Married Duke finds love with model Frankie Herbert’s mum
THE Duke of Norfolk, who told me last week that his 34-year marriage was over, has not had to wait long to find love again. I can disclose that the Duke, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, whose role is to organise Prince Charles’s Coronation, is courting the ex-wife of one of the Queen’s confidants.
‘I am going out with Chica Herbert,’ the Duke confirms.
Vivacious Francesca, or Chica, as she’s known to pals, is the former wife of Harry Herbert, son of the 7th Earl of Carnavon who was the Queen’s racing manager and a close friend.
When Chica Bevan married Herbert in 1992, Princess Diana as well as the Queen attended the wedding at Highclere Castle, the Carnarvons’ ancestral home where Downton Abbey was filmed.
Friends say the Duke’s relationship with Chica, 58, is serious, but it remains to be seen whether he divorces his wife, Georgina. He is the most senior lay member of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, so divorce would normally be frowned upon.
Herbert, 62, separated from Chica in 2017 and he married Irish TV chef Clodagh McKenna, 46, earlier this year in a ceremony attended by guests including former Chancellor George Osborne. Herbert’s three children with Chica include top model Frankie Herbert.
On Saturday, I disclosed that the
Duke, 65, who has five children with 59-year-old Georgina, had given up hope of salvaging their union. ‘I want to make it clear our marriage is over,’ he told me.
Friends had been delighted after the couple were reunited in 2016 following a trial separation when the Duchess moved out of their magnificent family seat, Arundel Castle in West Sussex.
During that time the Duke enjoyed a close friendship with Jeannie Lopes, ex-wife of Lord Roborough.
The Duke and Duchess of Norfolk had stayed away from the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011, perhaps to spare the Royals any embarrassment.
He is currently living at a 19thcentury manor, Peppering Farmhouse, in the West Sussex village of Burpham, while the yoga-loving Duchess has moved into a property elsewhere on his 24,000-acre estate.