Georgia Powell married the rock musician Duke, known as Bunter, last year
While many aristocrats enjoy riding to hounds, the new Duchess of Beaufort has gone one step further by inviting the pack into her 17th-century home, Badminton House, along with her trusty steed.
Georgia Powell married the rock musician Duke, known as Bunter, last year after he inherited the 52,000-acre Gloucestershire estate.
And now she’s posed in her jodhpurs for an extraordinary photoshoot for the American edition of Vogue magazine.
The former journalist, who has two children with her ex-husband, uses the interview to detail how close an interest she’s taking in the running of the 20-bedroom house, where the sport of badminton was invented in 1863.
‘I joke that I am now — finally — a housewife,’ says the Duchess, 50, who also posed in Valentino in the conservatory. ‘I address this job in an analytical way. I’m doing an audit of every plant in the garden.’
Georgia’s the granddaughter of author Anthony Powell, who once said his ambition was ‘to marry a title and to live in a house with a long drive’.
Bunter, 67, whose fortune is estimated at £315 million, was previously married to former actress Tracy Worcester.
She would certainly approve of the new chatelaine allowing her animals onto the tiled floor of the North Hall. She’s a passionate campaigner for animal welfare.
The Duchess of Beaufort posed in her jodhpurs for an extraordinary photoshoot for the American edition of Vogue magazine (pictured)
Royal roll-call for Nicky Haslam’s ‘common’ 80th
Celebrated interior designer Nicky Haslam told me earlier this year that it was ‘common to celebrate one’s birthday’.
Happily, he agreed to have a —belated — celebration held for his 80th birthday.
Pictured: Lady Gabriella Kingston and Thomas Kingston at Nicky Haslam’s birthday party on Thursday
The party was thrown by Turkish billionaire Omer Koc at the Polish Hearth Club in London.
‘I’ve known Omer for years and it was so kind of him to host a party for me,’ says Haslam, who reached the milestone in September. ‘I’m very grateful.’
Among the revellers were Lady Gabriella Windsor and her husband Thomas Kingston, Bob Geldof and Boris’s sister Rachel Johnson.
Haslam has much to celebrate: an auction of possessions from his country home fetched around £300,000 at Bonhams.
‘The money will go straight into the bank and will be my retirement fund,’ he tells me.
‘I thoroughly intend to live modestly from now on.’
Sir Mick Jagger may be referred to as a ‘wrinkly rocker’ but his former wife Bianca Jagger is proud she’s managed to avoid the ravages of time.
‘I’ve always believed that we are the reflection of the life we have lived,’ the 76-year-old human rights campaigner tells me at a party to celebrate the Louboutin Christmas tree at Claridge’s.
‘I don’t drink and I eat well. People think you can do what you like to your body and there are no consequences, but there are.’
My lover is no toyboy, blasts Strictly Shirley
Strictly head judge, Shirley Ballas enjoys a passionate romance with actor Danny Taylor, but she’s fed up with people calling him her toyboy.
‘It makes me cross,’ the former ballroom dancer says. ‘He’s a 47-year-old grown man who can make his own choices. He’s not 18.’
Shirley, who is 12 years his senior, claims there are double standards because she’s a woman. ‘You can have a man who’s 25 years older than his girlfriend, and no one says anything.’
She admits that the age difference did cause her concern when they met in panto last year.
‘When I first got together with Danny, it was an issue for me,’ she says.
‘But he said, ‘I don’t see the age. I see the person — and the age issue is irrelevant to me.”
(Very) modern manners
Best-selling author Helen Fielding learned to her cost this week that, however successful novelists are, their faces may be unfamiliar.
Fielding was invited to the VIP preview of the Winter Wonderland funfair, only to be refused entry. ‘This gate is for journalists and celebrities,’ she was told, sniffily.
Helen protested: ‘I AM a celebrity. I wrote Bridget Jones.’
After much huffing and puffing by security, she was allowed in. A case of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me In There!
Quote of the week
‘I once saw someone knitting, which is probably not a good sign’
Classical warbler Alfie Boe admits he fails to cast a spell over all concert-goers