I felt like I was to blame for being raped at 15, says alleged victim of Pippa’s father-in-law
A WOMAN who claims she was raped at 15 by Pippa Middleton’s father-in-law has given police a detailed account of two sex attacks, sources said yesterday.
David Matthews, 74, was arrested by child protection police in France over the alleged attacks on the teenager in Paris and on the Caribbean island of St Barts.
Mr Matthews has vehemently denied the allegations. He and his wife Jane own a £5,000-a-night hotel on St Barts, where friends suggested he was the victim of a ‘revenge’ plot by a woman.
A family source insisted the multi-millionaire had been ‘set up’ to humiliate him and his family, just months after his financier son James married Prince William’s sister-in-law Pippa Middleton.
The woman at the centre of the claims contacted police last year and initially told officers Mr Matthews had acted inappropriately towards her when she was 15. She then told police from the French Brigade for the Protection of Minors she was raped in 1998 in St Barts – when she was 15 and Mr Matthews was in his 50s – and a year later in Paris.
The woman, now 35 and living in Britain, told police she had initially blamed herself for the attacks, which left her feeling ‘shocked and disgusted’.
She reportedly told police: ‘Afterwards I felt like I was to blame. I developed feelings of self-loathing and felt worthless.’ A source close to the French investigation said: ‘The victim was just 15 at the time of the first attack, and the attacks continued.’ Mr Matthews was stopped at Paris Orly Airport on Tuesday and charged with raping a minor, an accusation he has vehemently denied. He was held for 48 hours and questioned before appearing at the Palais de Justice, where he was charged with the ‘ rape of a minor by a person with authority over his victim’, a crime that carries a maximum 15-year jail sentence in France. His official status with French prosecutors is ‘ mis en examen’, which is widely considered to be similar to being charged in the UK, although there is no exact equivalent in the British legal system. He has since been released on bail and has been told he can leave the country, although he is expected to return to Paris as the investigation continues. Authorities have up to six months to decide whether he should stand trial or the charges should be dropped. The businessman lives in the upmarket French dependency of St Barts, where he bought the luxury hotel Eden Rock in 1995. A friend who has known him for decades said the rape allegations were completely out of character. David Zara said: ‘David is not that sort of person and he is certainly not a rapist and certainly not a child molester.’
Mr Zara, who runs bespoke charter flight service Air One, said he believed his friend was the victim of a woman seeking revenge.
He said the Me Too movement, established in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal, had made it ‘hunting season on powerful people’.
Mr Zara added: ‘I have known David for 20 years and I know him pretty well. I think it’s … revenge.’
A friend who works with Mr Matthews and his wife said: ‘It’s an extraordinary claim. I think it’s just a misunderstanding. Everybody is just shocked here about it.’
A Matthews family source told the Mail on Sunday the alleged victim was being ‘assisted’ in her complaint by her mother.
The source said: ‘I’ve heard the full story. It’s outrageous. I feel very sorry for David. He’s being completely set up just to cause family embarrassment.’
Mr Matthews, a former racing driver, amassed a £40million fortune through a second-hand car business, property development and hotel ownership. He has a daughter, Nina, from his first marriage to Anita Taylor, and three sons with his second wife, artist Jane Parker, now 70.
Their eldest son James married Miss Middleton last May, and his younger brother Spencer has starred in several reality television series including Made in Chelsea.
The Matthews’ middle son Michael died when he was 22 on a Mount Everest expedition.
A spokesman for Mr Matthews, who is represented by the Queen’s solicitors Farrer & Co, said: ‘David Matthews categorically denies the allegation and unequivocally contests the untrue and scandalous accusation.’
‘Untrue and scandalous’