Lord raises hackles over plan to charge for walkies
LoRD Ivar Mountbatten has proved so adroit at handling his eventful private life that his ex-wife, Penny, agreed to give him away when he married airline cabin services director James Coyle.
His business affairs present more of a challenge. I hear the aristocratic TV personality, who became the first member of the extended Royal Family to have a same-sex wedding, has upset locals by announcing that he plans to charge them to walk their dogs on his 100- acre Devon estate. A £ 60 annual fee is rumoured.
‘The rise in living and operational costs in the past 12 months means our maintenance, management and operational obligations have spiralled far higher than the return of coffee, cake and community events can cover,’ he writes in the parish magazine.
‘James and I are left with some tough decisions for the year ahead.
‘I want to continue to offer access to the orangery and Parkland across seven days a week.
‘But if we’re going to remain open, we need our guests and visitors to support us a bit more if they can.’
However, one dog walker tells me: ‘As you can imagine, people are not very happy. It is one thing charging non- locals a day fee to visit but quite another exploiting what is really a captive audience. I don’t think people will pay it.
‘It is a pleasant enough park, but you have to keep your dog on the lead because of all the deer roaming around and all the water birds on the lake.’
Lord Ivar, who was a first cousin, once removed, of Prince Philip and a third cousin, once removed, of Queen Elizabeth, opened Bridwell Park, in Culm Valley, to the public during the pandemic.
He and Coyle launched the orangery cafe to supplement their income after their lucrative wedding business was hit by Covid restrictions.
It featured in the ITV programme Keeping up With The Aristocrats.