Lady Victoria Hervey: Ready to Be a Mum with Strict Rules for Surrogacy

SHE’S spent almost two decades living the high life in Los Angeles, but now Lady Victoria Hervey has returned home to England and wants to start a family. 

The socialite and former model has revealed finding a straight guy in LA is “impossible”, so she now hopes to meet someone in the UK. 

She’s spent almost two decades living the high life in Los Angeles, but now Lady Victoria Hervey has returned to England and wants to start a family.Credit: Getty

Victoria froze 12 of her eggs when she turned 39, and admits it’s one of the best decisions she ever made.Credit: PA:Press Association

Victoria first visited LA aged 18, at the start of her Nineties It Girl party days, and moved there permanently in 2004Credit: Alpha Photo Press Agency

And if she doesn’t find the right bloke, Victoria, 46 — who froze her eggs seven years ago — is contemplating doing it herself as a single parent.

She says: “I’m going to see what happens with the dating scene in England. I was just about ready to become a mother before Covid happened. 

“Then something happened to my friend who I was going to do it with. He wasn’t in the right place.

“That was October 2019 and then a few months later Covid happened and my plans were put on the back burner. Then 2020 turned into survival mode. 

“I was scared about bringing another human into the world when it was so crazy. It all felt so unstable. 

“But now, I feel like I’m ready. Everyone always says there’s never a right time to have a baby, you just have to do it and it will all work out somehow. I’m hoping in the next year that something will happen.

“I don’t know if I’ll do it on my own — ask me in a year! I know people who have done it on their own and they have been super-happy.

‘Finding a single straight guy in LA is impossible’ 

“And the other question is, now I’m 46, would I do it myself or get a surrogate? If so, my surrogate would have to be someone who does yoga and is very healthy. 

“When you are pregnant, that baby is taking in your surroundings, the music you are listening to, the food you are eating. The way you are feeling is being transmitted into that baby. It will be so important to have the right person. 

“You don’t want a surrogate listening to heavy metal and eating bad.”

Victoria froze 12 of her eggs when she turned 39, and admits it’s one of the best decisions she ever made.

The gruelling process included daily injections to stimulate the ovaries to produce multiple eggs during a cycle, followed by an operation to remove the eggs. She pays £610 a year to keep the eggs frozen.

She said: “I’m really happy I did it. I’m sure if I had moved back to London ten years ago, things would be very different. But there was no one I wanted to have a child with over there. 

“Also, I knew I didn’t want to be in America forever. If I had a child with someone there, I would have been stuck.”

Victoria admits she’s been inspired by her friend Naomi Campbell, who announced the birth of her first baby when she was 50, and feels huge sympathy for Jennifer Aniston, 53, who recently opened up about her infertility struggles. 

She says: “So many people are having babies in their fifties. Naomi is amazing. She waited and did it when she was ready. 

“Fifteen years ago, people probably weren’t talking about egg freezing that much. It’s more in the past five to ten years. It wasn’t such a thing back then, so it was unfortunate timing for Jennifer.”

Now Victoria wants to get back into the UK dating scene. And she’s hoping there’s more choice on this side of the pond.

She said: “Dating in LA? Forget it. There are no straight men. There is not a lot of single guys. Then try and find a single guy who is straight — it’s impossible. 

“I don’t want to be a spinster on my own in Hollywood — that would be miserable. 

“LA gets very lonely because it’s so spread out. People get very lazy to drive. 

“Someone driving to Malibu or West Hollywood is the equivalent as driving to Berkshire from London. You’re happy enough to not move, which is why it was so hard for me to do it.” 

Victoria is currently on celebrity dating app Raya, as well as Hinge, but says she would prefer to meet someone who isn’t in showbusiness.

She says: “It’s almost better if they are not. Some kind of businessman would be great. Someone fun, who likes different sports like skiing and horse riding. 

“They’ve got to be an animal lover and enjoy travel and the outdoors. 

“I wouldn’t be very good with someone who just read books and sat by the fire every day. I need some more action.”

Victoria — the daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol, half-sister of the 7th Marquess and sister of the 8th Marquess and Lady Isabella Hervey — first visited LA aged 18, at the start of her Nineties It Girl party days, and moved there permanently in 2004.

She’s had wild times at the Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmy Awards, and recalls once partying with her pal Natalie Imbruglia in a suite with Russell Crowe.

‘My dog’s my child until I figure out being a mum’

It was after his 2012 film Les Miserables had won a string of Oscars.

 She says: “He was singing on the piano and everyone was having a wild time. That was a cool moment.”

But she insists LA has since lost its sheen, and is now riddled with crime and homelessness. 

Last year she was so fearful that she bought a firearm and admits that was the moment she knew she had to leave.

She said: “I’m so relieved to be back in England. I don’t hear helicopters, I don’t hear fire engines, I don’t hear police cars. It just seems very quiet here. 

“I had to buy a gun when I was in LA and that’s when I thought, ‘This isn’t what I want my life to be. I don’t want to be living in fear every day’.

“There are lots of home invasions with gangs coming in with guns. 

“Plus you’ve got earthquakes, really bad fires as well as bad flooding. There are so many natural disasters. 

Lady Victoria having fun partying with Boy George in the NoughtiesCredit: Alan Davidson

Lady Victoria on the catwalk in London Fashion WeekCredit: Big Pictures

“I have a military backpack full of emergency kit — that’s how much I worried. 

“I had a great time, but it doesn’t make sense to be there any more. A lot of the LA I knew has gone, all those places have closed. In that way, it’s a whole new LA. 

“And the party scene has completely died. There are no events going on. Even seven years ago there were decent events going on, but for the Golden Globes this year there were no after-parties.”

“Usually the Golden Globes would be my favourite weekend — but not any more.”

Victoria has now set up home in her old stomping ground of Chelsea, West London, where she used to party with Prince Andrew — who she famously dated — late fellow It Girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and the disgraced Ghislaine Maxwell.

With so many royal scandals of late, she’s now carving out a new career as a royal commentator, but as she prepares to throw herself into the dating scene and embarks on her mission to become a mum, her dog D’Artagnan remains her priority.

“He loves being here in England,” she said. “My dog is my child until I figure it out. I think the baby thing will happen when it’s supposed to happen.”