Girl charged after Katherine Jenkins mugged before Christmas carol concert

Katherine Jenkins(Photo: BBC)

A teenage girl has been charged after classical singer Katherine Jenkins was mugged shortly before she was due to perform at a charity Christmas carol concert. 

The Songs of Praise presenter was mugged on Wednesday night as she came to the aid of another woman during a street robbery in Chelsea, London, while on her way to a rehearsal. 

Despite the ordeal, she went ahead with the performance at St Luke's Church because, with her agent saying that she didn't want to let the charity down. 

The carol concert was being held in aid of the Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, which supports educational projects in Africa. 

The Metropolitan Police said that a 15-year-old girl had been charged with assault on police and robbery.  She is due to appear at Highbury Magistrates' Court on January 6. 

Jenkins, a mezzo-soprano from Wales, is a committed Christian who earlier this year said that it was her church upbringing that had taught her how to sing. 

She told the Belfast Newsletter: "I definitely think my faith has played a role in my career. I learnt to sing in church.

"Our family always attended church, my mum was one of the Sunday School teachers and I became a member of the choir when I was seven.

"I used to sing two Thursdays a week and then do choir practice. It was a really big part of my childhood.

"When I left Neath to go and study at the Royal Academy of Music up until that point all the singing I had done was church music."