Home Australia TALK OF THE TOWN: The ‘upstairs downstairs’ tale of love between Lady Delphi and a young beater

TALK OF THE TOWN: The ‘upstairs downstairs’ tale of love between Lady Delphi and a young beater

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Hon Delphi Primrose attends the Paul Costelloe show during London Fashion Week September 2024

It sounds like an up-and-down love story that could have come from the pages of a DH Lawrence novel.

Lady Delphi Primrose, below, the Tatler cover girl and 21-year-old daughter of the Earl of Rosebery, is dating Dominic Inglis-Jones, a former ‘beater’ at Belvoir Castle, I can reveal.

For a season he worked on shoots at the Duke of Rutland’s estate in Leicestershire, breeding game birds by striking ground cover. I also heard that he sometimes played the piano for guests and served wine at candlelit dinners in Belvoir’s grand dining rooms.

My source tells me that he “very much enjoyed the glamour” of working on the estate and struck up a “sweet” friendship with Emma Manners, the Duchess of Rutland. “She was delighted with him,” says my source.

Now Inglis-Jones has also captivated Lady Delphi, with some suggesting fantastic parallels with DH Lawrence’s controversial 1928 novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, in which an entitled woman embarks on an affair with gamekeeper Oliver Mellors.

Hon Delphi Primrose attends the Paul Costelloe show during London Fashion Week September 2024

Dominic Inglis-Jones is a former 'beater' at Belvoir Castle and is now Lady Delphi's boyfriend

Dominic Inglis-Jones is a former ‘beater’ at Belvoir Castle and is now Lady Delphi’s boyfriend

As Lady Delphi’s boyfriend, the mullet-sporting Inglis-Jones can look forward to visiting Dalmeny House, the Gothic-style family seat of the Earl and Countess of Rosebery in north-west Edinburgh. Or its small 13th century castle, Barnbougle, which is located on the Dalmeny estate.

Or perhaps join the traditional family stay in St Moritz in the Alps this winter. I hope he’s brave: The clan, including the Earl of Rosebery, chairman of Sotheby’s auction house, loves sledding down Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile-long, death-defying ice slide.

However, it is still early days for Lady Delphi and Inglis-Jones. The couple is said to have kissed a year ago at a party, but they only started officially dating recently.

Let’s hope their love story goes better than the one described in DH Lawrence’s novel.

The heir awaits…

George Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford and Camilla Blanford attend the Blenheim Ball in aid of Starlight Children's Foundation at Blenheim Palace on March 4, 2022 in Woodstock

George Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford and Camilla Blanford attend the Blenheim Ball in aid of Starlight Children’s Foundation at Blenheim Palace on March 4, 2022 in Woodstock

Will the Marquess and Marchioness of Blandford have a male heir to the family seat, Blenheim Palace?

I can reveal the couple are expecting their second child, a four-year-old brother to Lady Olympia Arabella Kitty Spencer-Churchill. The Marquess is the son of the Duke of Marlborough and may expect a son to inherit the title, as dukedoms are only passed down the male line. My spies tell me that the Marchioness was showing off her belly at a party recently.

…Willa Keswick, a descendant of the Jardine Matheson dynasty, owner of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, is also pregnant. The heiress is expecting a baby with her husband Jake Morant.

The former nightclub owner, 40, showed off her bare baby bump, right, at Poppy Delevingne’s party to celebrate her fashion bond with Veronica Beard.

Willa Keswick, a descendant of the Jardine Matheson dynasty, owner of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, is also pregnant. The heiress is expecting a baby with her husband Jake Morant

Willa Keswick, a descendant of the Jardine Matheson dynasty, owner of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, is also pregnant. The heiress is expecting a baby with her husband Jake Morant

Willa shares a daughter with Jake and has another daughter, Freida, with musician Alex Robbins.

Will Lola’s next outfit be a wedding dress?

Talk about the Lady in Red! For a Halloween party last week, Lady Lola Bute donned latex gloves, a crimson sequin dress and a bright red wig to dress up as cartoon sex symbol Jessica Rabbit.

But could this glamorous socialite be playing another role soon? Maybe, say, a girlfriend? Because I heard the 25-year-old caught the bouquet at Pret A Manger and Itsu chain heiress Misha Metcalfe’s wedding this summer.

For a Halloween party last week, Lady Lola Bute donned latex gloves, a crimson sequin dress and a bright red wig to dress up as cartoon sex symbol Jessica Rabbit.

For a Halloween party last week, Lady Lola Bute donned latex gloves, a crimson sequin dress and a bright red wig to dress up as cartoon sex symbol Jessica Rabbit.

Regardless of whether an engagement is on the cards or not, my spies tell me that Lady Bute, the daughter of the late John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute and fashion designer Serena Bute, is in love with her boyfriend, the Dutch model, Parker Van Noord.

Best latte ever

Can someone get Jodie Comer a matcha latte? The star allegedly demanded the drink while on set recently, despite being in the middle of the field. Attendees were bewildered as the nearest coffee shop was a two-hour round trip. I hope Villanelle from Killing Eve doesn’t kill for coffee!

Sir Ian McKellen, 85, has a secret passion: fashionable sneakers. “He has a huge collection of Nike Air Max,” a guest at a party at the actor’s London home tells me. Not only that, the Lord of the Rings star has the prop sword he used as Gandalf hanging on a wall and a drawer full of designer Hermes scarves.

Sir Ian McKellen, 85, has a secret passion: fashionable sneakers.

Sir Ian McKellen, 85, has a secret passion: fashionable sneakers. “He has a large collection of Nike Air Max”

What a disgrace for Tilda’s daughter!

How the mighty have fallen! After playing Princess Beatrice in A Very Royal Scandal, the TV drama about Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, I can reveal that Honor Swinton Byrne’s latest role is as a Ukrainian sex worker. The 27-year-old daughter of Tilda Swinton and playwright John Byrne admits times in the acting world are tough. ‘I’m this close to selling feet photos!’ she jokes.

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