class A and Class B drugs, believed to be cocaine and cannabis.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘At 7.15pm on Tuesday, September 15 officers and the London Ambulance Service attended an address in Chiswick, Hounslow after a man was found unresponsive inside a property.

‘Sadly, a 44-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed. At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner in due course.’

Mr Brandram was a grandson of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark, Queen Victoria’s last female descendant. He had been a director at HSBC’s private bank before being suspended following his arrest.

Legal restrictions meant his name was not disclosed when he was arrested, although his identity prompted considerable online speculation. He can now be identified following his death.

Mr Brandram was a decorated former British Army captain who served with the Scots Guards in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. A philosophy and psychology graduate of Newcastle University, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 in recognition of his military service.

The following year, he appeared at City of London Magistrates’ Court after a collision with a female cyclist at Hyde Park Corner on March 6.

Mr Brandram crashed his 1948 Harley-Davidson into the woman and then drove off without leaving his details or checking if she was hurt, the court heard. 

Representing himself, he told magistrates: ‘I ride a bicycle myself and realise the risks.

‘I’m an upstanding member of society and have recently resigned as a member of the British Army and have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

‘I have a very loud bike so it’s not impossible I collided with her without me realising it. At the same time with such a big bike I don’t know how I didn’t feel the collision.’

He pleaded guilty to a count each of driving without due care and attention and of failing to stop after a road accident. 

He received five penalty points, a £200 fine and was told to pay £105 compensation. Mr Brandram thanked magistrates and said he would pay the fine immediately. 

The Putney Pusher incident took place during rush hour on May 5, 2017 at about 7.40am.

A woman was walking southwards on Putney Bridge when the jogger approached her from the opposite direction.

There was plenty of room on the footpath for him to run around her safely, but instead he shoved her onto the road – directly in the path of an incoming 430 bus going at 12mph.

Thanks to the rapid reactions of the driver, Oliver Salbris, the bus missed the 33-year-old victim’s head by inches, and she survived largely physically unscathed. 

The jogger continued his run across Putney Bridge without so much as a backward glance.

After the vehicle stopped, passers-by rushed to help the shaken woman – who has never been publicly identified.

The jogger returned in the opposite direction about 15 minutes later, passing the victim again while she was still being assisted on the bridge. He ignored her calls to stop. 

In April, Mr Salbris told the Mail that he would never forget what he saw.

‘I always think about the case and I still drive over Putney Bridge several times a day,’ he said.

‘Whenever I’m on the bridge, I look very carefully at the pedestrians on the pavement, I just can’t help it. I wouldn’t say it haunts me, but it’s not something I can easily forget.

‘I’m glad my reactions were quick on that day, or it would have ended very differently, both for me and the woman who was pushed. Her head was only a few centimetres from the bus and the wheel, even after I swerved to avoid her.’

At the time of the original appeal, the suspect was described as a white man in his early to mid-30s, with a stocky build and short brown hair. He was wearing a grey T-shirt and dark blue shorts.

Metropolitan Police detectives interviewed 50 men and arrested three suspects, including an American investment banker – who was able to prove ‘irrefutably’ that he was in the US at the time.

No suspect was ever charged, and the investigation was closed in 2018 before new information led to Mr Brandram’s arrest. 

Earlier this month, he was released under investigation to give police time to complete outstanding enquiries. 

The Met said at the time: ‘On Monday, June 15, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. 

‘The arrest relates to an incident on May 5, 2017, where a woman was pushed into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge in Putney.

‘Once in police custody, he was also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A and Class B drugs.

‘He has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue.’

Mr Brandram’s late father, City executive Paul Brandram, was the only child of Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark and Major Richard Campbell Andrew Brandram, who served with the British Army during the Second World War.

Princess Katherine was Queen Victoria’s great-granddaughter, a first cousin of Prince Philip, and the daughter of King Constantine I, who ruled Greece between 1913 and 1922.

Queen Sofia of Spain, Paul Brandram’s cousin, told of her ‘great sadness’ after his death in 2020 at the age of 72. 

Like his father, Nicholas has had a successful career in the City, working at leading stockbrokers Killik & Co and Israeli lender Bank Leumi before moving to HSBC, where he managed the assets of wealthy individuals.

He was nominated Private Banker of the Year for 2026. 

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At the end of July, I shared a holiday photograph of myself on social media — and it soon found its way into the newspapers.

In the picture, I am grinning in an old blue swimsuit — with good reason, having lost more than a stone.

My caption read: ‘This is a weight loss drug-free body. It’s still got shoulder-splitting G cups. Still has a muffin top. Still has crepey skin and is about as toned as a water bed.’ 

Still, there was a noticeable difference. I was slimmer, less bloated and looked happier — all because I stopped eating sugar in February this year. It is no overstatement to say the decision transformed my life.

Running has always helped me stay fit, yet by last winter I was approaching 11st 7lb. I was larger than I wanted to be, but the bigger concern was how I felt mentally: constantly foggy, drained of energy and low in mood.

I have not touched alcohol for 14 years, though addiction can take many forms. For me, it was chocolate — particularly nutty milk chocolate. One square, or even one bar, was never enough; I would eat an entire bar and sometimes another, curled up in the evening with tea, a box set and chocolate.

It might sound harmless, but I would break each bar into small pieces to disguise how much I was eating. The secrecy and ritual told me it had become another addiction. I have always been an all-or-nothing person.

My fixation with sugar also made every part of life feel like an effort. Looking back, I can see that I was maintaining an exhausting performance, trying to convince everyone that my physical and mental health were fine. The reality was very different.

So, in February, I went to Portugal to stay with an old friend Lulu, to take some time out and do some writing. To be honest, she staged a bit of an intervention. An amazing Brazilian nutritionist friend had been running a retreat the previous week, and Lulu asked her to stay on a few extra days because she knew I wasn’t in a good place.

I was told in no uncertain terms that I was going on a detox – which included no sugar. My body was apparently in a state of inflammation. ‘Your eyes, your tongue, your gut… Oh my God!’ exclaimed the nutritionist when she looked at me.

I looked in the mirror and saw myself as she saw me: dull eyes shot through with tiredness, a coated tongue, a grey tinge to my skin, and that out-of-control muffin top.

She attributed it all to ultra-processed foods, which I don’t eat much of, and sugar, which of course I did.

I was effectively forced into eating barely a thing for seven days! I had lemon and bicarbonate of soda in the morning, which went through me like an upside-down volcano, green juice for breakfast, a couple of leaves at lunchtime, and nothing till dinner – which was soup. We walked a lot to take my mind off it.

When I got home, I weighed myself, and I’d lost five pounds, which was a huge incentive not to leap back into chocolate eating.

But giving up sugar was really difficult to do – harder than ditching alcohol. My day was punctuated around treats, so I had to reframe my eating, and find new ways to reward myself. I felt crabby and fed up, and may have snapped at my family a couple of times!

Still, I was very determined and after more than six months of barely touching the stuff, I sleep better and am far happier. I am still generally anxious, but about 40 per cent less so.

The biggest difference is physical. My weight, my energy, and my skin (on my face and body) is less dry and saggy, and my morning eye bags are less evident. 

That picture from July shows how far I’ve come. My three grown-up kids didn’t notice, but my husband Sten did – mentioning both my increased confidence and my looks, commenting on what I wore for the first time in years. I’m 64, and this year I’ve had more compliments than ever before in my life. It’s weight loss, yes, but it’s also about happiness.

Here are my other tips for being healthy, happy and slim at 64.

Blasting the years with red light

I’ve only recently accepted my age. I’ve got over that hump where a part of me wanted to be noticed in some way – that was up to my mid-fifties. I don’t feel that anymore, and I don’t mind that I’m invisible. Ageing is a privilege.

However, like every woman, I have a certain level of vanity, and more often than not I try to avoid looking at myself in the mirror, because I think to myself that there’s so much work to be done and I can’t be bothered! 

I don’t have Botox, but I do love the CurrentBody Red Light Therapy Face Mask (£499.99, currentbody.com). Genuinely, I’m such a sceptic about beauty gadgets, but this is one of the few things I really believe in for reducing wrinkles and improving skin plumpness. I try to use it for around ten minutes three or more times a week.

Making a face

I don’t wear make-up every day; just a bit of Trinny London BFF All Day (£42, trinnylondon.com) if I’m mooching about at home, and maybe her Just A Touch Concealer (£29). I love the PrimeLash mascara by US brand Prime Prometics (£8.58, amazon.co.uk). It’s great for lash thickening and it’s vegan and cruelty-free. 

I know you’re supposed to wear SPF every day, but I only wear it on holiday. Sten introduced me to Altruist sunscreen (£4.75, amazon.co.uk), which I know a lot of beauty experts swear by.

I also wear a vitamin C serum day and night to brighten and protect my skin.

Body-wise, Trinny told me about this amazing body lotion called Aestura Atobarrier365 Ceramide Lotion (£26, sephora.co.uk) – it’s transformed my skin, which is far less dry.

I’ll tell you what I hate – products designed for over-50s. So patronising.

Take a nap if you need to

We need to be able to say: ’Do you know what, if I want to have a sleep in the afternoon I’m going to.’

I’m not great at this, admittedly, and tend to try to hide the fact I’m having a rest.

Everything around us is moving at such a pace that if you stand still for a second, you stand out like a sore thumb. People don’t notice you doing all the housework, the cooking and writing a book. But they notice a sleep in the afternoon.

I get around this by looking as though I’m on my laptop, but in fact I’ll be watching a box set on Netflix.

I still find my husband handsome

If you’ve been a parent, your children have been the priority. To some extent you forget that you’re married. When the children leave home, you’re suddenly meeting this person almost as though it’s the first time, and you’ve no idea how they’ve evolved emotionally.

I think to some extent it’s down to luck whether you still have the chemistry that initially drew you to them. With Sten, who’s 62 now, I’m lucky – he’s incredibly handsome. 

It wasn’t like falling in love all over again, but it was easy to say let’s move on, let’s get to the next stage. It’s about having common interests, complementing each other, and recognising and accepting each other’s weaknesses. For example, if he gives me a spreadsheet to fill in, he knows it won’t happen.

Exercise

I know everyone talks about weights and strength training, and I’m sure the science is there, but I think you have to find your own way. And there’s no magic wand – you have to put in the work, which is incredibly annoying.

I’ve run for years and try to do around 25 miles a week, even though it isn’t as easy as it used to be. I’m sure people look at me and they say, ‘Why is she literally lolloping along?’ But it’s good enough for me. I used to take a bag of buttermint sweets in a bumbag to eat on the way round, but I’ve stopped that!

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I used to be a huge wild swimming fan, but I haven’t been for ages, and the main reason is because the water quality is so poor. I do have a cold water therapy barrel in my back garden, though, and I’m going to start leaping in and out of that again – possibly every day. 

I still do breathing exercises recommended by the wellness guru Wim Hof, which is like meditation. They make a huge difference to stress and energy levels.

Spend time with the young

I love to spend time with young people and hear their opinions – they have such strong ones and more courage than I ever did at that age. That makes me reassured for the future. 

I don’t inform myself about new developments in tech like AI – I just get my kids, now aged 26, 23 and 21, to explain it.

But you know what? They’ve spent their lives coming to me and asking things, and now the shoe’s on the other foot. They love it. They feel like they’re the boss.

Ditch FOMO

I would rather put a rock around my neck and walk into a lake than go to a big party. Sten and I are very antisocial.

But I do have lots of good friends, and I FaceTime one in particular every day, wherever we are in the world. He’s 80, and we acted as each other’s sponsors a little whilst in recovery from alcohol addiction.

What To Wear

I still follow the old diktats about dressing for your shape from the What Not To Wear shows that Trinny and I had such fun doing.

If you have big boobs, which I do, wear a lower top. That was one of our rules, but they do change a little with age. These days, I don’t go for overt cleavage display too often, and I don’t wear anything too tight either. 

I’m conscious of dressing differently, in an age-flattering way, and I’m not aiming to be sexy. Personally, I feel I look older if I try and dress younger.

I don’t have many clothes, and I do sometimes wear the same outfit four days in a row (except for pants!), but I never just grab the first thing that falls out of the wardrobe. I err towards more masculine clothes; flared trousers with a sweater or a plain white T-shirt in the summer.

Even if I’m working at home, I feel I have a responsibility to the work I’m doing as an author to look stylish. It also helps focus me and it’s respecting my job. I couldn’t work in pyjamas.

Shape. Where?

Trinny and I were virtually defined by our love of shapewear – what we called ‘magic pants’ – back in the early 2000s.

I don’t need to lose weight anymore, and I hadn’t actually worn shapewear for a very long time, until I partnered with Shapermint this summer and reignited my love affair with it. Together we’ve created a What To Wear edit of five foundational pieces, which we have just launched.

It’s not about looking smaller but about looking more toned. I see it as being akin to putting make-up on your face – you’re not inherently changing it, but it’s making it look the best it can.

The cami, shorts and leggings (from £26.99, shapermint.com) give me a wonderful, smooth outline and also make me feel more comfortable in lighter, silky fabrics. I honestly feel that it’s working with my body, not against it.

Food for thought

I always have a savoury breakfast. On a good day, I’ll have broccoli with homemade salad dressing, and protein in the form of cottage cheese or tinned tuna, as well as a coffee that’s so strong you could stand a spoon up in it with a little natural sweetness from Rude Health Organic Coconut Milk. If I get a bit hungry during the morning I might have some blueberries.

At lunchtime I chuck whatever veg is in the fridge into my Vitamix – it’s so powerful you could juice a Mini Cooper. At teatime, I have a Peter’s Yard Sourdough crispbread with peanut butter, and a small packet of Twiglets if I’ve been for a run.

We always eat dinner as a family when the kids are home – and it’s always homemade and protein-rich. Sten and I go out so rarely that it’s a treat to have a meal cooked by someone else, and I’ll eat pretty much anything… except pudding!

I still have treats, but they’re more considered – a couple of squares of 80 per cent dark chocolate (amazingly the amount hasn’t crept up), sugar-free chewing gum or a couple of dates.

Don’t go overboard on hair treatments

My thick blonde hair has always been great. I don’t go to a fancy London salon, but to a little place in my Sussex village called Aaron Russell which is a walk from my house. They are all so good that any one of them can do my cut and colour. I have a blow-dry once every two weeks, but otherwise I leave it alone. 

I find Sam McKnight products are amazing, such as the Hair by Sam McKnight Rich Cleanse Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner (£50, sammcknight.com), or Redken’s new Acidic Bonding range (from £12.95, boots.com) is fantastic for repairing damaged hair.

My girls use that too. Esme is evangelical about it, and her hair is incredible. Whenever I buy anything beauty-related, I have to keep them in mind because they steal my stuff.

You don’t have to take HRT

I had a chat with Trinny and a friend over supper a few weeks ago and I said that I didn’t take HRT. They were so horrified it was like I’d told them I had a terminal illness and was going to die in a few days’ time.

It sometimes feels as though menopause has become an insult for the young to chuck at their mothers. ‘Oh my god, you’re so menopausal!’

Honestly, I didn’t sail through menopause very well mentally, but I didn’t have physical symptoms. There’s no question that menopausal women really suffer, but I slightly ignored the whole noise around the subject because it didn’t sound as though it applied to me. 

Unfortunately, I think it’s put the fear of God into the younger generation. We need more balance in the messaging and more education for everyone.

I love some supplements….

I take magnesium for sleep, and saffron and turmeric for their anti-inflammatory properties. I like Naked Pharmacy products – you can book a call with a pharmacist if you’ve got questions. They don’t contain synthetic ingredients like fillers and binders.

Collagen-wise I’m currently trying out Elavate (from £39, elavate.com) – just a scoop in the morning. Perhaps that’s why my joints hurt less.

Ignore the ageist trolls

If someone hurts me, I become a pathetic ball of fear and anxiety. But I’ve had very little online trolling thankfully – only about five unkind comments on Instagram over the years. 

Last week someone commented on my looks, and I just leant into it and said, ‘shut your hole’. Lots of my followers stuck up for me.

When I was doing Strictly, I attracted lots of unkind attention, but that was all justified, because I was appalling. So, I just agreed with all the comments, and that shut them all up!

Have the confidence to stop

However grown-up we are, we’re still insecure and need to feel valued. For women, I think the easiest, least complicated way to achieve this is to be busy, to help others and to make yourself more indispensable than ever. I am absolutely guilty of that.

‘Don’t worry,’ I say. ‘I’ll do it, I’ll do it.’ And then I feel resentful and stop. But on the whole, I’m contented with my body and mind, my relationships and my work, and you can’t ask for much more than that!

As told to Alice Smellie

Susannah Constantine has created a new What To Wear edit with shapewear brand Shapermint, shapermint.com

Fresh speculation over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s health emerged after video footage appeared to show Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi interrupting a speech to check on his Chinese counterpart.

In the clip, Modi pauses his opening remarks at the BRICS summit and looks towards Xi after an apparent disturbance draws his attention.

“Is it okay?” Modi asks the translator accompanying the Chinese leader.

Several people believed to be aides or staff members can be seen moving quickly towards Xi before briefly speaking with the president.

Moments later, Xi nods, and Modi continues with his address.

The brief exchange fuelled online rumours, with social media users questioning the Chinese president’s wellbeing.

Xi’s health has long attracted close attention, in part because details about the medical condition of China’s senior leaders are regarded as tightly guarded state secrets.

Beijing has not commented on the incident, which took place during Xi’s first visit to India in seven years.

Later in the day, Xi skipped the gala dinner hosted by Modi for leaders of the BRICS nations, where ally Vladimir Putin was also in attendance.

According to India Today, a source suggested that Xi was tired and returned to his hotel to rest.

Anti-China activists and commentators quickly took to the internet to share their views on the matter, with lawyer Gordon G. Chang saying: ‘Xi Jinping is not well. This time, China could not hide his condition.’

Xie Wanjun, a Chinese political activist currently in the US, chimed in to claim that Xi ‘walked with difficulty’ when leaving the summit.

‘All of this suggests that Xi Jinping is already an elderly man, and that his regime is a dying regime,’ he added.

BRICS leaders including China, Russia and India were in New Delhi on Sunday, discussing ‘inclusive global growth’, after reaching a rare agreement calling for calm in the Middle East.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for ‘cooperation’ within the bloc, which he has said represents ’50 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than 25 percent of global trade’.

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‘The power of BRICS lies in our diversity and cooperation,’ Modi told leaders on the final day of talks.

BRICS was created in 2009 as a forum for major emerging economies seeking greater influence in institutions dominated by Western powers. 

The group is seeking to bolster its global influence and address conflict, trade turbulence and energy security.

‘We have tried to push inclusive global growth,’ Modi said, ‘We may be rooted in different realities, but together we rise through cooperation and blossom for humanity,’ he said.

Putin said the bloc was working to create a ‘new, more just, multipolar world order’.

Xi said that a ‘world without rules is like an intersection without traffic lights; chaos and disorder are inevitable’.

Xi’s participation in BRICS was important because it was his first visit to neighbouring India since 2019, and the biggest step yet in a cautious thaw between the nuclear-armed rivals.

His visit came six years after a deadly military clash along the disputed Tibetan border between China and India, with ties gradually improving through restored flights, visas and high-level contacts.

‘Although our two countries are different in many respects, they are fully capable of complementing each other’s strengths, supporting one another, achieving mutual success and advancing together,’ Xi said as he met Modi, according to a video released by New Delhi.

The underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) high-altitude border.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting that ‘the two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question’.

Deep mistrust remains, with a widening trade deficit and strategic rivalry complicating ties.

‘Both sides should… work hand-in-hand to promote high-quality major financial cooperation, advocate an equal and sustainable global order, and foster an economic globalisation that is open and inclusive,’ Xi said.

Xi’s visit was the target of protests by dozens of Tibetans in New Delhi, exiles like their Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, who has lived in India since fleeing a Chinese crackdown in 1959.

Katie Price has spoken publicly about her split from Lee Andrews, saying she feels he “scammed my heart” and describing their brief marriage as embarrassing.

The former glamour model, 48, separated from her husband of eight months in early September after learning that he allegedly had only £2.22 in his bank account, despite claims that he was a millionaire.

Price has since sought advice from a divorce lawyer. Andrews, meanwhile, is being held in prison in Dubai and sent a voice note from behind bars in which he said their separation was “for the best”.

Speaking to Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Wednesday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, Katie said: “I feel embarrassed because I feel he scammed my heart. Do you know what I mean?

“I feel like he scammed my heart and stole my trust that I had, and me defending a man constantly because he made me believe that, ‘Kate, come on, you know I’m not like this.’”

Andrews had reportedly told Price that he held $50 million in a cryptocurrency account. She later discovered that the balance was just $3, or £2.22.

She continued: “He hasn’t scammed me for money, but I feel he has scammed me because he fabricated a person that doesn’t exist.”

Earlier in the interview, Good Morning Britain aired Andrews’ prison voice note, in which he conceded: “Divorce is for the best.”

He said: ‘I never throw Kate under the bus. I do feel that that’s happened to me, and it looks like there’s profit to be made from her side. 

‘And obviously, some things have happened recently while I’ve been in civil jail. I’m not being convicted of any crimes, nor am I a criminal. 

‘I have to standpoint that I do have my funds, and Kate was exposing the wrong amount in a wrong wallet, and you can see for yourself.’

He continued: ‘So there’s been no wool pulled over one’s eyes, but that should be between husband and wife. 

‘As far as filing divorce, I think that’s probably the best thing for it… I love Kate and always will.’

After hearing the lengthy voice note, Katie said: ‘It is exhausting, and I’m sitting here listening and I’m just shaking my head because where do I start?’

Believing that he does love her she explained: ‘I do believe he did, and I think he’s got himself in such a situation where I think where he copy and pastes what he says to women, that he actually did fall from it.’

She continued: ‘I love him, but who is he? I love the man I met, but I just can’t take it. I’m not stupid, you know. I’ve been stupid. 

‘Well, obviously, I was stupid to fall for him. I’ve heard the same thing. I’ve heard it for nine months. 

‘I’ve heard it. He’s been in prison for two and a half months. I’ve heard from day one he was being extradited back to England. 

‘I’ve heard the same story every day. I’m coming out tomorrow. I’m coming out tomorrow… There’s only so much I can take.

‘And yes, there have been exes who have tried to warn me about him and stuff like that. 

‘I’ve read stuff, I’ve taken it onboard, but I have to thank the media as well because they’ve investigated him and as much as I’m like, “No, that’s not true because Lee’s telling me it’s not true.”

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‘It’s come to the point where I have found out stuff myself to be like, yeah, this is a joke.’

Revealing what her family think of the situation she added: ‘They said, “Well, it’s your own fault. We have told you,” and they’re right. Everyone has been right, but I had to find out myself because I have got Lee, and I’m the one who’s met him. 

‘I’m the one who spent time with him, and it’s so believable. You know, when you’re in Dubai and he’s taking you these places, he’d take you in a jewellery shop, try on rings and stuff.’

Katie concluded: ‘Do you know one positive that’s come out of it is where he has been in Dubai, and so I haven’t been around him a lot, I’ve loved being on my own in my own space without a man in my pocket, and I’m not sitting here like in previous relationships, heartbroken. 

‘Like I’m sitting here with a smile on my face because, in a way, he’s done me a favour to make me realise: “Of course you could be on your own, Kate. Look what you can do,” and I’ve loved it. 

‘It is a shame it’s come to an end because I can’t let this drag on, and I won’t let it drag on. If only he was honest to me. That’s all I ask.’

Katie’s final message to Lee, 43, on WhatsApp earlier this month is reported to have said: ‘I have been played and you are not who you say you are. Why have you lied to me?’

According to The Sun, he had told Katie he had £37million in a crypto bank account. Lee, who is currently back in a Dubai jail, is thought to be struggling to find the funds to pay the fine for his release. Katie had no plans to see him.

Sources close to the situation said she had ‘come to her senses’ over Lee.

The insider told the publication: ‘It was, of course, an accumulation of many things but the final straw came after Lee had told Katie he had $50million (£37million) in a crypto wallet, and promised her some of the funds.

‘He gave her the “recovery phrase” – the passkey – to get into his account, and on Monday she had a financial expert access the wallet – and, to her shock, discovered it contained just $3, or £2.22.

‘Lee never had $50million; he doesn’t have a bean. The most he ever had on any one day was in March for $14,490 (£10,720) which was sent out the very same day.’

Katie’s marriage to Lee has been tumultuous. Since tying the knot with the controversial business leader following a whirlwind romance, Katie’s relationship has been plagued with drama including Lee’s prison stints, kidnapping, his various lies and accusations of scamming his exes. 

Lee remains in jail despite reports he was released last month. The conman business leader was said to have been released in July following his second spell in Dubai’s Al Awir prison after being hit with fraud claims.

Earlier this month, it was claimed Lee was never released, with sources reporting his fellow inmates are ‘fed up with his constant lies’.

The Sun alleged Lee has been telling inmates his exit paperwork is ‘sorted’ each week, but as each new week comes he remains in prison. Katie previously vowed to hold her husband to account for ‘hurting other people’. 

In her podcast, Katie said: ‘In fact, I’m going to get Ben [the producer of Katie’s podcast] to interview him and Ben is going to delve in deep and I want to hear everything and it’s too much and I don’t like people hurting people.

‘That’s all I’m saying on it, I’ve not put anything up online, so you’ve heard it here for the first time.’

The Daily Mail reached out to Katie’s reps who declined to comment.