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The Times & The Sunday Times
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A head start for top M&S boss

James Gillespie
The Sunday Times
Laura Wade-Gery wore a shawl to visit the Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Isfahan, Iran, in 1986 (William Dalrymple)
Laura Wade-Gery wore a shawl to visit the Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Isfahan, Iran, in 1986 (William Dalrymple)
James Gillespie
The Sunday Times

SHE is one of Britain’s most powerful women — but there was a time when she was merely one of the most adventurous.

The Marks & Spencer executive is taking maternity leave (Images)
The Marks & Spencer executive is taking maternity leave (Images)

Laura Wade-Gery, 50, announced last week that she is taking maternity leave from her role running Marks & Spencer’s UK retail and online business. In 1986, aged 21, she travelled from Jerusalem to China with the writer William Dalrymple, who immortalised her in his book In Xanadu.

She wore a chador to cross the border from Turkey into revolutionary Iran. Once there, the pair visited the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan, Wade-Gery wearing a shawl. Neither outfit is on sale at Marks & Spencer.

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The 21-year-old Wade-Gery crosses into revolutionary Iran (William Dalrymple)
The 21-year-old Wade-Gery crosses into revolutionary Iran (William Dalrymple)