One Direction star Harry Styles's new girlfriend is Kara Rose Marshall, a 22-year-old model from Hull. The pair have been pictured together shopping in an Apple store in New York. Katy Forrester reports
HARRY Styles is every teenage girl's dream, a millionaire pin-up and one fifth of the biggest boyband on the planet.
But despite having crowds of screaming girls follow him wherever he goes, an aspiring model from humble beginnings in Hull has caught his attention.
Kara Rose Marshall, 22, has been seen shopping in New York with the One Direction star and they are believed to be dating having grown close in recent months.
Kara, of east Hull, signed to Profile Model Management after being discovered by a scout.
She has been living in London since she was 18 and studied fashion for three years at university.
A close family member, who did not want to be named, said: "She works very hard and is a beautiful and intelligent girl.
"Kara has a passion for fashion and she was already doing very well before the story broke.
"She is used to the attention and this isn't the first time she's been involved with Harry.
"All of this can only be good for her career and she's been inundated with requests from people.
"She's always very busy and is back in London now after visiting New York."
She said although Harry, 19, is a high-profile celebrity, Kara is a private person who does not court fame.
Kara is said to already be "fed up" with everyone talking about her burgeoning romance.
It is thought she may have met her love interest through mutual friend Lou Teasdale, who is Harry's long-term hairdresser.
The three of them were seen indulging in a bit of retail therapy browsing in an Apple store on Sunday in Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Kara's niece, Georgia Marshall, 16, said she is "very happy" for her and the family are proud of how far she's come in the modelling world.
She said: "Most of my friends are fans of One Direction and everyone has been talking about it.
"I knew she was over in New York and saw the photographs of her with Harry Styles."
A friend of Kara's from Hull, who did not wish to be named, said: "She was doing well in the modelling industry.
"Everyone started talking about her and Harry after seeing photographs of the two of them on the internet. It's gone a bit crazy.
"She's a nice girl and was also friends with Hull band The Paddingtons before they split up."
Kara has modelled for hair stylist Mark Hill, who has a salon in Kirk Ella, along with top clothes designers.
She has been seen with Harry on more than one occasion and they had drinks with friends on a rooftop in New York.
On Tuesday, Kara was seen leaving a New York hotel sporting the same shirt design that Harry, 19, was wearing last month.
It featured pictures of country stars Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty promoting their 1987 tour and went viral on the internet.
And it is not the first time they have been seen dressing in identical clothes, wearing The Who T-shirts from the band's 1980 tour.
If Kara and Harry's relationship is set to be long-term, she will have to deal with the star being mobbed by girls who follow the band's every move, known as "Directioners".
They've already taken to Twitter to discuss the pair's fledging romance and Kara's followers have shot up to nearly 7,000.
But her family say she is prepared for whatever comes her way and has her feet firmly on the ground.
