EX-PUB’S DANDY OF A HISTORY
There is a saying that all political careers end in failure. But the complicated love life and politicking of 17th century dandy George Villiers ended particularly badly.
Villiers was born in Leicestershire in 1592 to a comfortably-off local family who, after his father’s death, sent him to train to be a courtier.
A crash course in dancing, fencing and French placed him swiftly into a world comparable with today’s Made in Chelsea set and, by the time he was 21 years old, Villiers was becoming a favourite of the monarch, James I.
The king promoted him through the ranks of the nobility partly because, many historians believe, he fancied the famously good-looking Villiers. By 1623 he had been recast as the Duke of Buckingham and later Lord Admiral of the Fleet.
However, his close relationship with the king attracted the public’s ire, as did his naval and military misadventures and catholic wife.
Then, one night, while staying in Portsmouth, Buckingham ventured out to attend a meeting in the local Ye Spotted Dogge pub.
While there an army officer with a grudge stabbed him and he died soon afterwards. The pub, which has until recently been a hotel, is now being sold as a six-bedroom house. although the vendor, Ian Young, says the layout is flexible enough to enable multiple uses both private and commercial.
It features a grand staircase, a bar and a walled garden. It’s for sale with agent Morris Dibden (02392 737121) at £1.5 million.