The London launch was held in January this year at the Dorchester, and Renee was again guest of honour. Since then, she has flown (again, first class) to other launches in Madrid, Milan and Paris, and she has nothing but praise for the people from Dove for their friendship and support. On her return to Stoke Newington she was contacted by an aide to Oprah Winfrey and asked to appear on the top-rated, coast-to-coast TV show. A tired Renee declined. The flabbergasted aide told her that no-one turns down Oprah. ‘Tell her I’m indisposed at the moment’, said Renee.

Life has quietened down a bit now, and Renee has had time to reflect on her brush with fame. I asked her if this is the start of a modelling career. ‘Well, it’s been a good laugh’ she replied, ‘but my feet are firmly on the ground. I wouldn’t do it again but I’m glad I did it’. Obviously, she was paid by Dove but she has already given some of the money away to charity and intends to do the same with the rest of it, having collected only expenses for her efforts – ‘I had to pay for my own clothes and make-up’. She is now back in her old routine – attending St Mary’s Church, collecting her pension at the Post Office, shopping at the supermarket and doing the Daily Mirror crossword, a prosaic but probably welcome change from what must now seem a crazy dream.

In the Dove ad featuring Renee, the reader has to tick one of two boxes – ‘Wrinkled’ or ‘Wonderful’. The latter has to date vastly exceeded the former, which will come as no surprise to anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting with and talking to someone as charming and remarkable as our own Stoke Newington supermodel.