THE EX FACTOR; Spurred on by the Death of Her Father, the Actress and Model Camilla Rutherford Rushed into Marriage and Motherhood. before Her Second Child Was Even Born, Her Dreams of Domestic Bliss Had Collapsed. Here, the Reluctant Single Mother Dissects Her Divorce

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Byline: LYDIA SLATER

Camilla Rutherford, model, sculpturally beautiful face of Max Factor and Gosford Park ingenue, is posing as elegantly as it is possible to do while lying across a kitchen table surrounded by teacups. Although she gave birth to her second baby, Maud, just three months earlier, she is already back to her pre-pregnancy size eight, flaunting her nipped-in green Chanel jacket and skintight white trousers with supermodel aplomb. Maud herself, a chubby, rosy little baby with strawberry blonde hair, is snoring gently in her car seat in the next room, unconcerned by the fussing around her mother.

One might deduce from this apparently seamless juggling of motherhood and professional commitments (there isn't even an au pair to help out) that Camilla, 29, is one of life's natural superwomen.

But appearances are deceptive: Camilla's personal circumstances and situation are not nearly as enviable, nor as relaxed, as they at first appear.

'It's been a tough time,' she confesses. 'I really want to be strong for my children. I want them to feel secure with me. I don't want them to feel that Mummy's all over the place. You constantly need to give the impression that everything's fine, and it's quite tiring.' For despite her fame, beauty and success, Camilla has not been lucky on the emotional front. Last year, she and her husband, Old Harrovian fashion PR Rufus Abbott, separated when Camilla was seven months pregnant.

Their decree nisi coincided with Christmas, and Camilla is now facing the unenviable prospect of life as a single mother of two very young children (the elder, Hector, is only just three). 'I'm quite a conservative person,' she says, …