Retired ambassador’s court bid to evict friend from £20m stately home
A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE retired ambassador is suing his “surrogate daughter” who claims she is the rightful heiress to his historic mansion and £20million estate.
David Gladstone – former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka – claims lawyer Leigh White is squatting in his £15million Grade-I listed mansion in Buckinghamshire.
The once-close family friend, who moved in during 2017 after Mr Gladstone was “knocked sideways” by the death of his son, insists she has a right to stay at Wotton House, near Aylesbury, because she was promised it would be hers on his death as “heiress” to his £20million estate.
Desperate
But the 87-year-old – who is in Cumbria after moving north to shield from Covid – is now suing to force her out.
He says he is “desperate” to spend his final years in the family pile, which dates from 1714 and has large grounds modelled by Capability Brown, who put in two lakes.
However Ms White, 55, is countersuing at the High Court and refusing to shift.
Mr Justice Trower heard
David and his first wife April Gladstone had met Ms White 30 years ago and she became part of their inner circle, managing Wotton as Mr Gladstone got older. Ms White claims that from 2007 onwards, Mr Gladstone – who she says had treated her as a “surrogate daughter” – repeatedly assured her Wotton House and two other properties making up his £20million estate would go to her when he died. However, he wants to move in with his new wife, Mary. He announced he had written a new will, placing his estate into a discretionary trust for the benefit of his family – and leaving nothing and no role for Ms White.
Her barrister, Penelope Reed KC, said: “Having made those promises to Leigh over a long period and she having arranged her life on the basis of them, it is very clearly unconscionable for David to resile from them.”
But for Mr Gladstone, Tracey Angus KC said Ms White had never been the main beneficiary of Mr Gladstone’s wills, merely a trustee. The judge will rule on the case at a later date.