Naomi Campbell marks Grace Jones’ 73rd birthday after announcing she has become a mother at 50

Naomi Campbell paid tribute to her pal Grace Jones on the model’s 73rd birthday on Instagram on Thursday, two days after announcing she had become a mother a 50. 

The model shared throwback snaps of the pair alongside a poignant message where she referenced how ‘maternal’ Grace is, especially when Naomi was a teenager trying to navigate the modelling world. 

It comes after Naomi announced she had become a mother to a baby girl on Tuesday, saying she was ‘honoured and humbled’, amid claims she’s set to raise her daughter with her ‘secret American boyfriend’. 

In the sweet post, Naomi wrote: ‘Happy Birthday to my Jamaican Sister the legendary the one and only Grace Jones @gracejonesofficial, blessings to you on this special day, I cherish our decades of kinship and shared bday’s . 

‘What people don’t know about you, is how big your heart is and how maternal you are. I will be forever grateful to you, looking out for me as teenager all over the world !! You exude an inner strength and have always been authentic and unapologetic in all you do An icon of our time. Ladies and Gentleman Ms Grace Jones.’

The catwalk queen uploaded a glamorous snap of the pair recently alongside several throwback photos of herself and Grace partying when they were younger.  

It comes as Naomi, who will turn 51 on Saturday, appeared to hint that she was going to become a mother when she spoke of a ‘great year’ with ‘bumps’ ahead in an unearthed interview. 

In an interview with i-D earlier this year, Naomi cryptically said she felt she would be in for an ‘amazing’ year.  

She said: ‘2021 is going to be a great year, we’ve just got a few more bumps to get through first.

‘I believe that this is going to be an amazing year. Actually, I don’t just believe it will be – I feel it will be. 

The model is said to have welcomed her baby via a surrogate, with unearthed pictures of the star taken three weeks before her baby’s arrival showing her out in New York City – where she now lives. 

Naomi spoke about motherhood as she interviewed fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, 74, on her YouTube show No Filter with Naomi.   

Interacting with fans as her YouTube recording aired, Naomi wrote on the live stream chat: ‘Hello my darlings, thank you so much for the pre birthday wishes… and for my new chapter as a mother. I’m honoured and humbled.’

The fashion icon was inundated with well wishes from fans in the comment section of the video, which she also shared on Instagram. 

In the interview itself, Naomi told how she used lockdown as a period of ‘reflection’ and agreed with close friend Diane when she said the pandemic had given us the opportunity to ‘think about what matters most.’ 

The British supermodel is living in New York and is understood to have a new boyfriend with whom she will raise the child.

Friends told Daily Mail that they believe Naomi – who never knew her father and was raised largely by her grandmother – used a surrogate. 

Sources close to the model added to The Sun that Naomi is in a ‘wonderful place’ and how it finally felt like the ‘perfect time’ to become a parent.  

The insider said: ‘Naomi has really mellowed in the past year and is in a wonderful place in life.

‘She has been living in America with her boyfriend and is really happy. It finally felt like the ­perfect time to become a mother and she is over the moon.

‘The first lockdown allowed her to stop and take stock of the important things and she decided now was the time to properly look into starting a family.’

Naomi reportedly recently told her team that she wants to quit working over weekends, just weeks before making her baby announcement.  

Naomi kept her baby news a secret from the public, but a handful of friends, family and fashion insiders were in the know. 

The Vogue cover girl was pictured going about her daily business in New York while clad in a tracksuit on April 22 – her last official sighting before announcing she had become a mother.

Just two days prior, the model had made headlines when she walked in the Michael Kors runway show for Fashion Week, with audience members none the wiser that she was set to become a parent just weeks later. 

Naomi announced the news on Instagram as she shared a picture of her newborn’s feet alongside the caption: ‘A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother.

‘So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you, my angel. There is no greater love.’ 

Congratulations poured in from friends including British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and fashion designer Marc Jacobs, who wrote: ‘How lucky she is and how lucky you are! What a wonderful mother you will be.’

Naomi’s best model pal Kate Moss also shared her well wishes, posting: ‘Congratulations mama @naomi’. 

Naomi’s mother, Valerie Morris-Campbell, who was 19 when she gave birth to the model, wrote: ‘Congratulations to my daughter Naomi on the birth of her daughter, I’m beyond thrilled as I’ve waited a long time to be grandmother.’

The model has more than a dozen godchildren, to whom she is close.