Eton’s human shield sells heirloom to aid refugees

HE ONCE travelled to Iraq in 2003 to offer his services as a human shield to deter the Americans from bombing the capital, Baghdad.

Now peacenik Old Etonian landowner Godfrey Meynell, right, 81, a former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, is selling one of his Old Masters to raise funds for Syrian refugees.

The oil painting, A Grotto In The Gulf Of Salerno, pictured, by Joseph Wright of Derby, will go under the hammer for an estimated £100,000£150,000 next week at Sotheby’s. The artwork has been owned by the Meynells since 1840, when it was given to the family in lieu of payment of a debt. It is unclear whether his dependants are equally enthusiastic about him flogging off such a precious heirloom.

Let’s hope Meynell’s son, also called Godfrey, who is making ends meet by leasing Meynell Langley Hall for weddings, can stay in the black, too.