Bamber’s £2million gems he was left by aunty
VETERAN broadcaster Bamber Gascoigne faced a challenge of his own when he ‘accidentally’ inherited a crumbling mansion with 50 rooms.
Fortunately, it also contained more than £2million worth of luxury goods – from ornaments to dazzling jewellery – from the house’s aristocratic past.
now the former University Challenge presenter, 80, is preparing to sell them at auction to raise money for much-needed restoration work, and potential buyers have been given a chance to feast their eyes on the astonishing haul.
Gascoigne unexpectedly inherited the items from his aunt Mary InnesKer, the Duchess of Roxburghe, when she left him West Horsley Place, near Leatherhead in Surrey, in her will.
They will be sold at a 700-lot auction at Sotheby’s in London this month.
The artefacts, accumulated over hundreds of years in the Grade I listed home, offer a rare glimpse into a world of historical opulence.
It is believed that Henry VIII once enjoyed a 35-course banquet at the home, which dates back 900 years. Items found in the house – many packed away in trunks and cupboards, forgotten for decades – include a 1930 Cartier diamond tiara, which is expected to fetch around £300,000, and a £200,000 diamond necklace.
Others include lavish jewels used for high society balls, gifts from the royal family, a Faberge picture frame, an enamelled lady’s cigarette case and a Cartier clock.
Gascoigne, who spent 25 years presenting University Challenge, said that when his 99-year- old aunt left him the mansion, it was ‘completely unexpected’. He added: ‘She had expressed that, given the work required to restore the house, she expected I would sell it.’
The former presenter and his wife Christina have instead begun the mammoth task of restoring the home to its former glory.
The house dates from the 14th century, and has seen a colourful collection of owners and guests.
One owner was beheaded in 1388 for being too close to Richard II. A century on, another, the 2nd Viscount Montagu, only narrowly avoided the chop for employing Guido Fawkes.
West Horsley was bought by Gascoigne’s family in 1931 and, four years later, Mary married the 22-year- old Duke of Roxburghe. The King and Queen were among the guests at their engagement ball. Mary had lived in the home ever since.
It also contains three miles of books, which the duchess left to Trinity College, Cambridge, to select from. It is understood that Gascoigne has been left with around two and a half miles of books.