Glamour queen is a long way from Uzbekistan reality

Glamour queen. International diplomat. Plunderer of the poor.

Gulnara Karimova has been called all of these things. But all the eldest daughter of Uzbekistan’s ageing authoritarian leader appears to want is for people to like her.

Over the weekend, the producers of New York’s Fashion Week cancelled a show by Ms Karimova amid pressure from a human rights group and a planned protest over the use of child labour in her country. In a face-saving gesture, her backers revived the event yesterday at ultra-chic Cipriani on 42nd Street.

Turning up at fashion shows and dropping by at the Cannes Film Festival is part of a carefully nurtured public relations exercise by Ms Karimova, who, despite her frivolous image, is seen as a possible successor to her father.

On the international scene, she is known as a fashionable jet-setter. In her home country, Ms Karimova is feted by official media as an accomplished diplomat, academic and philanthropist devoted to the cause of disadvantaged women and children.

But to her many detractors, the 39-year-old is a “robber baron” who has pillaged businesses in Uzbekistan and luxuriates in self-imposed European exile, while many in her country endure crushing poverty.

Uzbekistan, a mainly Muslim nation of almost 28 million people, is part of a key route supplying Nato troops in Afghanistan.

It is rich in natural gas and gold, as well as being one of the world largest cotton producers, making it potentially attractive to investors.

Although officially touted as an international stateswoman, Ms Karimova rarely appears to bother with such matters.

Her official website conveys the image of a carefree fashionista obsessed with gaudy jewellery flitting between charity events in Uzbekistan and gala evenings in Europe. She appears to take inordinate pride in being photographed with the likes of former US president Bill Clinton, singer Elton John and action film star Steven Seagal.

Another website, Googoosha.uz, documents Ms Karimova’s short-lived pop career (she sang under the name GooGoosha – reputedly her father’s favourite nickname for her). One video depicts a flying sports car wending its way to a palace in verdant mountains, greeted by Ms Karimova in a flowing white dress.