Ecclestone hits back at former son-in-law’s comments

BERNIE ECCLESTONE has denounced James Stunt for bad-mouthing his daughter, Mr Stunt’s former wife.

The former Formula One tycoon and Tamara, his daughter, have both criticised Mr Stunt, who claimed that his public image went downhill when he married “a C-list celebrity’s daughter”.

His six-year marriage to Petra ended in an acrimonious divorce last year, and in an interview with Tatler magazine, Mr Stunt took aim at his former

‘He got heavily into drugs and that has changed him… It is a great shame as James was a nice man’

in-laws, referring to Bernie Ecclestone as “that dwarf Bernie”, while calling Slavia, his wife, “Lady Macbeth”.

Yesterday, Mr Ecclestone said that drugs were to blame for the breakdown of his daughter’s marriage to Stunt.

“He got heavily into drugs and that has changed him and they have taken their toll. It is a great shame as James was a nice man when he got married,” Mr Ecclestone told Mail Online. “I hope he stands out as an example to young people who can see the damage that drugs can do.”

Petra’s older sister Tamara, 33, criticised Mr Stunt for making the jibes “on his daughter’s birthday”, and added: “Unless he stops telling lies about my family we will have to start telling the truth about him.”

Mr Stunt used his interview to declare he was “as rich as ever”, and to claim that he had dated “a very famous member of the Royal family” for four years but managed to keep it out of the public eye.