GIRL ABOUT TOWN: Vogue chief in miracle escape after his Land Rover careered down a cliff in Ethiopia 

By Charlotte Griffiths, Diary Editor For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 19:08 EST, 7 January 2017 | Updated: 19:59 EST, 7 January 2017

Nicholas Coleridge (pictured with his wife Georgia) narrowly escaped death after his Land Rover careered down a cliff during a Christmas holiday

Nicholas Coleridge, the much-loved boss of Condé Nast International – which publishes fashion magazine Vogue and high society bible Tatler – has narrowly escaped death after his Land Rover careered down a cliff during a Christmas holiday.

Nicholas was on a dream trip to Ethiopia with his wife Georgia and their four children when the accident happened.

They had spent Christmas Eve visiting the stunning rock churches in the holy city of Lalibela, and afterwards decided to take a trip to the town's famous Torpedo bar.

But during the journey, their driver misjudged the kerb, causing their car to crash over the side of a cliff. The vehicle rolled over but, miraculously, it came to a halt after crashing into a shepherd's hut about 20ft below.

Nicholas tells me: 'We weren't hurt but it was quite a thing.

'Fortunately, we managed to escape out of one of the windows, clambering out of the wreckage on all fours. It was like the scene in James Bond when Jaws climbs out of the window of a crashed train.'

Nicholas, who will be celebrating his 60th birthday in March with a star-studded party at the V&A in London, added: 'It was a steep cliff and the car only stopped rolling because happily we came to rest against a shepherd's hut.

'There was about a minute when we feared the worst.

'But we emerged, dusted ourselves off and headed to the brilliant Torpedo for a stiff gin and tonic. And I must point out that it was a complete one-off and Ethiopia is the most amazing – and very safe – place to visit. 'More people should go on holiday there because it is spectacular and we had the most wonderful time.'

Coming from the boss of Condé Nast Traveller magazine, that is quite some accolade.

 

Meanwhile , Nicholas's Tatler magazine had the country fooled last week, for I can reveal that its list of top posh baby names, said to be popular with high society right now, was largely made up. It included such bizarre offerings as Koala, Power, Yellow, Euripides, Mao, Npeter (the 'N' is silent), Quail, Yak and Zebedee.

But while expectant parents weighed up the merits of following the magazine's advice, Tatler's features director confessed – sarcastically – that it was 'definitely not something we simply made up during those slack days in the office just before Christmas'. The name of the journalist? Sophia Money-Coutts. Yes, really. That's the most far-fetched of them all.

 

Pippa Middleton left some of her friends down in the dumps over the festive period when they discovered that her Christmas card did not contain a prized 'save the date' invitation too.

As I predicted last year, Pippa, 33, used the opportunity to tip off pals about her wedding to financier James Matthews on May 20. But one recipient tells me: 'Her Christmas cards were eagerly anticipated, but only half of her friends ended up with a save the date card inside while the other half were left empty-handed.'

Pippa Middleton left some of her friends down in the dumps over the festive period when they discovered that her Christmas card did not contain a prized 'save the date' invitation too

 

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