Aristocrat who lost a precious heirloom… on a trip to Morrisons
IT is not the obvious place to look for a missing heirloom.
But then a Morrisons supermarket is not normally where you would expect to find a member of the aristocracy.
However, Lara, Lady Somerleyton, popped in to her local branch – only to realise when she returned home that her treasured diamond and emerald pendant was missing.
Her husband has now offered a reward for the return of the 18ct gold Art Deco- style piece, the value of which has not been disclosed.
Lady Somerleyton, 36, is said to be devastated to have lost the pendant, which she believed must have fallen from its chain. As well as the Morrisons at Pakefield, near Lowestoft, Suffolk, she also visited the village of Henstead on the afternoon of October 9 before she returned to 5,000acre Somerleyton Hall.
Lord Somerleyton, 46, said yesterday: ‘My wife and I are devastated to have lost the pendant ,which is a family heirloom, and therefore I have decided to offer a cash reward for its safe return, should someone find it.’
The loss was reported to Suffolk Police but they are not investigating as the item is merely missing, not stolen. A spokesman for the couple said: ‘Lady Somerleyton had been in the supermarket because it is the closest to her home.
‘They are a very normal couple and wouldn’t think twice about it. Morrisons and Henstead were the only places Lady Somerleyton visited on the day in question, so she is reason- ably sure the pendant was lost at one of those destinations.’
Old Etonian Lord Somerleyton and his wife, a former gallery worker, make a point of being down to earth.
Their third child, Margot, was born in an NHS hospital in 2014 and the couple have also spoken of living in the servants quarters, leaving the Grade II-listed hall open to visitors. He became the 4th Baron Somerley- ton on the death of his father in 2012. The title was created for his greatgrandfather, a former MP, in 1916.
A Morrisons spokesman said staff were ‘keeping their eyes peeled’ for the lost pendant, adding: ‘We have our fingers crossed that it turns up’.
Anyone who finds the diamond and emerald pendant, or knows where it is, should contact Somerleyton Estate on 01502 734901.