They have been estranged for eight years, but Elton has extended an olive branch to his mother Sheila – by paying for her double hip replacement at a top private hospital, reports the Daily Mail.

In a gesture hinting that Elton is ready to end their long-running feud, he picked up the bill of about £30,000 for the 90-year-old’s one-week stay at the Wellington Hospital in St John’s Wood. But Elton’s efforts at a reconciliation may have been in vain – because Sheila doesn’t get on with her son’s husband David.

Sources in Elton’s camp revealed that David had been encouraging him to get back in touch with his mother, and advised him to spare no expense so that Sheila could have the surgery. The hospital charges £11,500 per hip replacement on top of room charges and after-care fees.

The source said: "David believes that paying for the surgery is in itself an important gesture. David is happily telling friends that they are all back in touch. Elton has been in touch at least twice since her 90th birthday in July. There is a reconciliation in progress."

However, Sheila painted a different picture, saying: "It is good of him to pay and I do appreciate it. I would love it [a reconciliation] to happen – I am his mother. But I don’t see it happening, at least not while Mr Furnish is around."

Elton and David became civil partners in 2005 when Sheila was working as Elton’s housekeeper. She quit in 2008 when Elton demanded she cut staff members Bob Halley, his former PA, and John Reid, his ex-manager, out of her life. She refused and he vowed never to speak to her again. Sheila has accused David, who married Elton last year, of turning her son against her.

Related News