When a house is bought by a former Tory minister, you might think a boost to its value would follow.
However, these days, such ownership seems to reduce it.
I hear that Zac Goldsmith has slashed the asking price of his £8million country manor house, where he lived with his ex-wife, the banking heiress Alice Rothschild, in the New Forest.
The figure has been cut by £725,000 to £7.25million. The funds from the sale of the property – which comes with 63 acres of land – will no doubt help the Old Etonian, 50, who is now engaged to fashion PR executive Hum Fleming, 35, the great-niece of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
The couple currently live together at Zac’s £5million home in Holland Park, West London, but plan to set up a new home together in Dorset, near his youngest children.
The former minister for overseas territories, Commonwealth, energy, climate and the environment has three adult children with his first wife, Sheherazade Bentley, and a further three, aged 12, nine and seven, with Alice.
In March 2023, the Mail disclosed that Lord Goldsmith had split from his second wife, Alice Rothschild, 41, who he married in 2013.
Their spokesman said at the time: ‘Alice and Zac have made the difficult decision to separate. They do so amicably and are committed to jointly raising their three children in a happy and healthy environment.’
I hear that Zac Goldsmith has slashed the asking price of his £8million country manor house, where he lived with his ex-wife, the banking heiress Alice Rothschild (pictured), in the New Forest
The former minister for overseas territories, Commonwealth, energy, climate and the environment has three adult children with his first wife, Sheherazade Bentley (pictured)
The funds from the sale of the property – which comes with 63 acres of land – will no doubt help the Old Etonian, 50, who is now engaged to fashion PR executive Hum Fleming, 35, (pictured) the great-niece of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Friends of the couple insisted that no one else was involved. But before they were married, their relationship was the subject of a tabloid exposé – because Sheherazade Bentley was still Lord Goldsmith’s wife.
Lord Goldsmith was later linked to pop singer Ellie Goulding.
He and his first wife Sheherazade, 51, daughter of actress Viviane Ventura and financier John Bentley, have three children.
The announcement of their divorce came four months after Lord Goldsmith, an aspiring MP at the time, was reportedly told by senior Tories to ‘resolve any conflict in his love life’.
His relationship with Alice, the daughter of financier Amschel Rothschild, started in 2006. Friends insisted he had ‘agonised’ over leaving his wife.
Lord Goldsmith is the son of billionaire tycoon Sir James, who memorably commented: ‘When a man marries his mistress, he creates a vacancy.’
Aged 20, Jimmy Goldsmith eloped with 18-year-old Maria Isabel Patino, heiress to a tin mining fortune, in January 1954. But she tragically died that May in pregnancy. The couple’s child, also Isabel, survived.
He married second wife, secretary Ginette Lery, in 1963, and they had a son and daughter. But they divorced and he married Lady Annabel Birley in 1978. With her, he had daughter Jemima and sons, Zac and Ben.
(Very) Modern manners
Dara Huang, the mother of Princess Beatrice’s stepson Wolfie, is clearly still young at heart
She has joined the growing number of millennials ditching nights out for cosy adult slumber parties
Dara Huang, the mother of Princess Beatrice’s stepson Wolfie, is clearly still young at heart.
She has joined the growing number of millennials ditching nights out for cosy adult slumber parties.
The Florida-born architect, 42, enjoyed an evening in with pals Shiraz Kook, a London-based content creator, and Alexandra Tango. In pictures Dara shared online, the trio could be seen having a pillow fight.
She shares Wolfie, nine, with Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Psychotherapists have suggested that adults are embracing wholesome activities such as sleepovers as they give a sense of safety and nostalgia.
Dettori owes £750k
His life and career have long sounded like an extravagant film script, veering from astonishing feats of sportsmanship – none more thrilling than when he rode to victory in all seven races at Ascot in 1996 – to the plane crash four years later which claimed the life of his pilot Patrick Mackey.
But recently the story of Frankie Dettori, 54, has taken a dismal turn. I can disclose that, three weeks after announcing he’d filed for bankruptcy after failing to reach an agreement with His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, he faces a fresh battle with the taxman.
An update on one of his companies, Frankie Dettori Limited, which went bust last October, states that it owes HMRC £765,542 – and has no assets.
A particularly unhappy achievement, given that the jockey once amassed an £18million fortune.
But recently the story of Frankie Dettori, 54, has taken a dismal turn. I can disclose that, three weeks after announcing he’d filed for bankruptcy after failing to reach an agreement with His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, he faces a fresh battle with the taxman
She was married to Lord Colin Ivar Campbell, the 12th Duke of Argyll’s younger brother, for under a year, which inspires some to question her aristocratic credentials.
But Lady Colin Campbell, 75, is having the last laugh. I can disclose that Georgie, as she’s known to friends, is now publicly bracketed with the Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond.
Her Sussex residence, Castle Goring, is included on an exclusive tour of the county’s finest stately homes, alongside Norfolk’s Arundel Castle and Richmond’s Goodwood House. Highlights include lunch with Lady Colin, says organiser Oliver Gerrish.
But Lady Colin Campbell (pictured), 75, is having the last laugh. I can disclose that Georgie, as she’s known to friends, is now publicly bracketed with the Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond
Glam Olivia dresses down on Soho trip
Loose Women panellist Olivia Attwood, who has her own glam squad on the ITV daytime show, surprisingly made an unglamorous appearance at the launch of New York burger joint Black Tap’s flagship site in London’s Soho earlier this week.
However, looks can be deceptive as the star’s casual outfit was worth more than £26,000 – thanks to her black Hermes Kelly, which cost £25,000, and her £1,700 Miu Miu denim dungarees.
‘I’m bringing the dungaree back,’ she tells me.
While Attwood, 33, is adamant ‘she’s proud to be a Loose Women in more ways than one’, it was recently reported that she has been the subject of ‘sniping’ behind the scenes of the show.
Loose Women panellist Olivia Attwood surprisingly made an appearance at the launch of New York burger joint Black Tap’s flagship site in London’s Soho earlier this week in her £1,700 Miu Miu denim dungarees
It’s unlikely TV presenter Mel Giedroyc, who disguised herself as a giant set of teeth on The Masked Singer, will be taking much pleasure in eating an Easter egg this weekend.
Instead, she reveals: ‘I’m obsessed with nuts. I think I’m turning into a squirrel.’
Mel, 56, adds: ‘I’ve got the teeth for it.’
The former Bake Off host has long been conscious of her gnashers and once said: ‘My siblings and I have got the worst teeth in Britain.’
It’s unlikely TV presenter Mel Giedroyc, who disguised herself as a giant set of teeth on The Masked Singer, will be taking much pleasure in eating an Easter egg this weekend
British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw has opened up about her frustration at playing second fiddle to top Hollywood actors.
After her breakout role in the British period drama Belle, Gugu says she was hoping more parts of substance would follow, but the lack of progression left her disappointed.
The Oxford-born star, 41, reveals: ‘I played the wife of two movie stars – Matthew McConaughey in Free State of Jones and Will Smith in Concussion. The roles themselves weren’t as meaty as I’d hoped.’
She explains: ‘It felt like, not a sideways step because they were big films, but I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to take on any more wife roles in that way.’
British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw (pictured) has opened up about her frustration at playing second fiddle to top Hollywood actors
Divorced from the Earl of Bradford in 2022, Dr Penny Law has cause for celebration this Easter. ‘She’s got a new man,’ a chum tells me, adding that the eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist ‘has been dining with him, with friends.
He’s called Dougie.’ Perhaps fearful of jinxing the budding romance, Penny, author of Expecting a Baby (One Born Every Minute), declines to comment.
