Family at war over Thatcher adviser’s £ 8m hoard of Ming
FOUR siblings are at war over an £ 8million porcelain collection built up by their father, a trusted confidant of Margaret Thatcher.
Sir Michael Butler, who died two years ago aged 86, was a key adviser to the former Prime Minister.
His pride and joy was an 800- piece hoard of 17th- century late- Ming Chinese ceramics, collected over five decades of globe- trotting as a diplomat.
Experts have dubbed it “the finest and most extensive collection of its kind”, the High Court heard.
Sir Michael had left 500 of his most prized pots to his four children. But relations between them broke down four days after his death.
The row is putting Sir Michael’s reputation in jeopardy amid accusations of marital infidelity, family strife and favouritism among the children.
Charles and Katharine Butler say their father would have wanted the “Butler Family Collection” to remain intact at a private museum in Mapperton, Dorset, where he lived. They say the pieces should be kept together to preserve a “historic collection of irreplaceable value”.
But older siblings Caroline and James say they are entitled to 125 pots each and want Judge Brian Barker QC to order them to be handed over.
John Brisby QC, for Charles, 49, and Katharine, 48, has accused Caroline, 62, and James, 50, of being “hell- bent on breaking up the collection”.
Mr Brisby suggested to Caroline she had taken against her father when he separated from her mother in 1997, after having an affair. He also referred to an email in which she had written: “I’m not sure you ever come to terms with the fact your own father does not love you and prefers 800 pots.”
But Elspeth Talbot Rice QC, for Caroline and James, said they simply want to “possess” what is rightly theirs and that their access to the collection is currently strictly limited.
The hearing continues.