The two little girls ran around their makeshift kitchen cooking up imaginary fairy cakes. Tigerlily squealed with laughter as her cousin Zoe Angel played chef.
Suddenly the curly-haired daughter of Paula Yates and the late Michael Hutchence turned and called for mummy. In response, Paula's staunch friend Belinda Brewin bent down and folded the two-year-old up in her arms. It was a tender scene, yet one which jolted Michael's brother, Rhett.
"That really hurt me - Tiger calling Belinda mummy," Rhett tells Women's Day. "I found it so odd."
Since the death of his rock star brother last November, Rhett has spoken publicly only once, in a television interview. Now, though, he reveals how Belinda is becoming increasingly concerned about Paula. He says there will be no custody battle for Tiger from his parents, but is determined to bring his warring family together for the sake of Michael's only child.
"It's obvious there's a deep bond between Belinda and Tiger," says Rhett.
"Belinda thinks of her as her third child. It is Belinda Tiger clings to
when she's feeling shy around strangers. I guess that's understandable
because of the time they've been forced to spend together after all of
Paula's problems.
"Belinda told me a story which was very sad," Rhett adds. "When Tiger was in a Sydney shop and saw a book on Michael, she ran up to it, stroked the cover and cried, Daddy, Daddy!"
Last month Belinda brought Tiger, and her own two children, Montana and
Indiana, to Australia so Paula could check into a London rehabilitation
clinic. But just two weeks into her treatment, Paula walked out in the arms
of her new lover, heroin addict Kingsley O'Keke.
Tiger, thousands of kilometres from her mother, was in the arms of Belinda, spending time with the Hutchence clan.
"Tiger was very shy and timid. She recognised me though, and I think she knows in a way that I'm Michael's brother because I see this look in her eye," Rhett says.
"My daughter Zoe loves her, and she was so cute the way she walked up to Tiger, put her arm round her and showed her around. We got them into Zoe's toy room and they had a beautiful time together. It was a special moment. They've established a really good bond, which was very important to all of us because they're cousins.
"Tiger really blossomed during the three weeks she spent out here. Belinda tells me she put on three kilos. Still, I have grave concerns for her welfare."
Rhett's voice is sad as he recalls the toddler's childhood so far. "Tiger's had so much controversy for a little baby, and I just wish she could grow up to be a normal little girl.
"Paula is missing out on so much, such as Tiger leaning new words."
Belinda, 36, has been Paula's key emotional supporter since Michael hanged
himself last November, but possibly not for much longer. "Belinda told me she's reached the end of her tether," Rhett says. "From
what I could gather, this thing with Paula and Kingsley was the last straw
for her. She's had it."
Contrary to recent reports, Rhett says his warring parents, Kelland Hutchence and Patricia Glassop, have no intention of embroiling Tiger in an international custody dispute.
"My mother and father have never tried to gain custody of Tiger. Their only concern, my whole family's concern, is for Tiger's wellbeing, that she's okay, that she's being looked after."
He adds that the youngster should decide herself at a later date how much contact she wants with his family.
"Real access will come when Tiger is a bit older and makes the decision to inquire about us, instead of us inquiring about her. One day, when Tiger wants to make that connection, she's quite welcome to ring us up."
Rhett admits the divisions which have splintered the Hutchence clan following Michael's death have left deep wounds. But he hopes he can act as mediator to help heal them. Kell and Patricia have been working separately in their bid to unravel the question of Tiger's future care and the intricacies of Michael's will.
"Being the only blood child left between my mother and my father, I've been pulled around like a puppet.
"There's been a big divide since the day of Michael's funeral," he says. "I'm really trying to get them together."
He believes the only way they will ever unearth the true extent of Michael's estate is by "standing up as the Hutchence family" and working together. "Michael wouldn't want this lack of communication."
As for Paula's new romance, Rhett says he and Belinda don't hold much faith in it's future.
"Paula is in what you call early recovery and in that phase you're supposed to concertrate on one thing and that is yourself, not a new lover."
"I hope Paula and Kingsley are trying to help each other out of their
problems, but Paula is someone who needs to concentrate on herself. "I would like Paula to be happy and I just want Tiger to have a normal life
- or at least some semblance of a normal life."