She didn’t think she would ever smile again following the death of her husband Ozzy Osbourne.
But at her first public appearance since the Black Sabbath legend’s death four months ago, widow Sharon attempted to put on a brave face, standing beside her beloved daughter Kelly – whose hand she clasped as they posed for the cameras.
Indeed, for Sharon, 73, her dazzling appearance at the London restaurant Aki on Wednesday was an incredible show of strength for both mother and daughter, 41.
It was a star-studded night – the likes of model Amber Le Bon, royal equestrian Zara Tindall and singer Holly Valance were at the cocktail do hosted by their friend, the Australian fashion designer Rebecca Vallance.
And yet, despite the glitzy exterior of Sharon’s night out, the evening was tinged with sadness. Because, I can reveal, Sharon is still reluctant to stray far from her beloved Ozzy’s side since he died in July from heart failure at the family’s sprawling Buckinghamshire home.
Ozzy is buried in the grounds of the private family estate Welders House, a Grade II-listed Georgian mansion in the village of Jordans, and following their father’s death the couple’s three children Aimee, Jack and Kelly moved back to Los Angeles.
‘It’s a toss-up between staying in the UK and being in the US where her children and grandchildren are. Sharon has opted for the former,’ a source close to the former X Factor judge told me. ‘The whole thing is devastating, but Kelly has been there for her. She flew back to see her and get her mum back “out there”. That’s all she wants now, to keep Sharon going.’
Sharon is so determined not to ‘let Ozzy down’, as she sees it, that she won’t fly to Australia where son Jack is appearing on ITV show, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.
‘At the moment there is no family member due to meet Jack,’ a source told me.
‘Sharon can’t go, she can’t leave Ozzy. She has been supporting Jack all she can but she just can’t be there to meet him. It is just so sad for her, she adores her children.
‘But she is absolutely determined to keep Ozzy’s wish.’
Long before his death, Ozzy asked Sharon and his children to bury him under a crabapple tree on the family’s estate. They agreed, of course. It was to be a place where they could remember him. He wrote in his 2010 autobiography, I Am Ozzy, that he wanted to be buried there, ‘so the kids can make wine out of me and get p**sed out of their heads’.
So when Ozzy died following a long battle with Parkinson’s, his wife Sharon dutifully followed his instructions. She recalled Ozzy saying: ‘I’ve said to Sharon: Don’t cremate me, whatever you do. I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree planted over my head. A crabapple tree, preferably.’
Until Wednesday, Sharon stayed dutifully at the house. So Kelly was thrilled to see her mother finally enjoy herself after months of grieving.
Taking to Instagram after Sharon’s first red carpet event as a widow, Kelly wrote: ‘I thought my mum looked beautiful and it was so nice to see her have a little fun! Thank you thank you thank you Rebecca [Vallance] we love you soooo much!’ Party insiders told The Daily Mail the duo were in ‘good spirits’ and drank rosé wine and ate prawn skewer canapes.
Mother and daughter were dressed in tandem too: Sharon wore a £1,100 glitzy long-sleeved red dress designed by their host, while daughter Kelly wore a £1,060 halter neck dress, also by Rebecca.
Both, too, looked strikingly svelte. In recent years, Sharon and Kelly have prompted speculation about whether they have used the slimming jab Ozempic. Sharon has admitted to taking the drug, but insists she no longer uses it. Kelly has never addressed whether she has used it.
One friend said: ‘Kelly looks like a different person, she looks so trim. We just hope they are both okay. They have both been through a very difficult time.’
Sharon has five grandchildren, four from her son Jack and one from her daughter Kelly. Jack’s daughters are Pearl, Andy Rose, Minnie Theodora and Maple Artemis and Kelly’s son is named Sidney.
Her children’s move has left Sharon in the heart-wrenching position of having to choose between staying with Ozzy or leaving him for California, where she will be surrounded by her loved ones.
Shortly before he passed away, the Osbournes put their LA family home, in the prestigious Hancock Park neighbourhood, on sale for $18million. I understand that it is yet to be sold, which means Sharon could return there if she wishes.
As one US-based friend of Sharon’s tells me: ‘We wish she would come back to LA, we just want to give her a hug.’
But I’m told that it’s unlikely to be anytime soon.
