Earl’s widow cuts tie with former home

THE Countess of St Germans once memorably persuaded Oscar- winning director Martin Scorsese to take charge of a four-night film season at the Port Eliot Festival held at the idyllic Cornish estate of her husband, the 10th Earl.

But less than two years after the Earl died at the age of 75, the Countess, Cathy, has written herself out of the script at the fashionable festival.

I can reveal that Cathy, 48, has resigned as a director of the event she did so much to organise each July, when the 124-room house and 4,000-acre estate are thrown open to visitors. ‘Cathy has left the team,’ confirms a festival spokesman. ‘She decided it was time to move on.’

Cathy had to leave Port Eliot last autumn to make way for her husband’s grandson, Albert, known as Albie, who became the 11th Earl of St Germans at just 11.

Sadly, Lady St Germans’ departure from the Grade I-listed stately home and gardens came amid great acrimony.

Albert’s mother, Bianca, an ex-model and former fiancee of Earl Spencer, was worried that, among the furniture and other possessions being taken away in a fleet of removals vehicles, were heirlooms that should have remained at Port Eliot for Albie. However, the removal had the agreement of the trustees.