EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Aristocracy’s most poisonous feud turns even more toxic
Once convicted of violating the Public Order Act, Otis Ferry and fellow members of the so-called ‘Westminster Eight’ were star guests as the Game Fair opened yesterday at Ragley, the Marquess of Hertford’s magnificent 6,000-acre Warwickshire estate — 18 years after audaciously bursting into the House of Commons during a fox-hunting debate.
But there is to be no such welcome for someone with whom the Marquess is rather better acquainted and who has never been taken into police custody — his elder son and heir, William Seymour, Earl of Yarmouth.
Instead, I can reveal that William and his wife, former Goldman Sachs banker Kelsey Wells, will join the 120,000 others expected at the three-day Fair by stumping up the admission price.
‘Lord and Lady Yarmouth have bought tickets to attend the Game Fair in a personal capacity,’ a spokesman for St Maur, the elderflower liqueur company the couple established four years ago, tells me.
Once convicted of violating the Public Order Act, Otis Ferry and fellow members of the so-called ‘Westminster Eight’ were star guests as the Game Fair opened yesterday at Ragley, the Marquess of Hertford’s magnificent 6,000-acre Warwickshire estate
The move is not without risk. ‘Harry [the Marquess] wrote to William to say that should we, or anyone associated with us, set foot on the estate, he would treat that as trespass and would use whatever legal means available to prevent us from doing so,’ Kelsey claimed last year.
She had spoken out, after allegedly being subjected to withering scorn by William’s family for committing social solecisms such as calling the butler by his Christian name and using her mother-in-law Lady Hertford’s bathroom without permission.
‘He specifically included his one-year-old grandson in that edict,’ added Kelsey who, since then, has given birth to a second son. The Game Fair appeared to offer a wonderful opportunity for rapprochement, especially if St Maur secured a stand at the event. ‘Our application was declined,’ a St Maur spokesman tells me. ‘The Game Fair said they were oversubscribed for drinks providers. We asked if they had a particular problem with St Maur taking part, given the connection that Lord Yarmouth has [with Ragley]. They declined to answer that question.’
But there is to be no such welcome for someone with whom the Marquess is rather better acquainted and who has never been taken into police custody — his elder son and heir, William Seymour, Earl of Yarmouth
Despite their disappointment, the Yarmouths have, I’m told, donated a prize worth £1,500 to the Game Fair raffle, which raises funds to alleviate food poverty.
The Game Fair insists that St Maur’s application was declined simply because of a lack of space.
Lord and Lady Hertford decline to say whether William and Kelsey will be treated as trespassers. Doubtless they will, in any case, steel themselves for a chance encounter with William’s aunt, Lady Carolyn Seymour, who wrote to tell him that his wedding invitation was ‘embarrassingly awful’ and signed off: ‘You pompous ass/t*t/p**** — take your pick.’
Dame Emma’s Gaia finds new leading man
Dame Emma Thompson and Strictly star Greg Wise’s daughter Gaia found a man who floated her boat last autumn when she embarked on a passionate romance with Scottish marine engineer Daniel Kent, who works on one of the world’s most spectacular superyachts.
Now, the actress, 22, has pushed him overboard and is going out with Swiss-born Basil Eidenbenz, 29, who stars in Netflix hit The Witcher. The pair were spotted canoodling at Sister Act: The Musical at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, West London. ‘They couldn’t keep their hands off each other,’ whispers a fellow audience member.
Dame Emma Thompson and Strictly star Greg Wise’s daughter Gaia found a man who floated her boat last autumn when she embarked on a passionate romance with Scottish marine engineer Daniel Kent, who works on one of the world’s most spectacular superyachts
Former party girl Davina reveals bump
She used to be known as ‘Hardcore Harbord’ on account of her enthusiastic partying, but Prince Harry’s old friend Davina Harbord will now be putting her feet up.
For Davina, 35, married to Old Harrovian financier Freddie Streeter, is expecting their first child. She confirmed the pregnancy by sharing this snap of her baby bump with friends including Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas, who’s also in the family way.
Pilates instructor Davina —whose sister, Astrid, grew close to the Prince after his split from Chelsy Davy — surprised chums by revealing that SHE popped the question to Streeter.
She explained: ‘It was one of the most nerve-racking things I have ever done.’
For Davina, 35, married to Old Harrovian financier Freddie Streeter, is expecting their first child. She confirmed the pregnancy by sharing this snap of her baby bump with friends including Harry’s ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas, who’s also in the family way
The smart set’s talking about… Daredevil’s plan to settle down
Once described as ‘the most bad-ass Old Etonian ever’, daredevil author Alexander Fiske-Harrison is finally settling down.
The Chelsea-born former bull-fighter and bull-runner, 45, now spends most of his time in Spain, and has become engaged to top Austrian polo player Klarina Pichler, 41.
‘I want children,’ he tells me. ‘I am ready. The plan for the wedding is Seville, once we can get our families together. We will live in Spain after our wedding.’
Fiske-Harrison previously went out with Lord Brocket’s model daughter, Antalya Nall-Cain, 13 years his junior, who braved the Pamplona bull run with him shortly after they had met.
His best man is likely to be Law & Order star Hugh Dancy, husband of Homeland actress Claire Danes. ‘We were at Oxford together and, after university, we were housemates.’
Once described as ‘the most bad-ass Old Etonian ever’, daredevil author Alexander Fiske-Harrison is finally settling down
Fancy working for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge? Our future king and queen are advertising for a top office organiser who can also act as a meet and greeter. For an annual salary of between £30,000 and £40,000, the senior executive assistant will act ‘as the main point of contact’ for Prince William and Catherine. The advert on the royal website says the role will be ‘at the heart of the Household’s operations’.
Idris Elba, who has just finished shooting a big-screen version of BBC crime drama Luther, has set his sights on working with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio.
‘I went to a friend’s party recently and he was there, and we got into a conversation,’ says The Wire star Elba, 49. ‘It just felt like, you know what, I would love to work with this dude. He’s a really nice guy and obviously he’s an incredible actor but you know when you just get a vibe with someone, and you’re, like, “OK Leo, let’s go at it”.’ Watch this space.
Did siren Charlotte Rampling romp with Russell?
Still bewitching at 76, Charlotte Rampling is in the mood for disclosure.
The Oscar-nominated actress, who leapt to prominence in Georgy Girl — ‘a doll never out of trouble’ — recalls co-starring with Russell Crowe in 1993 film Hammers Over The Anvil.
She was married to philandering French musician Jean-Michel Jarre, now 73, while Crowe was in an on-off relationship with actress Danielle Spencer, who later became his wife.
Still bewitching at 76, Charlotte Rampling is in the mood for disclosure
The Oscar-nominated actress, who leapt to prominence in Georgy Girl — ‘a doll never out of trouble’ — recalls co-starring with Russell Crowe in 1993 film Hammers Over The Anvil
‘A very attractive young man,’ muses Rampling, explaining that it was before Crowe, now 58, ‘became huge’, thanks to films such as Gladiator. Rampling adds: ‘I had a flirt. You could leave it at that.’
Last year, she acknowledged that, in the 1960s, she enjoyed a menage a trois with Bryan Southcombe, later her first husband, and model Randall Laurence, but had for years denied it because her parents were ‘quite conventional’.
(Very) modern manners
While many ‘snowflakes’ whinged about the heat last week, the Earl of Leicester is taking advantage of the warming climate.
Thomas Coke, 57, who hosts the Queen’s New Year’s Day shoot at his stately home near Sandringham, is to plant red wine vines in his refurbished winery, in the walled garden at the Holkham estate in Norfolk. ‘Red wine grown in this country is usually rather filthy stuff,’ the so-called ‘Turnip toff’ tells me. ‘We grow a passable white already, an all right rose, but, hopefully, the way the sun shines into the new winery at the back will bring some flavour out of the red grapes.’
Every cloud has a silver lining . . .
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