Mystery as the King’s cousin Snowdon quits furniture firm
AS a boy, David linley’s passion for arts and crafts was such a source of pride to his grandma, the Queen mother, that she would pass one of his early creations from school, a handmade wooden cigar humidor, around at parties.
and when prime minister Jim Callaghan asked Princess margaret why her son had become a carpenter, she replied: ‘Christ was a carpenter.’
Now, however, I can reveal that king Charles’s cousin has quit the furniture business that he set up four decades ago. ‘He has resigned from the board,’ one of his friends confirms.
Documents filed at Companies House last week disclose that he has resigned as a director of three businesses: David linley Holdings; David linley & Co; and David linley Furniture.
It’s not clear why the dramatic step was taken by David, 61, who became the 2nd earl of Snowdon when his photographer father died in 2017. In June, David linley
Holdings reported a £171,000 pretax profit — a profound recovery from the previous year when it sustained a £2.4 million loss. However, the business still had net liabilities of £4.25 million.
He set up his own carpentry workshop above a chip shop in Dorking, Surrey, in 1982. three years later, he upgraded to the king’s Road in Chelsea.
as he built up his fortune, clients included Sir elton John and Sir mick Jagger.
But after the 2008 financial crash, the company was bailed out by Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev, nicknamed ‘cashier to the kremlin’, who took a seat on the board.
another crisis followed when Pugachev’s bank was liquidated and the moscow authorities demanded repayment of a loan it had made to linley.