EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Cousin of the Queen banks £6m, thanks to ‘tramp’ ancestor
Prising a Renaissance masterpiece from the wall where it had hung for 100 years — and consigning it, for ever, to a gallery hundreds of miles away — might sound a rather bitter pill to swallow. But for the Earl of Harewood it has proved very sweet indeed.
For I can reveal that a full 11 years after the death of his father — the Queen’s first cousin, George Lascelles — the Earl has reached a settlement which not only means that the Government waives an inheritance tax bill of £3.4 million, but which sees his family coffers topped up by £5.7 million.
In return, he has bade farewell to what is understood to have been the only full-length portrait by the Italian artist Veronese in private hands in Britain. Until recently, Portrait Of A Gentleman Of The Soranzo Family was hanging in the magnificent, 77ft long gallery at the honey-hued Harewood House, the Lascelles family seat in West Yorkshire, sometimes described as the English Versailles.
‘It was in a spectacular, gilded, baroque frame,’ an admirer of the portrait tells me. But the frame does not seem to have been part of the deal struck with the painting’s new owner, the National Gallery. ‘They’ve hung it in a brown, dreary Renaissance frame — historically accurate but dull,’ adds the connoisseur.
For I can reveal that a full 11 years after the death of his father — the Queen’s first cousin, George Lascelles — the Earl has reached a settlement
Until recently, Portrait Of A Gentleman Of The Soranzo Family was hanging in the magnificent, 77ft long gallery at the honey-hued Harewood House
That doesn’t trouble film and television producer David Lascelles, as the Earl is invariably known and whose credits include The Wisdom Of Crocodiles, starring Jude Law. He and the family are, I’m told, delighted that the Veronese is now in the national collection. Understandably, they’re also happy with the £5.7 million, which will be devoted to the upkeep of Harewood House, now run by a trust, and to a ‘long list of conservation projects’. These were begun by Lascelles’s father, George, who auctioned £500,000 worth of ‘junk’ in 1987 — including an £83,000 Chippendale bed.
But it is to George’s father, Henry, that the family owes its current windfall — not because of his marriage to George V’s daughter, Mary, the Princess Royal, but because he spent an hour talking to a man dressed as a tramp.
This was his eccentric great-uncle, the unmarried 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde, shunned by the rest of the family.
When he died in 1916, he bequeathed millions to Henry who, three years later, bought the Veronese — for £1,750.
That doesn’t trouble film and television producer David Lascelles, as the Earl is invariably known and whose credits include The Wisdom Of Crocodiles, starring Jude Law
How to become a national treasure? Talk about your private parts on a chat show, according to Dame Maureen Lipman. ‘I don’t think you’d have called Judi Dench a national treasure until she started sitting on Graham Norton’s sofa a lot,’ Lipman says. ‘She was a great actress. And now she’s a great actress and a national treasure. So I think it is to do with comedy, really. It’s Babs Windsor. I suppose it’s Joan Collins. If you tend to sit on sofas and make witty comments about people’s private parts then you tend to become a national treasure in time.’
Talulah steps out with toyboy Thomas
Actress Talulah Riley divorced U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk not once but twice. And there’s no doubt who wears the (long) trousers in her new relationship.
The St Trinian’s star, 36, was spotted furniture shopping in Hertford with her Game Of Thrones actor boyfriend Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who’s been described as her ‘toyboy’ because he’s nearly five years her junior. He wore short trousers.
The St Trinian’s star, 36, was spotted furniture shopping in Hertford with her Game Of Thrones actor boyfriend Thomas Brodie-Sangster, who’s been described as her ‘toyboy’ because he’s nearly five years her junior
Liz Hurley’s clan make a splash for niece’s big day
Elizabeth Hurley’s nephew, Miles, lost six pints of blood after he was stabbed by a South London gang in 2018.
Now, the 25-year-old model looks the picture of health during the raucous poolside celebrations of his sister Amelia’s wedding in Spain. He was joined by Liz’s son, Damian, 20, as Amelia exchanged vows in Catalonia with London hospital doctor Matt Cunningham.
‘The most magical weekend in Barcelona for my beautiful cousin’s wedding,’ Damian says, sharing this photograph of himself with Amelia and Miles, the children of Liz’s elder sister, Katie.
Elizabeth Hurley’s nephew, Miles, lost six pints of blood after he was stabbed by a South London gang in 2018
James Bond was orphaned aged 11. And James Norton, tipped to play 007, has given an insight into his own troubled childhood. The Grantchester star, 37, says he was so badly bullied at school that he’s having therapy 20 years later.
‘I had quite a grim time,’ he says. ‘It’s only now, in my later life as an adult, that I’m recognising that effect and what it has done to me.’
He explains: ‘With the help of a therapist untying some of that stuff which really wasn’t pleasant, in a weird, perverse way I’m kind of grateful for it. It’s definitely formed a part of me and allowed me maybe to access characters and people that I’m playing in a certain way and certain empathy.’
Sarkozy snaps candid Carla
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been admiring the view while on holiday with wife Carla Bruni.
The model and singer, 54, shared this photograph he took of her topless, looking out over the sea.
‘Derniers rayons,’ she commented, which translates as ‘last rays’ of the summer.
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy has been admiring the view while on holiday with wife Carla Bruni
The model and singer, 54, shared this photograph he took of her topless, looking out over the sea
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