She was, it was said, deeply upset when, after giving her son, David, the only house she had ever owned – Les Jolies Eaux, on the Caribbean island of Mustique – he sold it to an American venture capitalist.
But at least Princess Margaret was spared the indignity of seeing a pair of her riding boots go under the hammer.
That fate befalls them now, I can reveal, courtesy of none other than her daughter-in-law, Serena, who ‘amicably’ divorced David Linley, now the Earl of Snowdon, four years ago.
Serena has consigned the boots, made by Maxwell of London, along with 173 other lots, to an online auction being conducted by Dreweatts next month with an estimate of £300 to £500.
Equally exciting, Serena, whose daughter Margarita was a bridesmaid for Kate Middleton, also reads a charcoal drawing given to Princess Margaret by King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium on their first visit to London in 1963.
It has an estimate of £4,000 to £6,000.
Princess Margaret rode her horse in 1956. She was, it was said, deeply saddened when, after giving her son, David, the only house she had ever owned – Les Jolies Eaux, on the Caribbean island of Mustique – sold it to an American venture capitalist
Margaret’s daughter-in-law, Serena Linley, has handed over some of the princess’s possessions to an online auction. also reads a charcoal drawing given to Princess Margaret by King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium on their first visit to London in 1963. It has an estimate of £4,000 to £6,000
Serena has consigned the boots, made by Maxwell of London, along with 173 other lots, to an online auction being conducted by Dreweatts next month with an estimate of £300 to £500
A Stevenson Brothers Golden Jubilee special edition coach sprung buck rocking horse is also for sale
When sculptor Wilfrid Wood carved this image of Sir Paul McCartney for a charity exhibition, the ex-Beatle’s staff weren’t prepared to let it go.
“I got word that Sir Paul’s record company had banned it from being part of the show,” says Wood. “They labeled mine as too unflattering by Paul. It took a lot of effort as I spent a week sculpting it.’
Wilfred Wood’s sculpture for Paul McCartney. Wood is now selling the piece on eBay, with bids reaching more than £300 last night. Fantastic!
The auction was for War Child, whose spokesman says: ‘The piece was never seen by Paul McCartney. His team politely asked that the work not be included in the exhibition, but that was not forthcoming from Paul.’
Wood is now selling the piece on eBay, with bids reaching more than £300 last night. Fantastic!
She is the earl’s daughter who took on all manner of villains in ITV’s hit detective series CATS Eyes in the 1980s. Now Tracy Ward tackles a more familiar opponent – her ex-husband, the Duke of Beaufort.
Tracy, 65, who became a tireless campaigner against factory farming, is furious that ‘Bunter’, as the rock musician Duke is known, is hoping to add to his estimated £300million fortune by housing part of a major new solar farm on his 52,000-acre badminton estate in Gloucestershire.
The Marquess of Worcester, Henry John FitzRoy Somerset with his then wife, Marchioness of Worcester Tracey Ward. Tracy, 65, who became a tireless campaigner against factory farming, is furious that ‘Bunter’, as the rock musician Duke is known, is hoping to add to his estimated £300million fortune by housing part of a major new solar farm on his 52,000-acre badminton estate in Gloucestershire
‘I am totally against all large-scale solar parks.’ she tells me. “Solar panels should be on roofs, along highways or industrial areas. Land should be for growing food, not profit for a few landowners, producers and investors.’
Tracy adds: “Be careful what the fear of climate change will lure us into accepting. It will destroy the area for local walkers and riders, tourists and biodiversity.’
Lime Down Solar Park claims it would ‘contribute to the government’s target of reaching net-zero by 2050’ and could provide ‘enough clean, affordable electricity to power around 115,000 homes’.
The Duke’s spokesman says: ‘The estate’s decision is a commercial one and is consistent with government guidelines that the development of low-carbon infrastructure, such as solar farms, is a critical national priority.’
Taking your dog for a walk? It’s far too boring for the fashionable crowd these days.
Society model Edie Campbell takes her dog Pammy for a regular swim instead. ‘Double dipping’, she calls it.
The daughter of Old Etonian Roddy Campbell and architect Sophie Hicks lives in Northamptonshire with her boyfriend, journalist Hanna Hanra, and their second dog, Tootsie.
Edie, 33, shared this photo of herself wearing nothing but a black cowboy hat and a towel after her latest dip.
Crowns in the air! Viscount and Viscountess Newport celebrate the birth of their first child, a boy who becomes the first cousin of Moon, River and Sunny Bridgeman – the son and daughters of Alexander Newport’s younger brother, Harry. Although they are widely recognized as the aristocracy’s most innovative couple, Alexander and wife Eliza, who undressed late in her pregnancy to have her portrait painted, have opted against the overly saucy for the christening. “He has been called Archibald Henry Orlando Bridgeman,” says a family friend, “but will be known as Archie.”
Tess Daly has been awarded zero points for consideration by her 19-year-old daughter, who was looking forward to some hand-me-downs.
“I had tons of vintage stuff,” the Strictly Come Dancing host tells me at a private viewing of The Biba Story, the 1964-1975 exhibition at the Fashion And Textile Museum in London.
‘I used to have a storage room because I couldn’t fit the clothes in my wardrobe at home.
Tess Daly at the Biba history exhibition. Tess Daly has been awarded zero points for consideration by her 19-year-old daughter, who was looking forward to some hand-me-downs
‘Then I thought it was stupid because I wasn’t wearing it, so I ended up giving most of it away to friends.
‘So now Phoebe gives me hell about it and says, ‘Mom, how could you?’.
‘She looks at me like she’s going to kill me because she wishes I could have kept it all.’
Andrew Lloyd Webber declared he was willing to be arrested as he desperately tried to keep his theaters open during the pandemic as his royalties took a massive hit.
Fortunately, the impresario’s next act was much more jubilant. I can reveal that Lord Lloyd-Webber was paid £13.7m last year. His salary, which stands at almost £38,000 a day, is an increase of £8.4m compared to 2022. The figures were revealed in recently filed accounts for Really Useful Group Investments.
Andrew Lloyd Webber declared he was willing to be arrested as he desperately tried to keep his theaters open during the pandemic as his royalties took a massive hit. Fortunately, the impresario’s next act was much more jubilant. I can reveal that Lord Lloyd-Webber was paid £13.7m last year
Justin Webb will celebrate 40 years at the BBC next month – and while his hair may be a little grayer, he doesn’t miss his aunt’s once-strict dress code. “Back then we were expected to wear chinos, blue shirts and ties – that was the uniform,” Webb, 63, tells me. “If I had turned up in what I’m wearing now – jeans and a formal shirt – it would have been a black mark against me and I wouldn’t have been taken seriously.”
King Charles’s Norfolk retreat has found an eggnog way to help the Prince of Wales’ old rescue organisation. Sandringham is to stage an Easter egg hunt around the royal parkland in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance, for which Prince William once worked as a pilot.