LITTLE Palma Elizabeth Wright has had the finest welcome to the world imaginable – as Michelle Keegan makes the most of her maternity leave with £21k-per-night hotel stays and stunning spa breaks.
Michelle, who is currently starring in has treated her daughter to a city break atand a trip to the £350-per-night celeb hangout in the Cotswolds, which she described as “a little break away filled with special memories”;.
The family also celebrated her at a hotel in Southend.
And it is no surprise to friends that is savouring these first few weeks of with special family trips before her planned return to work at the end of the year.
A source said: “Michelle is maximising her maternity leave for sure. She has until the end of the year before she is due to start filming again, and she wants to make as many special memories with Palma as possible.
“She and are absolutely besotted and are taking every opportunity to spoil the whole family. “They will definitely have some more gorgeous holidays together before Michelle has to start thinking about returning to work.”;
Michelle, 37, had already started making plans to max her during her , and was particularly looking forward to spending the summer at the family’s bespoke near Epping Forest.
She said in February: “I'm going to take a good chunk of time off to enjoy being a mum. I’m never normally at home in the summer, I’ve always been away working, so I can’t wait.”;
Michelle was busy filming in Manchester right up until her seventh month of pregnancy, and spent five months last spring in Australia shooting Ten Pound Poms.
Mark, 38, flew out to join her there, and the couple made the most of their downtime by touring Sydney and Palm Beach.
A source said: “Michelle and Mark have always lapped up opportunities to travel – they have always had to fit special holiday time around their manic schedules, and they have really perfected this over the years.
“It’s the best way to maximise the time they have together, and make new memories.
“That’s how they will spend their first months with Palma, too – maximising every opportunity.
“Next year Michelle will have to juggle her schedule, like every working mum, so this year is all about enjoying every second with their daughter.”;
‘Working class upbringing'
Michelle was brought up in Manchester with a police officer dad and school dinner lady mum, and describes her upbringing as “very normal, very working class”;, while Mark was raised in Essex.
She insists that the couple are not always living the showbiz life, despite how it may appear on social media, though admits: “We dip our toe in, then step back to normal life. It’s very boring and probably quite basic, but that’s how I like it.”;
Their luxury Essex mansion is anything but basic.
The couple built their “dream home”; property from scratch, including his-and-hers bathrooms, a five star home gym complete with herringbone parquet flooring and a £100k driveway – their celeb-filled housewarming bash was so epic, it was dubbed Marcella, in homage to the LA festival Coachella.
Palma has already been treated to a similar style of luxury, receiving a personalised bath robe at the Corinthia hotel, and riding around in a £1,249 iCandy Peach 7 Coco pushchair, and mum Michelle wears her name in gold around her neck.
Contrary to speculation, Mark insists the couple’s trip to Majorca in July last year, which included time spent on a luxury yacht, is not why their daughter is named Palma – though they did s on the island where they own a freshly renovated flat, which has its own marble worktops and sea views from a stunning balcony.
Mark revealed: “We just love the name, Palmer, with an ‘E-R'. And then we just liked putting an ‘A' on it, which is like the way it read.
“So yeah, we just love the name, really.”;
Jet-setting baby
Palma is likely to enjoy many trips to the island, regardless, as mum and dad are regular holidaymakers there, with their apartment located in the town.
The source added: “Palma will definitely visit her namesake town – they adore their apartment there, and it’s even more of a significant destination for them now.”;
Again, no expense was spared on the renovations. Mark flew his own team of builders out there, including shipping their tools for them to complete the job in 2023, when he said: “It’s been a dream of mine to have a place out here for as long as I can remember, now time to enjoy it.”;
Michelle will start filming a secret “big new job”; at the end of the year, and until then, is likely to enjoy a few more fun jaunts.
She previously said: “I used to panic if I had a long gap in-between jobs, thinking I'll never work again, but I’m getting better at trusting the process, trusting my instincts and saying no to what’s not right for me.”;
Pat leave over
Meanwhile, Mark has already returned to the airwaves on Heart radio – he interviewed Robert de Nero via a video link days after she was born – and he cannot stop cooing over his gorgeous new daughter on air.
“It’s the biggest achievement of my life,”; he said, proudly. “Hats go off to my wife she is an absolute super human, a superhero for bringing this baby into the world.
“I suppose everything else goes out the window and its made me realise what life is all about and my little baby Palma.
“It's a very special feeling. I cant really put it into words. We've waited a little bit of time, we've chased our dreams and our careers and now we're here.”;
Although colleagues have informed him he is now sporting “dad eyes”;, as he looks so tired. He laughs of parental duties: “It is the best thing ever. Except when I am trying to wind her after a bottle at 2am, nightmare.”;
They will need plenty more spa breaks to recover.
