Lord who lost his castle to wed property tycoon’s girl
Scottish clan chief Lord Lovat was forced to sell his family seat, Beaufort castle, for £1.5 million in 1995 after being hit with crippling death duties, but he has always vowed to buy it back.
help may be at hand as Lovat, aka simon Fraser, has just got engaged to his model girlfriend Petra Palumbo, whom he began dating last year.
Petra, 26, is daughter of the property magnate Lord Palumbo, a close friend of Princess Diana.
old harrovian simon, 38, who works as a stockbroker, inherited the family title in 1995, aged 18, following the death of his grandfather, the 15th Lord Lovat, one of the heroes of the D-Day landings.
Just 12 months previously, his father and uncle died within days of each other in tragic circumstances. simon’s 42-yearold uncle was gored to death by a wounded buffalo while on safari and his 54-year-old father suffered a heart attack while on a drag hunt at Beaufort.
Lovat still owns a lodge and bungalow on the edge of the 19,500-acre estate. ten years after selling the castle to stagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag, he successfully thwarted her from building a £20 million golf resort on the site with 81 luxury homes. he lodged two official objections to the development and Gloag subsequently withdrew her application. Petra’s wealthy family has been embroiled in a bitter 30-year feud, after her brother James accused their father Peter of plundering £30 million from the family trust and frittering it away on wine, cars and property.
Petra, a London college of Fashion graduate, also has an unusual day job — working in her mother’s shop, tapisserie, which specialises in hand-painted needlework and tapestry. she says: ‘i am hoping to inspire people of all generations to hand-embroider creative designs. My aim is to make needlework cool.’
A family friend of the Lovats says: ‘Everyone is thrilled. simon’s mother Virginia has been telling friends how glad she is that they found each other.’