Will Lester wed now his lover’s husband is dead?
WHEN former champion jockey Lester Piggott left Susan, his wife of 55 years, his lover Barbara refused to divorce her own spouse, Irish aristocrat Lord John FitzGerald.
But today I am sorry to report that Lord John, an amiable racehorse trainer, has died at the age of 63, leaving Piggott, 79, and Barbara free to wed.
First, however, he must divorce Susan, the 75-year-old mother of his two daughters. (He also has a son, Jamie, from an affair with his assistant Anna Ludlow.)
When his fling with Barbara, 57, was disclosed in 2012, he suggested Lord John approved. ‘Is her family happy?’ he said at the time. ‘Yes, I know them all. Everything’s fine.’
Asked how long they had known each other, he said: ‘We’ve been friends for ever. We never really decided when it was this [a romantic relationship].
‘We’ve been friends for 30 or 40 years and now, well, now this.’
The couple moved to Switzerland, which is known for its attractive tax regime, leaving behind their spouses in Newmarket, Suffolk. Piggott, known for his careful attitude to money, was stripped of his OBE after he was convicted of tax fraud in 1987.
When he left prison after serving 12 months of his three-year sentence, he resumed his hugely successful racing career, winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile
on Royal Academy within ten days of his return to the sport. He officially retired in 1995.
Susan was surprisingly generous towards her philandering husband and his younger new lover.
‘I have known Barbara for years and she is a very nice person,’ she said at the time. ‘We are all still friends and that goes for all the family.
‘ Put it this way. At 72 you feel very differently about things than you do at 25. All I wish for is Lester’s health and happiness. There are no hard feelings.’
Lord John was the second son of the 8th Duke of Leinster and his family were once the most illustrious in Ireland. His two children with Barbara are now adults.
Today a service of thanksgiving will be held for him at St Agnes Church in Newmarket. It will be fascinating to see if Piggott is among those turning up to pay their respects.