The betrayal of Sir Clive Sinclair's real 'wife', as he marries a lapdancer



Sir Clive Sinclair would hardly seem the marrying kind. After all, the millionaire inventor has devoted the past two decades to an unashamedly single way of life.

Despite his advancing years, he could often be seen dancing – or, as the mood took him, snoozing – at a variety of West End nightclubs amid an ever-changing roster of glamorous female companions. The louche Stringfellows lap-dancing club has been a particular favourite.

So when, last summer, Sir Clive, 69, said he was engaged to be married, even his closest friends were a little sceptical.

His rock: Sir Clive with his long-time confidante Elaine. The pair were lovers before they became friends

And when, just a few weeks ago, he announced that vows had been exchanged and that Angie Bowness, a blonde former model and lap dancer 36 years his junior, was the new Lady Sinclair, doubt turned to shock, dismay and, in one particular case, distress.

Because Sir Clive already had ‘a wife’ – even if she had never been given the satisfaction of a formal ceremony.

Elaine Millar, 53, had been by his side for a quarter of a century, first as a lover and then as a devoted companion and personal assistant who organised the daily routine of his computer business.

Beautiful girlfriends came and went, but Elaine was a constant, happy to organise his

private and professional lives. She shared his home and his busy social life.

Today, however, she is alone in her elegant apartment in Harrogate, West Yorkshire.

In public she remains as dignified as ever, refusing to comment on the behaviour of the man she had hoped would marry her, but friends say that in private she feels comprehensively betrayed.

‘Clive has behaved extremely badly to her,’ said one close friend, who did not wish to be named but has known both of them for many years. ‘I like them both but I have to take her side. He really did the dirty on her. It’s not fair.

‘They’ve been together nearly 25 years. Had they been married, it would have been some sort of anniversary. It’s disgraceful when she’s given up everything for this man.’

Younger rival: Sir Clive recently married Angie Bowness, a lapdancer at Stringfellows nightclub

The approach of the new Lady Sinclair has scarcely helped. Keen to maintain some professional independence, perhaps, the former Miss Bowness has hired a publicist and recently posed in revealing lingerie pictures for a national newspaper.

Then, to make matters worse, she announced that she was helping Sir Clive with his businesses, which has been Elaine’s role for most of her professional life.

As the companion of such a well-known personality, it might seem puzzling that so few outside their close social circle know of her existence.

For years, she was pictured as a ‘mystery blonde’, standing by Sir Clive’s side as she helped him fulfil his hectic schedule of social engagements.

That consistent lack of acknowledgement has been one of the most hurtful aspects of the way she has been treated, say her friends.

Elaine first met Sir Clive in a popular Chelsea wine bar in 1986. Recently knighted, he was already famous as the inventor of the world’s first slimline pocket calculator and one of the first household computers to be commercially available.

Happy couple: Sir Clive and former model and lapdancer Angie - who is 36 years his junior - married earlier this year

He had just launched the C5, the electrically powered tricycle, with great fanfare, although it was later judged a dangerous failure.

These inventions and his successful electronics firm, Sinclair Research, had made him a multi-millionaire with little problem meeting women.

He had been married, spending 22 years with the late Ann Trevor-Briscoe, a relationship that produced three children, Belinda, Crispin and Bartholomew.

By the time he met Elaine, however, the marriage had ended, he was single once again and apparently keen to make up for lost time. For her part, Elaine was poised and beautiful, with big eyes and a warm smile.

Privately educated at Darlington High School for Girls and then the Sorbonne, she had travelled down to London to pursue a career in public relations in the hotel industry.

Understandably, she was attracting a great deal of male interest.

In fact, Elaine was happily dating two or three eligible young men at the time and at the start of the relationship it was Sir Clive who seemed the keener of the two.

Ladies' man: Despite his advancing years, Sir Clive could often be seen at a variety of West End nightclubs

One friend says: ‘He used to become very anxious at the thought it might end and would leave frantic, slightly garbled phone messages for her.

‘Years later, if she was feeling down about something he’d done, she would get out the old tapes and listen to him – proof that there had been a time when the boot was on the other foot.’

Sir Clive’s intelligence and persistence won through, however, and

they moved in together in a large house in Surrey.

There was a strong attraction between the two and they had much in common. She was clever, gregarious and, like him, loved socialising, champagne glass in hand.

By coincidence, her own family background was in engineering. Her grandfather had owned the Wallace Millar ship repair yard on Teesside. And before meeting Clive, she had worked in Algeria negotiating contracts for new pipe work.

Elaine gave up her own job in hotel marketing and started working full-time for her millionaire lover, and for some years they were happy – until, that is, Sir Clive’s interest in the opposite sex began to burgeon.

Over the years he had a number of well-publicised flings, and the physical side of his relationship with Elaine started to dwindle.

Yet she remained devoted, to his business and to him – even when he was openly escorting a succession of glamorous women, including Ruth Kensit, a cousin of the actress Patsy.

There was also Patricia Walsh, the playwright and actress who has most recently starred in Sky TV’s Pineapple Dance Studios, and actress Sally Farmiloe.

In the early Nineties, Sir Clive decided to move back into the centre of London, where a party lifestyle was easier to pursue.

He had flats first in Shepherd Market, Mayfair, and then in King’s Cross, where he occupied a huge open-plan apartment in a converted factory – a perfect place for social gatherings.Sometimes Elaine was living with him, sometimes he paid for her to live elsewhere.

Twelve years ago, when Sir Clive bought a plush apartment overlooking Trafalgar Square, Elaine moved, too, living in an adjoining flat with intercom.

By then she was a wealthy woman in her own right, thanks to her own property investments, and the unusual arrangement suited them both. Elaine was directly on hand to help out with the contractual details of a rapidly diversifying business, which was moving away from computers and into more eccentric products, such as power units for wheelchairs.

Still she was his first choice of companion at public events.

‘Wherever he went Elaine usually turned up too,’ said a friend. ‘And unlike some of his other women she never sought publicity for herself.

‘They genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. And like a married couple they would bicker and argue. It was a very close relationship.’

Great minds think alike: Sir Clive with Alan Sugar in 1984

Other friends report that when Elaine attempted to break free from him and establish some romantic independence for herself, Sir Clive would become jealous. That may be one reason her relationships with other men remained short-lived.

She put up with Sir Clive’s affairs, knowing that few of his dates were likely to threaten their own unique partnership. As recently as last year, they enjoyed regular nights out, trips to art galleries, restaurants and society events. Their relationship, while no longer sexual, had settled into one of happy companionship and mutual support – not unlike many a long-lasting marriage.

But 12 years ago, Elaine took a call that was, although she didn’t know it at the time, to end her relationship. It was from Angie Bowness.

Sir Clive had met her at String­fellows and had given her his card. Angie was a dancer at the club, although it is not clear whether she had been working when they met.

At first it was a relationship that seemed to follow the normal pattern – it lasted just a few months before they parted. Angie met businessman Mark Thornton and in April 1998, she gave birth to his son, Marcus.

Sir Clive’s interest remained undimmed, however, and the two stayed in touch. Her relationship with Thornton ended and she started to meet Sir Clive socially once again.

From time to time, he made gifts of expensive jewellery, including last February a £35,000 diamond ring and, unknown to Elaine, the relationship was becoming serious.

So when in April, the day before her birthday, Elaine received a phone call from Sir Clive, it was a shattering moment.

He announced that he had flown to Las Vegas and married his younger girlfriend.

Elaine has now moved out of the Trafalgar Square apartment, the one linked to Sir Clive’s, and her young rival is there in her place.

Inventor: Sir Clive at the launch of his A-bike at the Design Museum in 2006

Their public appearances together have ended, so have Sir Clive’s regular phone calls. There was no birthday present this year and, for the first time in decades, no party thrown in her honour.

Elaine, as you might expect, is maintaining a brave front. She says she still admires Sir Clive, she still divides her time between London and Yorkshire, and remains a director and major shareholder in his company.

Today, Sinclair Research concentrates on the manufacture and sales of a lightweight foldaway bicycle called the ‘A-bike’.

‘I loved my job,’ she told The Mail on Sunday. ‘It was a way of life. Clive is an extraordinary chap to work with and I learnt a lot during the years I worked with him.

I achieved board level and there were periods of intense high pressure during manufacturing, product launch and intellectual property protection.

‘Equally we shared happy, amusing and entertaining occasions together with our many mutual friends and international colleagues. In fact, I’m planning to write my memoirs shortly.’

But one of her long-time friends has a rather different take on the geeky inventor’s latest gamble.

‘I’m amazed by what’s happened,’ she said. ‘I really thought Elaine and Clive would end up together. Now she’s very much on her own. Elaine has stood by patiently as she saw him going off with all those showbusiness types. A lot of other women knew all about Sir Clive and Elaine, but they still walked all over her.

‘She’s a lovely, attractive woman. When they first met, Elaine had other boyfriends and it was Clive who was the really keen one.

‘She could have married many other people, but she stood by Clive. I’m sorry to say that she’s rather wasted her life on him. It’s quite late for her now to find someone else.

‘Sir Clive is a very clever man, but like many clever men he doesn’t always use his brain but a body part lower down.’

Sir Clive was not available for comment last night.