Tragic Details Of Keith Richards Daughter Theodora

Theodora Richards' childhood was a backstage pass to rock 'n' roll history, her childhood shaped by the electric energy of life in the Rolling Stones' orbit. As the daughter of the indomitable Keith Richards, her story reads like one of the band's ballads: beguilingly chaotic and effortlessly glitzy, but at times profoundly sad. Born in 1985, two years after Keith's marriage to model Patti Hansen, Theodora inherited both her father's rebellious spirit and her mother's looks. At 16, she, along with her sister Alexandra, stepped into the modeling industry. The world would subsequently see her fronting campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, stepping out with fellow Stones heiress Georgia May Jagger, and gracing the pages of Vogue.

Beyond her career in fashion, she has since ventured into broadcasting, hosting a monthly show on Sirius XM called "Off The Cuff," where she shares her eclectic tastes in music — an obvious reflection of the influence her famous father has had on her. But behind the glamour and the rhythm of raucous riffs, growing up under the glare of her dad's spotlight was often a far cry from the glossy perfection of a magazine spread.

In 2011, Theodora Richards followed in her father's fabled footsteps, but not for the reasons many hoped. She made headlines as a wild horse herself, with an arrest that echoed the rebellious cadence of rock 'n' roll lore (and more specifically, Keith's own infamous drug bust in 1977). Theodora was arrested in the chic, creative enclave of Manhattan's SoHo after police caught her scrawling a graffiti message on the wall of St Anthony's Convent. The then-25-year-old had written "T-Heart-A" in red paint, short for "Theodora loves Alexandra," a nod to her younger sister. This might have seemed innocent enough had it not been for the ensuing discovery of marijuana and a handful of oxycodone pills in her purse. "I hope I don't get into trouble for this," she reportedly teased to the officers. The model was sentenced to two days of community service and fortunately, prosecutors showed sympathy and dropped the charges as she had no prior criminal record (via Reuters).

In the wake of her run-in with the authorities, it was revealed that Theodora Richards had sought help by enrolling in a drug treatment program. This helped her case when prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against her, but it wasn't the last time she would turn to rehab for support. In 2015, the rock royalty progeny checked herself into the Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut to address her substance abuse. As a source told The Daily News, "She was in there for drugs. At the start her mood varied day to day, then she came out seeming really happy and big spirits." She reportedly made no mention of her famous lineage, deciding instead to keep a low profile during her stay. They added: "There was no mention of her dad, she kept quiet who she was, and I don't think anyone recognised her."

Perhaps it is unsurprising that Theodora turned to drugs, given that her father has epitomized the hedonistic extremes of rock 'n' roll throughout his career. His relationship with drugs is as much a part of his story as his music, but he shared with The Telegraph that he had since left his vices behind. He said: "I still like a drink occasionally — because I'm not going to heaven any time soon — but apart from that, I'm trying to enjoy being straight." It seems the perennial enfant terrible of rock is finding new ways to get his satisfaction.

With her father's notorious debauchery well-documented, it didn't take long for a young Theodora's classmates to latch onto the tabloid narratives. In an interview with The Times, she recalled a daunting incident from her school days after Jay Leno made a joke about Keith Richards buying drug tests for his children. A classmate had seen the episode, and reportedly taunted her the next day with a comment about her supposed "track marks" — a reference to injecting drugs. She said, "I didn't understand what that meant, but I knew it was a reference to Dad, so I looked him up in the library."

It was then, at just 11 years old, Theodora uncovered the full extent of her father's anarchic years in the spotlight. She pieced together the details of his time in prison and the grim realities of heroin use. "I didn't talk to him about it right away, but after that, I became very protective of my family," she admitted to the newspaper.

During the height of the early 2000s "heroin chic" aesthetic and the retroactively-coined "indie sleaze" era, Theodora Richards' naturally skinny frame and rock royalty heritage seemed tailor-made for the prevailing standards of the fashion world. But this era was also underlined by a harsh cultural fixation on women's bodies, and Theodora was not spared from that same unforgiving microscope. As she booked more modeling gigs — despite not being sighted to an agency, a choice she explained to Reserved magazine by saying, "I'm not with a modeling agency; if someone really wants to find me, they can" — her growing visibility brought increasing scrutiny, with shock and concern arising about her scarily thin look. When she was spotted around New York (like at photoshoots in the Meatpacking District, or attending Chanel's "The Little Black Jacket" exhibition at the Swiss Institute), the press wasted no time weighing in on her appearance and speculating about her health. For the rocker's daughter, the pressures of a fashion industry enamored with unattainable ideals were only compounded by the relentless gaze of the public eye.

Keith Richards has been open about his uniquely blended family dynamic. He told the The Telegraph: "I love my families, I have several — extended. And they all love each other." Alongside her aforementioned sister Alexandra, Theodora has a half-brother, Malron, and a half-sister, Angela, from Keith's relationship with actress Anita Pallenberg. Despite their varied backgrounds, the large Richards clan seems close-knit. But shortly before Theodora was born, the family endured an unimaginable tragedy, making her arrival years later feel like a miracle. In 1976, Keith and Anita welcomed a son, Tara Jo Jo Gunne Richards. Tragically, Tara passed away at just two months old from sudden infant death syndrome.

Keith was on tour with the Rolling Stones when he received the devastating news, choosing to perform that night to cope with the grief. He later revealed on his "Desert Island Discs" episode on Radio 4, "If I didn't go on the stage, I would probably have shot myself." Keith later worked on his memoir, "Life," with journalist James Fox, who told Rolling Stone magazine that the guitarist initially struggled to speak about the loss. He said: "The first time we talked about that, Keith couldn't get out more than five words. Then we realized we had to go back to it. He told me that he thought about it every week." As tears go by, the loss of Tara remained an indelible wound for the Richards family.