Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan fights to save career after ‘failing to reveal lovechild’

Former cricket legend Imran Khan is fighting to save his political career in Pakistan after being accused of failing to disclose that he had a love child with a British heiress.

The former Pakistani prime minister has been cited by the country’s High Court for failing to testify that he secretly fathered a daughter named Tyrian Jade with a socialite named Sita White, the daughter of a British tycoon and colleague.

Under Pakistan’s electoral laws, a candidate must declare the names of his wife and dependent children in his nomination papers to the Election Commission.

In the 2018 national election that brought the 70-year-old Khan to power, he revealed that he had two children with his ex-wife, socialite Jemima Khan.

But he did not mention that Tyrian White, 27, was his daughter with Ms. White.

(Left to right) Sulaiman Khan, Jemima Khan, Tyrian White and Kasim Khan attend the UK premiere of ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on February 13, 2023 in London, England

If convicted, Khan may be disqualified from standing for election for the next five years, meaning he may not be able to contest this year’s national election in March.

The former sports legend was ousted as prime minister last year after losing a vote of no confidence in parliament, but she remains hugely popular and could win this year’s election.

Khan’s supporters have dismissed the case as politically motivated, accusing government parties of using it to discredit him and tarnish his reputation in a conservative Muslim society, where children out of wedlock are frowned upon.

Tyrian, now 27, was born three years before Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, 21, the daughter of billionaire James Goldsmith, in 1995.

Khan met his mother, Sita White, at London’s Tramp nightclub in the late 1980s, when he was at the height of his fame as an international cricketer and playboy.

Ms. White was the daughter of Gordon White, a British industrialist and fellow who ran a conglomerate called Hanson Plc.

White moved to the US in the early 1990s, shortly before giving birth to Tyrian in Los Angeles in 1992.

The cricketer, now an ambitious politician in his country, denied being Tyrian’s father in the early years.

The former Prime Minister of Pakistan has been cited by the country’s High Court for failing to testify that he secretly fathered a daughter named Tyrian Jade with a socialite named Sita White, the daughter of a fellow British tycoon and (pictured)

Tyrian divides his time between New York and London, and is believed to stay with Ms Khan when she is in the UK (pictured: Jemima Khan, left, and Tyrian White)

But Ms White took him to a Los Angeles court, which ruled in 1997 that Mr Khan was the father after he refused to take a DNA test.

Mrs White, who has been married three times since parting ways with her cricketer lover, died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism in Los Angeles at the age of 43, when her daughter was just 12.

Khan then took Tyrian into his care and raised her in London with Jemima Khan, whom he had divorced months earlier, but with whom he was on friendly terms.

Ms Khan’s friends have said that she raised Tyrian as her own daughter.

She has since posted photos of herself with Tyrian to her Instagram account, along with photos of her stepdaughter with her two sons by Mr Khan, Suleiman Isa, 26, and Kasim, 23.

In an Instagram photo of Ms Khan together with Tyrian, she wrote: “Happy birthday to this brilliant person, I am lucky to call my stepdaughter.”

Tyrian divides his time between New York and London, and is believed to stay with Ms Khan when she is in the UK.

The Islamabad High Court petition filed against Mr. Khan states: “Respondent has deliberately and voluntarily failed to declare his daughter Tyrian White in the nomination papers…therefore he is not shrewd, fair, honest and a man of good character.”

Osama Malik, a British-trained lawyer in Islamabad, said: “Tyrian’s case is already out there, so I don’t think it will hurt his support base. At the moment, Imran has the most support as a national politician.’

Last night, Ms Khan refused to comment on Tyrian’s case.

He is likely to visit Pakistan soon to promote his new film, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, a comedy about arranged marriage, partly set in Lahore.

She said her ex-husband hasn’t seen the movie, but he did read one of the early scripts.

She told BBC Radio 4 Today: “He read an early version of the script and was strangely jealous about it… and kept saying you have to do this.”

I couldn’t believe it would take so long. I mean, it took me 10 years to get to this point.