The tragedy that haunts the queen of kid cuisine Annabel Karmel

More than two decades after she first started out her recipes are still a godsend for busy parents and she's been credited with launching a food revolution.

A female version of Jamie Oliver, she is on a mission to improve children's eating habits and end the nation's obesity epidemic.

The rewards have been vast, including a £10 million business empire and a palatial home.

The 57-year-old has three lovely children and, despite a setback this week when she was accused of sexual harassment by a male worker her star shows no sign of waning.

However the woman who appears to have it all could have taken a very different career path had it not been for a family tragedy 27 years ago.

Initially it seemed certain that Annabel, a gifted harpist who grew up in north London, would become a professional musician.

She performed alongside Liberace in Las Vegas and filmed a music video with Boy George.

But her life changed irrevocably when she met Simon Karmel, an oil broker, and the couple married in 1984.

They began trying for a family but as the months passed she began to despair.

She has described discovering she was pregnant two years later as one of the best moments of her life and it appeared that her happiness was complete when baby Natasha arrived in 1987.

Annabel says: "I absolutely loved every moment of being a mum, of being her mum.

"It felt so absolutely natural."

After three months of bliss Natasha fell ill and was eventually admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for children.

She deteriorated and was put on a ventilator, continuing to go downhill for five days.

A viral infection of the brain was diagnosed and her parents were told she could not be saved.

Annabel said later: "I was just numb.

"They took out all the wires and the tubes and my beautiful little baby was placed in my arms.

"We sat with her for a couple of hours, just staring down at her in despairing adoration and then she slipped away and my whole world fell apart.

"She was 13 weeks old and it was devastating.

"Coming home without my baby was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

"Walking into the house where there were so many memories - her pretty little nursery, her empty cot.

"There was even her baby smell still lingering. I just wanted to curl up and die."

Annabel began to reassess her life and decided that she could not face returning to music, which then seemed trivial.

Her anguish over the loss of her first child was eased to some extent when she quickly became pregnant again, with her son Nicholas who arrived in a hurry on the stairs at home.

After Nicholas was born and remained healthy it hardly seemed to matter that he was a fussy eater but Annabel soon began to worry.

She recalled: "When Nicholas just wouldn't eat I felt very vulnerable.

"He was awful.

"So I mashed avocado with banana, apple with sweet potato and I made chicken and apple balls to persuade him to eat meat.

"Combinations like these were unheard of.

"Nobody had ever bothered to make baby food tasty or interesting before but it became an obsession with me."

By now she had opened her own playgroup and she began experimenting with her own recipes, testing them out on other mums.

She said: "I decided to write a cookery book, aimed at first-time mothers.

"I would stand on chairs in my kitchen, holding a camera and taking overhead pictures of the food that I had made.

"My friends thought that I was mad, and everyone tried to dissuade me.

"Nobody thought that anyone would buy a book with just recipes for babies and toddlers.

"But I was still grieving for my daughter and I needed some form of therapy.

"The cookery book became that therapy.

"Each night I would spend hours writing out my recipes.

"The cookery book wouldn't lessen my loss, but it might help other mums get their babies healthy, and that became my whole quest."

It appeared her doubting friends would be proved correct because 15 publishers rejected her book before it was accepted.

The Complete Baby And Toddler Meal Planner was first sold in 1991 with little fanfare.

But it became a sensation by word of mouth and is today the number one bestselling book on feeding children.

For many despairing mums it is the cookery equivalent of The Bible.

Annabel, who has no formal training apart from a cookery course in her teens, never looked back.

She is now the fourth best-selling cookery writer behind Oliver, Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson.

So far she has written 38 books and sold more than four million worldwide.

At one stage she thought she would return to being a musician when her children had flown the nest but her "eureka moment" came when she realised she could become a brand in her own right.

As her books took off Annabel branched out, becoming an adviser on menus for companies such as ferry line Stena and Butlin's holiday camps.

She has developed children's chilled food products for Marks & Spencer, launched her own kitchen equipment range and produced toddler snacks in association with Disney.

Her recipes are served up at Legoland and in countless nursery schools.

Annabel, who also has two daughters Lara and Scarlett who are both in their 20s, was awarded the MBE in 2006 for outstanding work in the field of child nutrition.

Gemma Landau, a nutritional consultant at London's Food Doctor clinic, says: "I think Annabel Karmel became so successful because she saw a gap in the market.

"In those early days she was innovative, providing structured meal planning for busy parents.

"She gives mums and dads an alternative to opening a packet of fish fingers and encourages them to cook from scratch.

"She should be admired for doing that and her books have been incredibly helpful to many parents.

"Generally her recipes and menus are practical and easy."

A Karmel mantra is that children are fussy eaters because parents give in too easily.

She says: "We are so terrified of our children being hungry.

"We give them what they want to eat and if we're not careful all they will end up eating is chicken nuggets, pizza, burger and chips."

However she is not to everyone's taste and has come under fire for the sugar and salt content of her Eat Fussy ready meals.

Karmel, who is a regular on television, is a renowned workaholic even tweeting nutritional advice for babies from an employment tribunal this week as her personal life came under unwanted scrutiny.

She was accused of making sexual comments to an employee, salesman Mark Salter who is 18 years her junior and firing him when he rejected her advances.

It was reported Mr Salter claimed the author, who denied the accusations, "only employed good-looking men" and made comments about his looks in front of clients.

He withdrew his claims of sexual misconduct as part of an undisclosed settlement.

Annabel's legal team had tried to keep the case secret, claiming it would damage her reputation irrespective of the outcome.

Her family image has helped make her fortune but it took a knock when she separated from her husband about six years ago.

She now reportedly lives in a £20 million home in London with film producer Stephen Margolis, who worked on one of her TV shows, Annabel's Kitchen.

Those meeting Annabel for the first time are often surprised by her diminutive stature.

She stands just 5ft 1in tall and is a size six.

She's confirmed her youthful looks are aided by regular botox treatments.

Mars Webb, a PR consultant who worked with Annabel a few years ago, adds: "She's obviously a good businesswoman but she's also passionate about food and nutrition.

"She has a very clear idea of what she wants but she's not one of those people who's always shouting.

"I found her very calm and easy to work with."

Annabel's number one priority is said to be her children and with much of her time dedicated to her business empire she admits she doesn't have much time to socialise.

She doesn't mark the birthday of her lost daughter Natasha but will never forget how she changed her life.

"She gave me different values, taught me what was important, and shaped my future.

"I have so much to thank her for - but I never had the chance."