Friend fears for lonely Lady Killearn
SHE has the most fabulous collection of ball gowns of any dowager in Britain and in her day entertained everyone from Lord Mountbatten to Winston Churchill. But old age and hard times have caught up with Jackie, Lady Killearn, who at 102 is no longer able to host her annual birthday bash at her faded Harley Street mansion.
Friends are concerned about her welfare. Indeed, so shocked was one chum who went to visit her over the weekend that she called social services.
According to the friend, Jackie, whose late husband Lord Killearn was ambassador to Egypt during World War II, had been without food for two days.
The friend tells me: ‘I found her lying flat in bed in a horrid corner of the house. There was no food in the house at all.
‘Her carer had quit because she hadn’t been paid and there was no one in the house to lift Jackie into her wheelchair.’
The chum, herself elderly, managed to hoist Jackie, whose grandchildren include supermodel Liberty Ross and Oscarwinning composer Atticus Ross, into the wheelchair and arranged for her own carer to visit and cook her a meal.
Within hours of Westminster council being alerted, Lady Killearn had left the Harley Street address she inherited from her father, Italian Sir Aldo Castellani. She was taken to her 13-bedroom country pile, 17th century Haremere Hall near Etchingham, East Sussex.
The arrangements were made by Lady Killearn’s long- time confidant Robert Hay.
Flamboyant hotelier Hay, who lives with his wife Sarah at Bickleigh Castle near Tiverton, Devon, has power of attorney over Jackie’s affairs.
He tells me: ‘ This friend has completely misconstrued the situation. Jackie is absolutely fine. It’s not true the carer wasn’t paid — she is just not paid in advance and the accountant was waiting for her latest invoice.’
Over to carer Cynthia, who says: ‘I walked out because I am owed three weeks’ money. I feel sorry for Lady Killearn because she does need full-time, proper care, but I couldn’t stay on any longer without being paid.’
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