Lord Glenconner's multi-million pound fortune left to servant

Servant Kent Adonai inherits 240-acre St Lucia estate, mansion and its contents



Lord Glenconner, the multi-millionaire who bought the Caribbean island of Mustique and gave the Queen’s sister a holiday retreat there, cut his entire family out of his will before he died, I can reveal.

Almost a year after Glenconner’s death at 83, his widow, Lady Anne, and his children and grandchildren have learned to their distress that the eccentric Scottish aristocrat changed his will less than a year before his death — leaving everything to the beloved West Indian manservant who cared for him at his adopted home of St Lucia.

High life: The Lord Glenconner at his home on Mustique in February 1985

Kent Adonai, who worked for Glenconner for years, and who was his driver and companion, has inherited his master’s entire estate in the West Indies, including his beachside house between the Pitons in St Lucia, all its contents and a valley overlooking the Caribbean that is worth millions.

Lady Anne, a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, had agreed with her late husband that the Caribbean estate would be left to his 17-year-old grandson Cody, now the fourth Baron Glenconner.

She tells me: ‘Unfortunately, he changed his will seven months before he died and not one member of his family was named in this new will — not me, his wife for more than half a century, or any of his children or grandchildren.’



Loyal: Kent Adonai cared for Lord Glenconner at his adopted home of St Lucia

Adonai, 48, has now cleared Glenconner’s beach property of all its contents and is organising a sale of furniture and belongings at Bonhams.

‘Some things belong to me personally. I am hoping those things will be returned to me,’ says Lady Anne.



‘We have looked at the possibility of challenging the will, which would be possible in Britain or America. But under St Lucian law there is no possibility of that.

‘We are hoping Kent will follow what we all knew were my husband’s wishes — namely that Cody would be left his estate in St Lucia.’

Lady Anne had agreed with her late husband that the Caribbean estate would be left to his 17-year-old grandson Cody, now the fourth Baron Glenconner

This weekend, the Glenconner clan, plus scores of friends, are gathering in Scotland for a memorial service for him at Traquair Church, Peeblesshire, followed by a party at the family’s nearby baronial castle, Glen.

Among the 50 guests will be Glenconner’s recently discovered illegitimate son, Joshua Bowler. Glenconner had five other children, though his two eldest sons died before he did.

Kent, who was also invited, will not be there. Instead, he will be represented by his former common-law wife, Mona, who also worked for Glenconner.

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When marriage is the best medicine

Falling in love: Anna and Andrew

When writer Anna Pasternak made an appointment with a therapist to mend her broken heart, she ended up with a remedy she hadn’t bargained for — falling in love with him.

Now, less than a year after meeting, Anna — great niece of Doctor Zhivago author Boris Pasternak — and Andrew Wallas are planning their wedding.

The moment that changed both their lives came shortly after Anna, 43, had completed her course with Andrew. ‘He had to go to Bali and I was on the platform at Carlisle railway station,’ Anna tells me. ‘Andrew rang me and said he had fallen in love with me and I realised I was in love with him. Suddenly, the whole axis of my life tilted as I stood waiting for a train.’

Anna — author of the bestselling Daisy Dooley Does Divorce — and Andrew, 55, are marrying in Florence this September on the first anniversary of that phone call.

It is a second marriage for both of them. Andrew has three grown-up children and Anna, whose first husband was Old Etonian writer Bill Coles, has a seven-year-old daughter by a previous partner.

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Caring v Birley gets personal



For more than two years, they have been exchanging insults like a barrage of champagne corks. Sometimes there is a truce, only for hostilities to quickly break out again.

But the latest incursion between rival club owners Richard Caring and Robin Birley has plunged Mayfair back into a warzone.

Clothing and restaurant tycoon Caring, who bought Annabel’s in Berkeley Square from Birley’s father Mark, is said to be incensed by claims that the club has since gone down-market.

A recent interview with Birley described members as ‘common’, ‘newly-monied types’ and ‘Eurotrash’.

After being contacted by members upset at the brash criticism, Caring is diplomatic, telling me: ‘I was surprised to read Robin’s comments over the weekend, particularly as we had several amicable conversations last week. I have always believed it is appropriate to keep private conversations out of the media.’

But a source close to the businessman says: ‘In view of the fact that 85 per cent of Annabel’s membership was hand-picked by Robin’s late father, this criticism seems a bit rich.

‘The fact is Mark Birley chose not to pass on his clubs to Robin and felt that Richard Caring was the person to preserve his legacy.’

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Elegant: Kirsty Gallacher

Veteran golfer Bernard Gallacher is being left holding the babies by his elegant daughter Kirsty this Father’s Day. Kirsty (above), who is off to Seville for a hen party, tells me: ‘I feel a bit guilty leaving the children with Mum and Dad, but it will be great to have some time to myself.’

The TV presenter’s husband, rugby player Paul Sampson, was at the lively stag do of Zara Phillips’s fiance Mike Tindall last weekend, but Kirsty — who has two sons — insists her event will be more sedate. Speaking at the Evian-sponsored Hurlingham Classic tennis event, she tells me: ‘I’ll be spending most of the weekend in the spa.’

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Have Carole and Michael Middleton made their first social gaffe? I hear the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents — who yesterday were guests of the Queen at Ascot — were expected at the Boodles Tennis Challenge at Stoke Poges, Bucks, on Wednesday.



They were, I am told, to be on a table for ten, but their seats and those of the other guests were left empty.



A spokeswoman for the event at first said: ‘They were certainly invited, but I am not sure if there was anything firmly confirmed.’ Later, she added: ‘It was a very wet day and some matches were cancelled, so quite a few people didn’t turn up.’



A representative of Stoke Park hotel, which hosted the lunch, says: ‘They were expected, but I do not know the details.’

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A genteel opening at the National Portrait Gallery turned into a stand-off between Selina Scott and gallery director Sandy Nairne after the TV presenter took exception to a full-frontal painting of male nudes.

Selina, 60, told Nairne that children would be shocked by Paul Beel’s Beach Painting Odyssey, which depicts a nudist beach in Corfu.

The former newsreader, a guest of her sister Fiona, whose self-portrait was on show, told Nairne at the private view for the BP Portrait Award: ‘My sister’s ten-year-old son, Ted, and 40 children from primary schools in Yorkshire are coming to see Fiona’s painting. They will be confronted with these graphic sights. There should be a warning to the teacher or a sign about what is around the corner.

‘There is a major debate about the sexualisation of children. I think the gallery should take that into account.’

But Nairne tells me: ‘We have many school parties. Teachers usually do their homework over what is on show. There is a sign at the start of the exhibition warning that there is some nudity. Selina must have missed it.’

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Ps Vacuum entrepreneur Sir James Dyson was less than impressed by Lord Sugar’s rationale for firing Apprentice hopeful Glenn Ward, a design engineer. ‘I’ve never come across an engineer who can turn his hands to business,’ Sugar loftily declaimed.



Multi-millionaire Sir James tells me: ‘It’s a shame this mindset still exists. We needs engineers in order to compete — you can’t reshape the economy on old business values.

