Lady Hesketh’s a racy gardener

RADIO 2 DJ Jo Whiley revealed earlier this year that she liked to do the gardening in her bra. Former Tory treasurer Lord Hesketh’s wife, Claire, prefers her swimwear.

Lady Hesketh’s socialite daughter Sophia has shared this photograph of her 65-year-old mother tending to their blooms at their villa on the French Riviera while wearing a pink bathing suit. ‘The most glamorous gardener in the South of France,’ Sophia jokes. ‘Rubber gloves and shears never looked so good, Mum!’

Former motor-racing team owner Lord Hesketh’s Tory conference parties are much missed. He used to fill the bath in his hotel suite with bottles of Pol Roger and crushed ice.