Forget nepo babies, the nepo PARENTS are coming: From Harry Styles’s mum’s new career as an influencer to Lana Del Rey’s father who boasts about being a ‘nepo daddy’

They watched with pride as their children became household names – but now the beaming mums and dads want to put themselves in the spotlight, says Scarlett Dargan.

At the beginning of last year, 56-year-old Anne Twist shared the news on Instagram that she had written her first children’s book, Betty and the mysterious visitor. The story about a badger wreaking havoc in Betty’s grandmother’s vegetable garden wasn’t clearly viral hit material and yet her post received a whopping 127,600 likes – four times as many as Liz Truss’ post announcing she had become Prime Minister received.

The comments were positive. (“Do I have kids? No. Will I still buy this? 100%.”) And the book did well offline too. Last October, Waterstones included it in its list of best books of 2023, alongside Zadie Smith’s The fraud and that of Salman Rushdie Victory city. So why all the fuss about a children’s book? Because writer Anne Twist is Harry Styles’ mother.

She’s the poster girl for a new kind of celebrity: the nepo parent. In 2022, everyone was suddenly obsessed with nepobabies — celebrity children who get jobs because of their parents’ connections — as if this phenomenon wasn’t literally thousands of years old (I’m looking at you, Augustus Caesar). Now it seems the tables have turned.

An important distinction needs to be made here: nepo parents are not to be confused with the controlling, stage-managing variety. We’re not talking about the likes of Jamie Spears (Britney’s opinion-splitting father), or even Kris Jenner, the 68-year-old Kardashian matriarch who profited from her daughter Kim’s sex tape to create the ultra-famous California family dynasty. Fake parents are those who lived completely normal lives, only to watch their offspring become dizzyingly famous and, as a result, seize the opportunity to get ahead.

Twist is a great example of this: she is now a bona fide Instagram influencer; her 2.6 million followers are willing to buy anything Harry’s mother has touched. But she is certainly not the only one. Take Rob Grant, the seventy-year-old father of eleven-time Grammy-nominated singer Lana Del Rey. Last summer, Grant released his debut album, Lost at sea. It was positively reviewed by tough indie magazines such as Rolling stone And Pitchfork, neither of which generally features classic ventures from 70-year-old web domain investors making their first foray into recording. But despite being only 40 minutes long and sounding incredibly like those relaxing whale soundtracks you have to endure while getting your legs waxed, reviewers couldn’t get enough of it. At least Bob is honest with himself. He was delighted in an interview with US GQ (yes, really): “I’m glad I’m the first nepo dad.”

It’s the same story with 83-year-old Michael Whitehall. Until 2017, he was a retired theater agent who lived with his wife Hilary in Barnes, South West London. That was until his son, the comedian Jack Whitehall, mentioned him in a few stand-up routines. Cue Netflix offers the father-son duo a TV show – Travels with my father – which led to a joint podcast and a book deal. “I have a nepo dad,” Jack said The times last June. “He’s taken advantage of his opportunity… He’s doing his podcast and appearing on shows with my mom, and they’re talking about going on tour themselves. Disturbed.’

It’s insane, when you think about it. Michael Whitehall may be quite funny as the stereotypical annoying dad when he’s messing around with Jack, but do we really need the retiree to embark on his own nationwide tour? He can’t sing, dance or even whip out a book about a tie – although he once managed Christopher Biggins. Do many people really want to pay to listen to the details of Biggins’ antics?

It would be understandable if we turned out to be even less in love with nepo parents than with nepo babies. For starters, the trend represents something of an unnatural reversal. Boomer parents giving their Gen Z kids a head start is certainly normal, whether you’re a celebrity or a citizen. Plus, it’s not as much fun to laugh at a seventy-year-old as it is at 24-year-old Brooklyn Beckham’s dismal attempts to photograph an elephant for his own picture book.

There’s only one nepo parent I really love: Linda Clark, the mother of Radio 2’s Rylan. Even though the 71-year-old steals the show whenever she appears Celebrity glasses case, she doesn’t have Instagram and seems genuinely confused when surprised fans ask her for a selfie. She’s actually funny and makes sure to embarrass Rylan at every opportunity (the real job of any parent, nepo or not). Like when she couldn’t pronounce tzatziki (“tatiki”), or when she mistook Paddington Bear for a doll and asked, “Who’s got their hand up?” while watching the iconic Queen’s Jubilee skit. That’s a stand-up tour I would pay a lot of money for.

Nepo-fabulous moms and dads

Naam: Anna Twist

Famous descendants: Harry Styles

Than: Philanthropist

Now: Children’s author

Instagram followers: 2.6 million

Name: Robert (Rob) Grant

Famous descendants: Lana Del Rey

Than: Investor in web domains

Now: Musician

Instagram followers: 250,000

Name: Michael Whitehall

Famous descendants: Jack Whitehall

Than: Retired theater agent

Now: TV star, podcast host and author

Instagram followers: 534,000