Ex -Barclays boss facing fraud trial weds in secret

The prospect of a lengthy fraud trial can certainly help to concentrate the mind. Just a few weeks ago, ex- Barclays banker John Varley was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud over an emergency £8 billion fundraising agreement the bank reached with Qatar and Abu Dhabi in 2008.

Which might explain why Varley, 61, has secretly wed his alluring paramour, Bettina von hase — daughter of a former German ambassador to the UK — whom he knew at Oxford in the Seventies.

The pair had been due to wed in

October, but to the surprise of friends and family, they tied the knot at The Savoy Chapel in London last week.

Varley, who was paid £1 million a year as Barclays CeO, told his two children by his first marriage only a few days before the nuptials.

‘John and I married quietly this week,’ Bettina told friends in an email. ‘We are very happy!

‘The events planned for October 14 will no longer take place. But we look forward to celebrating with you all in due course. We send you much love, Bettina and John.’

Varley, a former pupil of Catholic boarding school Downside, was previously married for more than 30 years to Carolyn, whose fund manager sister, Nichola Pease, is married to City tycoon Crispin Odey. Von Hase once dated rupert Birley, eldest son of Lady Annabel Goldsmith by her first husband, Mark Birley. rupert died aged 30, while swimming off the coast of West Africa in 1986. His body was never found.

The path of true love has not run entirely smoothly for the newly-wed couple. Von Hase, 60, who runs art advisory firm Nine AM, and Varley had been due to tie the knot last November. However, they cancelled the ceremony with two days’ notice, apparently because Varley was seriously ill.

He is now fully recovered, but friends say health may have been another factor in his decision to seal his latest marital deal.