{"id":87,"date":"2024-03-02T15:51:18","date_gmt":"2024-03-02T15:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/?page_id=87"},"modified":"2024-03-20T01:41:33","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T01:41:33","slug":"what-happened-to-penelope-violet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/?page_id=87","title":{"rendered":"What Happened To Penelope Violet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dedicated to Penelope and Lorna, I’m sorry…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has heard of Penelope Violet: singer, actress, icon. Her extraordinary career began following her performance on a TV singing competition. Overnight she went from busking on street corners to basking in the spotlight. Record agencies clamoured to represent her, and following her award-winning debut movie appearance, she was inundated with offers from some of the world\u2019s most famous directors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A cover story feature about Penelope Violet\u2019s participation in the globally televised singing competition, \u2018Star\u2019. From the Daybreak Gazette<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She had fans, fame, fortune; the only way to go was up. Her charm and glamour were exceeded only by her enthusiasm for her work, juggling demanding filming schedules alongside recording her debut album \u2018Unseelie\u2019, and the sold-out global tour following its release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The cover of Penelope Violet\u2019s debut album, \u2018Unseelie\u2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An official t-shirt from the sold-out \u2018Unseelie\u2019 World Tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She was adored by millions around the globe. She could do no wrong. Then suddenly, she was gone, vanished without a trace. No one knew what happened to her, or why. How does a household name like Penelope Violet just disappear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was never real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I struggled to make friends as a child. People inevitably left me for others or ostracised me for being annoying. I always found myself desperately clinging onto the fringes of friend groups, never understanding what I was doing wrong. I wanted people to love me but found most struggled to tolerate me. I\u2019ve always felt lonely, like there was a deep empty pit inside me. In the past I\u2019ve clung to people who repeatedly hurt me, out of fear of that loneliness. And the euphoric high from the moments I don\u2019t feel alone burns through relationships faster than I know how to make them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Penelope Violet\u2019s fairy-tale princess themed feature on the front cover of Nogue fashion magazine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m now (at 20) being assessed for ASD, a diagnosis which would provide a lot of clarity about these struggles. I made up Penelope in First School. I loved performing, and despite being tone-deaf and having two left feet, I was always good at pretending to be someone else. Penelope represented my dreams and ambitions. She was an escape, the person I wished I could be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A torn and repaired piece of fan mail; lyrics written on both the envelope and drawing. Found in Penelope Violet\u2019s wastepaper bin, following her disappearance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Instead of being a kid playing alone in my room, because the other children in the village didn\u2019t like me much, I could be a superstar. I didn\u2019t need them; I was Penelope Violet. Everyone adored her, admired her. No one told her to shut up, or said that she was weird and annoying, like they so often did to me. I suppose in this way, Penelope also represented my insecurities, because as perfect as she was, she was pretend, and I could never really be her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A poster for the critically acclaimed \u2018Call of the Siren\u2019 movie. Starring, and with an award-winning soundtrack co-written by Penelope Violet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I worked on Penelope for a couple of years. I drew her constantly, wrote out filming schedules and designed her movie costumes. I think I put more effort into her identity than my own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A torn and repaired piece of fan mail; lyrics written on both the envelope and drawing. Found in Penelope Violet\u2019s wastepaper bin, following her disappearance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2016 my family moved out of the house I grew up in. We had a massive clear-out beforehand, and I was brutal where my mum was sentimental \u2013 especially with my old drawings. Recently, I rediscovered the box of art, buried in the attic. I couldn\u2019t remember what we had ended up keeping, but I was excited for the nostalgia of looking through it all. I was also excited to see Penelope, who was still so clear in my mind after over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except she was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A red-carpet photo from the premiere of Cheer Up, Penelope Violet\u2019s award-winning film debut, signed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I emptied the box, went through every single drawing, and couldn\u2019t find a single trace of her. Apparently in 2016, I felt she wasn\u2019t important enough to save. There are so many old schoolbooks and drawings made in class, but no Penelope, who I so meticulously brought to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It broke my heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A tear and makeup covered fast-food napkin with lyrics written on it, found under Penelope Violet\u2019s bed following her disappearance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Penelope represented who I had wanted to be. She was there when I was alone, and her persona helped me get through a lot. In return she was thrown away like she was worthless, like my dreams and ambitions were worthless, like that lonely child was worthless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to lose her; she was too important to me. So, I\u2019m bringing her back to give her the respect she deserves, as a manifestation of my childhood hopes and insecurities. I want to apologise. I didn\u2019t value Penelope when I had her, and I didn\u2019t value what she represented. I want to take little Lorna in my arms and hug her until she feels less alone. I want to protect her from the world. I want to tell her she\u2019s perfect and wonderful and her creativity is important, no matter what society tells her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to tell her all that, because it\u2019s what I still need to hear sometimes, and because I wish the world could apologise to everyone it has wronged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An old CD containing 8 unreleased demo tracks. Found on a manager\u2019s desk, being used as a coaster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lorna C. Hill 2022<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dedicated to Penelope and Lorna, I’m sorry… Everyone has heard of Penelope Violet: singer, actress, icon. Her extraordinary career began following her performance on a TV singing competition. Overnight she went from busking on street corners to basking in the spotlight. Record agencies clamoured to represent her, and following her award-winning debut movie appearance, she…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":60,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions\/316"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lornachillart.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}