An exotic human tree grows from the carpet of the suite in the Soho Hotel, tall and slim, its branches spindly, but a willow nonetheless, weeping red fronds. As much as those of Queen Elizabeth I, whom she plays in a new dramatised Channel 5 documentary, Lily Cole’s looks command attention. If not drop-dead gorgeous, the mostly retired model turned actor, businesswoman and activist is, at 29, almost petrifyingly striking. Her face, talent-spotted on the street by a Storm Models agent 14 years ago, is an original, a Millais redhead but also a Roswell alien: big eyes, long, shallow nose and tiny mouth.
In our close encounter, it is unclear which of us is more suspicious of the other, your reporter from this cynical old
