£315m Duke of Beaufort dies – as his heir divorces
THE Duke of Beaufort, owner of one of the biggest estates in England, has died aged 89.
David Somerset, the 11th Duke of Beaufort, died in his sleep yesterday, leaving behind his widow, Miranda, and children Harry, Anne, Edward and John.
He also leaves behind an estimated £315million fortune, including the 52,000-acre Badminton Estate in Gloucestershire – home of the famous horse trials. But it is uncertain how the death will affect the complicated divorce involving his eldest son and heir Harry, until now the Marquess of Worcester.
The new duke – known to his friends as Bunter – separated from former actress turned environmentalist Tracy Louise Ward in 2013, after 26 years of marriage.
Last year the 65-year-old revealed they were going through a divorce. However, it is not clear if legal proceedings are ongoing – in which case his wife stands to benefit from a much larger settlement than would have previously been the case – or whether they were completed before the duke’s death yesterday.
Old Etonian Harry confirmed his father had died yesterday afternoon and told the Daily Mail: ‘He was a wonderful father and died surrounded by his family. That is all I feel able to say at this stage.’
The Duke of Beaufort’s first marriage, to Lady Caroline Jane Thynne in 1950, was attended by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. Lady Caroline died in 1995 age 67 and the duke married his second wife, Miranda Elisabeth Morley, in 2000.
The family were in the headlines for the wrong reasons in recent years when the duke’s second son, Lord Edward Somerset, was jailed for beating his wife. The aristocrat, who had problems with drink and drugs, was given a two-year sentence in 2014 for punching, kicking and scratching his wife Caroline over a 22-year period at their home on the Badminton Estate.
Tracy Louise Ward, 58, the granddaughter of the 3rd Earl of Dudley, starred in 1980s TV detective series C.A.T.S Eyes and as Miss Scarlett in drama game show Cluedo.
She turned her back on her acting and modelling career to focus on environmental activism, which included teaming up with actor Dominic West, star of The Affair, to successfully campaign against plans for a factory pig farm in Derbyshire.