Watch out for the new battle of Waterloo! The Duchess of Wellington and Lord Waldegrave, Provost of Eton College, have found themselves embroiled in a High Court action.
They are being sued by the owners of a cottage in Hampshire who claim they are being blocked in their bid to develop their freehold property which they appear to have bought in 2015.
The cottage owners won planning consent in January for a two-storey extension to their £500,000 home, Yew Tree Cottage, in Stratfield Turgis, on the Duke of Wellington’s resettled estate. However, they were surprised when they were unable to go ahead because of a restrictive covenant affecting the property.
Lord Waldegrave (pictured with Lady Waldergrave) has found himself embroiled in High Court action
The couple, Neil and Delia Gilbert, have now gone to the court saying permission has been unreasonably withheld by the trustees, who include former Tory Cabinet minister Waldegrave and the Duchess of Wellington, to go ahead with their scheme.
The cottage is affected by a legal clause made in 1976 banning all future owners from building works at the house, without the trustees’ consent. A similar clause bans the occupiers from killing, damaging or maiming any game at the property as well.
Aerial photograph of Stratfield Saye. It has been the home to the Dukes of Wellington since 1817
A mother of five, the Duchess of Wellington was originally known as HRH Princess Antonia of Prussia before marrying Charles Wellesley, the 9th Duke of Wellington, and taking his name
The Gilberts are also seeking a declaration that the covenant only stops them from erecting a new building and not from putting up an extension to the existing cottage.
A mother of five, the Duchess of Wellington was originally known as HRH Princess Antonia of Prussia before marrying Charles Wellesley, the 9th Duke of Wellington, and taking his name.
She was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to social housing for her work as President of the Guinness Trust.
She’s the BBC’s most highly paid female star, but even Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman has her off days.‘I’m having a mid-life crisis right now and have been looking of ways to stay young,’ jokes Winkleman, 46, who receives up to £500,000 from the Corporation. ‘So I decided to go a bit mad and have an ombre hair-do and get the tips of my hair bleached. It was either that or get a tattoo.’
Prim Poldark beauty gives a glimpse of her Wilde side
Poldark beauty Gabriella Wilde, who plays snooty Caroline Penvenen in the BBC drama, wants to remind fans of her racier side.
Poldark beauty Gabriella Wilde, who plays snooty Caroline Penvenen in the BBC drama, wants to remind fans of her racier side. Right, as Caroline Penvenen in Poldark
The 29-year-old took a break from filming the fifth and final series in Cornwall this week to post a snap of herself online. Looking a far cry from her prim alter-ego, the mother of two lets down her long blonde locks as she sizzles in a strapless plum-coloured PVC dress.
Juggling multiple personas seems to come naturally to Ms Wilde. Her real name is Gabriella Zanna Vanessa Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, but she changed it when she became an actress, adopting her new moniker in tribute to Oscar Wilde.
Midwife stars’ little one-der
Smiles all round for Call The Midwife star Helen George and her co-star actor boyfriend Jack Ashton as they celebrated their daughter Wren Ivy’s first birthday this week.
It was especially poignant as the 34-year-old actress revealed last year that, while pregnant, she developed a painful liver condition called ICP (intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy). She looked in good spirits as she cradled the tot while Jack, 35, sported a pink pig hat. ‘0-1 in the blink of an eye. Wren, you’re a wonder,’ she said.
Smiles all round for Call The Midwife star Helen George and her co-star actor boyfriend Jack Ashton as they celebrated their daughter Wren Ivy’s first birthday this week
Sir Ian McKellen is hoping his camp TV comedy, Vicious, about two acid-tongued septuagenarians, will be given a new lease of life, even after it was cancelled after two series.
‘I was rather upset when they cancelled Vicious,’ says Sir Ian, whose co-star was Sir Derek Jacobi.
‘I hear we became a cult which we were both very happy about as it’s not every day one becomes a cult is it?
‘Could it become a film? I think so. I know people would love it so, who knows? It’s in the lap of the gods, dear boy.’
Samantha Cameron’s fashionista sister, Emily Sheffield, is having trouble convincing people that the cast she has worn on her foot since injuring her Achilles tendon is not an expensive new item of clothing. At a catwalk show at London Fashion Week, I heard her tell a friend: ‘I keep being photographed and I’m like, guys, it’s not a fashion accessory.’
Theatre dame proves very unCo-operative
Actress Dame Janet Suzman has taken umbrage that the Co-op wants to set up shop in North London’s leafy Belsize Park.
‘Go away, Co-op, find a nice High Street or some other lonely corner where you could serve a purpose, and leave Belsize alone,’ she says. Suzman, 79, who lives in Hampstead, adds: ‘There are only two villages left in the Hampstead area and Belsize is one of them.
‘How utterly depressing to have a large conglomerate branch thunder its way into a close interdependent little community and think that is a co-operative thing to do. What a rubbish way to find your profits — on the back of the ruination of others. And all the unnecessary booze they’ll stock. What for?’ . . . Drinking?
CopyKate Lottie gets a puppy like Mossie’s
Anything you can do . . . Kate Moss’s half-sister, Lottie, is already following in her high heels by becoming a model.
Now the 20-year-old is taking inspiration from her again, by picking up a papillon puppy. Lottie, who shares a father, Peter, with Kate, posted a picture of her four-legged friend, above, online. ‘Welcome to the family, Lulu,’ she wrote.
Kate, 44, bought her pooch last year. ‘I’m having to rethink everything,’ she said. ‘You can’t walk a dog in a heel. You look ridiculous.’
Inspiration: Kate with pooch and half-sister Lottie
Lottie, who shares a father, Peter, with Kate, posted a picture of her four-legged friend, above, online. ‘Welcome to the family, Lulu’