A HOME IN PROVENCE, A LONDON FLAT... ASSETS THEY MUST SPLIT
THE divorce will involve a complicated division of assets.
Linley once confessed that his overriding motivation in life was money. It drives him on, he admitted, ‘absolutely always has’ – and he has worked hard to earn his keep.
In 1982, he founded his bespoke furniture making business, David Linley & Company, later known simply as Linley. The company also provides interior design and upholstery products.
He has furnished yachts for Valentino and the Lebanese-Saudi socialite Mouna Ayoub and the company’s client list also includes Sir Elton John and designer Lady Weinberg. He has remained chairman throughout several financial bailouts of the company.
As for properties, he has a flat in Kensington and a holiday home in France.
He sold Les Jolies Eaux, his mother Princess Margaret’s home on the Caribbean island of Mustique, while she was still alive, for £2.1million in 2000 to a venture capitalist. It was the only property she ever owned and, although the land was a wedding gift from her friend Lord Glenconner, she paid for the building herself.
Controversy followed David’s decision to auction off his late mother’s possessions to meet ‘normal family requirements’ in 2007. He said the funds would go towards educating his children.
The £14million raised from the 800 lots was split between the earl and his sister, Lady Sarah Chatto.
Serena is the daughter of debutante Virginia Freeman-Jackson and the 12th Earl of Harrington Viscount Petersham, the London landowner reportedly worth up to £2 0million.