Jeweller to the stars including Sir Paul McCartney and Madonna reveals how a violent armed robbery where a raider held a gun to her face triggered years of ill health and led to a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
- EXCLUSIVE: Suzanne Lauder held at gunpoint at Moira jewellery store in 2002
- Mother-of-three was terrified she wouldn't see her children again during raid
- Men stole stock worth millions of pounds including Madonna's wedding bracelet
- Suzanne, 54, struggled to sleep and suffered flashbacks in wake of the break-in
- Lost some hair and caught glandular fever which damaged auto-immune system
- Diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in 2017; says robbery triggered issues
A jeweller to the stars has revealed how a violent armed robbery during which a raider stuck her face with a gun sent her into a spiral of ill-health - but she's now gradually getting her life back thanks to a wonder therapy chair.
Suzanne Lauder, 54, runs the family business Moira Fine Jewellery, which has stores in central London.
She counts Adele as a customer, loaned Madonna a £49,000 diamond bracelet for her wedding to Guy Ritchie and has also supplied JK Rowling, Daniel Craig and Paul McCartney with jewellery.
The mother-of-three told how she was laying out trays of priceless gems in 2002 when the raiders struck - the third robbery she has endured in her life.
Suzanne Lauder, 54, runs the family business Moira Fine Jewellery, which has stores in central London. In 2002 she was caught up in an armed robbery which saw a raider hold a gun to her face
At the time insurers offered a reward of £100,000 – but now, almost 20 years later, Suzanne claims the true value of the stock, of which 80 per cent was taken, was in fact worth millions.
Among the treasures stolen was a stunning 19-carat diamond French filigree bracelet, made in 1910 and picked by Stella McCartney to complement the gothic gown Madonna donned for her Skibo Castle nuptials in 2000.
Following the horrific ordeal, Suzanne has suffered a series of health issues and was eventually diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) in 2017 - which she believes was triggered by the robbery.
Speaking about the harrowing moment a raider held a gun to her face, Suzanne told FEMAIL: 'I could see his eyes, they were so close to me. His pupils were dilated and huge. The gun was so close to my face.
Suzanne has supplied JK Rowling, Daniel Craig and Paul McCartney with jewellery. Pictured prior to attending the Spectre film premiere
'I was thinking, "I have got three little babies at home." I was wondering if I was going to see them again. It was terrifying.
'The bloke who shoved the gun in my face wasn't young, he was in his 50s and he was short too.
'It felt as if they were in the shop for 15 minutes, but it was probably more like three minutes.
'An older member of staff came up the stairs while the raid was taking place and said, "What the hell is going on?" One of the gang kicked him back down the stairs extremely hard. He suffered a head injury and was off work for months.'
Moira Fine Jewellery is a family business opened by Suzanne's mother Moira and her brother. Pictured: the New Bond Street store where the raid took place
Suzanne was previously attacked and threatened at the age of 14 by a gang who pounced on her as she walked back to her mother's car with jewels at Portobello Road market.
She was also inside the family's first West End shop on New Bond Street when raiders smashed the windows with hammers in 1995.
Suzanne, who is divorced, recalled how it was a May Bank holiday morning in 2002 when, through the window of the New Bond Street boutique, she spotted three men in a van.
Believing them to be scaffolders working next door, Suzanne ignored them - but seconds later two of them jumped from the van and, using an iron girder as a battering ram, smashed open the locked doors, screaming: 'Get down, get down!'
Following the horrific ordeal, Suzanne has suffered a series of health issues and was eventually diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) in 2017 - which she believes was triggered by the robbery. Pictured left in Brazil in 2014 and right in St Tropez the same year
As Suzanne flung herself onto the floor behind a counter to try to protect a younger member of staff, the robbers ransacked the displays and swiped sacks full of glittering gems.
Spotting brave Suzanne trying to creep across the floor towards the panic button, one of the gang ran towards her, pulled a pistol from inside his jacket and, pointing it inches away from her face, told her to stop moving.
He then grabbed her by the collar and dragged her across the tiles towards the CCTV recording unit, which he ripped off the wall, before fleeing with his accomplice.
As the robbers made their escape, they dropped a diamond tiara in the street.
The crime made headlines at the time, but despite a Met Police Flying Squad investigation no-one was ever arrested, and the jewels were never recovered. The getaway van was found burned out in nearby Jones Street.
Pictured: Suzanne with her mother Moira, who set up the jewellery brand with her brother
Suzanne sold Moira Antique Jewellers in New Bond Street in 2014 – 32 years after it was opened by her mum Moira and her brother - and set up another store in the West End.
She also began displaying her collection at Richard Ogden in Burlington Arcade in London's West End.
The bracelet supplied by Suzanne which Madonna wore on her wedding day to Guy Ritchie
In the wake of the robbery Suzanne was unable to sleep, traumatised by vivid nightmares and flashbacks.
Determined not to let the thieves win, Suzanne threw herself straight back into the family business days after police forensic officers finished combing the store for fingerprints and evidence.
But the emotional strain of living through such an ordeal began to manifest itself physically.
She said: 'The stress of the robbery made me weak and vulnerable.'
Suzanne lost clumps of her hair and weeks later contracted Epstein Barr virus – a type of glandular fever which damaged her auto-immune system.
Months later exhausted Suzanne, who was working 12-hour days and spending two hours a day driving in from her home in North London, was dressing the new shop's window when she slipped and fell, cracking her coccyx.
Following a collapse in Spain a year later she was in agony around the clock. Doctors diagnosed her with muscular skeletal issues and an MRI showed she had issues with her lower spine.
In the wake of the robbery Suzanne, pictured in London in 2015, was unable to sleep, traumatised by vivid nightmares and flashbacks
When epidurals didn't ease the pain, it was suggested she may have 'kissing rib syndrome' which is the twisting of the spine from the neck to the waist.
Once this was ruled out, she tested negative for gallstones, prescribed an anti-arthritis drug, then told the issue could be benign hypermobility, a genetic condition with no cure which makes the joints 'looser' than they should be.
Suzanne recalled: 'I sometimes felt like my arms were falling out of their sockets. I had a boyfriend who lived an hour-and-a-half out of London. The drive was incredibly painful.
'I honestly sometimes thought I was going to die on the motorway.'
Suzanne was then given cortisone injections. She went on to visit an orthopedic expert and then another doctor who told her she was in 'full menopause'.
Suzanne, pictured with her mum Moira last year, said the emotional strain of living through such an ordeal began to manifest itself physically
It was at this appointment she was informed she had EDS - the condition which caused ex-health minister Baroness Blackwood to collapse in the House of Commons last year and which also affects actress and radio presenter Jameela Jamil.
When another top medic advised her to try stem cell treatment, she jetted off to Boca Raton, Florida and underwent a series of treatments.
The US appointments proved a success and the pain began to subside, but a later Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) session in London left her in more pain and discomfort.
The PelviPower chair, introduced to her by London physio Maria Elliott, strengthened Suzanne's weak rear pelvic floor by delivering magnetic therapy at 50hz
Suzanne continued her quest to ease her suffering and even travelled to the SHA Wellness Clinic in Alicante for physio before a UK doctor suggested she try the MEPS clinic run by top London physio Maria Elliott.
Elliott was one of the first in the country to install a £44,000 PelviPower chair, which helps strengthen the pelvic floor and improves the blood flow to the pelvic area.
It delivers a frequency of 25hz to 50hz to the muscle, which is an optimal muscle contraction.
PelviPower strengthened Suzanne's weak rear pelvic floor by delivering magnetic therapy at 50hz.
Suzanne explained: 'Maria said I did have hypermobility, which means my core is weak and my hips are very lax. They flop forward.
'I tried Pilates and that didn't work. So, I did eight sessions with the PelviPower chair and it was immediately life-changing. I was ecstatic.
'It was brilliant for my lower back and for my glutes. From nowhere my bottom started to get bigger as the glutes were activated.
'After one or two hours I was able to sit down. It was amazing.
'Before the treatment there were times when I felt like my buttocks were falling off my legs. It was so distressing.
'Getting the diagnosis of EDS in 2017 was such a relief; although it's a horrible debilitating condition it was good to finally have an answer.'
Suzanne, whose Moira Fine Jewellery Instagram channel has more than 60,000 followers, added: 'It has been a tough few years – but I feel I have started to get my life back now.
'Looking back, it was the robbery that triggered everything. I was in fine fettle before that gang broke in and changed my life.'
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