As Arcadia looks set to go under today, ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green will deservedly become this season’s pantomime villain
This morning in the Guardian, a “veteran retail analyst” named Richard Hyman declared of ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green: “He’s gone from zero to hero, and now it looks like he’s going back to zero again.”
Sadly, why that outcome would be very much deserved for a man the legendary actor-writer-producer Steven Berkoff termed “a cross between Shylock and Al Capone” in this very publication, on the day that his retail empire likely goes under, this rotten rat and his sleazy scumbag family will retain their £100 million yacht just as 13,000 people will likely lose their jobs.
Whilst Sir Philip turned down his arch rival Mike Ashley’s offer of a “£50 million lifeline” to keep Arcadia out of administration – with a spokesman for the fat fool telling The Sun on Saturday: “It’s laughable… Sir Philip is not keen to jump into bed with a chancer” – it is now once again time to remind our government of what should really come next.
As the video below proves, Sir Philip Green is not a man of good personal character and in addition he is also not a businessman of sterling quality. This brash braggart and his tax avoiding wench of a wife should be stripped of their ill-gotten titles and they should now finally be told to bog off to super yachting Siberia. Forever.
Pictured top: Sir Philip Green once thought it funny to wander around in a T-shirt emblazoned with: “Phil Says Relax.” He must now be condemned for causing the Christmases of 13,000 families to be anything but relaxed. Shame on him.
Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – Looking as if he didn’t care in the world and wearing scummy white socks, beached whale Sir Philip Green sprawled his colossal belly out on the deck of his £100 million super yacht. According to ‘The Sun,’ the shameless tycoon supposedly will Christmas with a £30,000 per night getaway whilst “13,000 of his staff face the sack.” Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – “Shylock crossed with Al Capone-esque” Sir Philip Green, his title obsessed wife Tina and well-known village bike of a daughter, Chloe.
New Jersey ‘McMansion’ complete with Flintstone-esque pebbled bathrooms and gaudy grottos goes on sale for £1.65 million; it’s so bad, it’s good
A onetime contributor of ours is best known for saying: “It’s good” of almost any situation and in 1 Rivers Edge Drive in Colts Neck, Monmouth County we’ve discovered what is quite possibly the best ever example of: “It’s so bad, it’s good” in architectural terms.
Styled from outside in the form of an atypical ‘McMansion’ or ‘Hummer House,’ the 5,420 square foot ‘palace’ of a property on offer for sale currently stands in a community described by realtor Jason Mitchell as “the gem of New Jersey.”
Whilst the property hawker lists the area as a “most affluent suburb” and a place having “country flair,” he neglects to mention the township was the scene of a gruesome familial “mansion mass murder” in 2018. The case against businessman Paul Caneiro is ongoing, but on a more positive note for music lovers, rock and roll legend Bruce Springsteen is listed by Wikipedia as the “township’s largest equestrian farm” owner.
1 Rivers Edge Drive itself is something quite extraordinary in terms of its tackiness. Featured on the Facebook Architectural Crimes group last weekend, here is an example of what one Brandon Vescovo described as: “The ugliest house in all of New Jersey.” Going further, he added: You might click through the exterior pictures and think ‘eh, this isn’t that bad, just landscaped and stoned to within an inch of its life’ – but, oh no. Oh no. It’s always the inside of these audacious McMansions that send mind hurtling into the void.”
The entrance hall to the ‘house’ resembles a Christmas grotto, but not one you’d want to take any child near given it is more Halloween-horror-esque.Christmas and Christ are definitely an obsession of the current owner – and they plainly want everyone who comes through the door to know it.The Facebook group ‘Architectural Crimes’ chose 1 Rivers Edge Drive, Colts Neck to feature on the pages last week. One user described it as “like a psychotically festive mole tripping on really bad acid.” Another added: “Hyacinth Bucket informs us that Sheridan is appalled.”
Standing on a plot of 2.77-acres in an area which tragically lost a high proportion of its population on 9/11 during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, selling agent Robert DeFalco remarks of the 4-bedroom house: “Spectacular, stunning [and] tranquil are a few words to describe this custom-built colonial.” He kindly terms it “distinctive” and lauds the salt water swimming pool’s 20-foot Fred Flintstone-esque “boulder wall waterfall” and “resort like atmosphere” amongst its key selling points.
If you want a true mish-mash of weirdness, you should put in an offer for 1 Rivers Edge Drive. Here is a McMansion that would suit perhaps Gemma Collins or Katie Price. Now girls, get your cheque books out; they’d need the ludicrous sum of £1.65 million though, up from a sale price of just £233,000 in July 1999.
Pictured top: The exterior of the ‘McMansion’ isn’t exactly architecturally stimulating, but it gives little away of the horrors of the contents of the ‘Bet Lynch on crack-like’ pad within.
The Numbers – 1 Rivers Edge Drive, Colts Neck, Monmouth, New Jersey, NJ 07722, United States of America
A double height reception room contains artwork that one would imagine was purchased from the tat ridden railings of Hyde Park, London on a damp Sunday long ago.The junk collection continues in what appears to be some kind of gallery for familial photos.There’s hardly any space left for the table in this dining space of the McMansion.The heron flying on the television screen is about the only appealing thing in this attempt at some form of a ‘dude ranch’ drinking den crossed with a boardroom.Whatever this room was meant to be – there is a desk – it’s ended up as yet another junk emporium.One could imagine Tamara Ecclestone feeling at home here.More crap.A model giraffe was plainly meant to give this airport lounge style space a hint of ‘Out of Africa.’The dark wood kitchen, surprisingly, has remained largely unscathed, but the faux plants and wreaths merrily help it along.One of four busy bedrooms. Perhaps they employed napkin slapping Dawn Ward for these areas of the McMansion.A dressing room for a gentleman clearly completely lacking in colour coordinating abilities.Who’d have thought it? Pink, brown, gold and grey aren’t a great colour comibination.Double dishing the same with the sinks.Fred Flintstone plainly came to play on the day this shower room was fitted. The bog and sink colour palette… Well…A shower suitable for a fatty and a jacuzzi tub suitable for a hooker.Nicely folded towels.Is the wreath for whomever died in this contraption?Even the golf club storage area gets gaudy.Exercise with colour.The backyard is fully of junk also.From this angle, the swimming pool doesn’t look too abnormal.But then, you see the grotto…A vast block paved driveway is a requirement for any McMansion owner.You simply would never guess the horrors inside 1 Rivers Edge Drive from above.
As the public quite rightly rubbish a disgraceful ‘Mail on Sunday’ diatribe against the campaigning footballer Marcus Rashford, he responds with dignity and launches a book club
In their frankly completely irrelevant and unnecessary diatribe, Buckwell and Aitchison banged on about how the school meal campaigning footballer Marcus Rashford MBE had bought “five luxury homes” with mortgages “from the Queen’s bank, Coutts.”
Pointedly, aside from these perfectly legitimate buy-to-let investments, the pair trivially carped on about Rashford trademarking his name in the US and quite rightly of this Liew responded: “Virtually none of this is really anyone’s business.”
Aside from the fact that Rashford has done nothing illegal, one would have thought The Mail on Sunday could have put their resources to use instead to investigate the allegations of huge tax avoidance against the House of Commons Leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Given that one Maureen Fitzsimmons’ tweet about that has been liked by 22,200 individuals and retweeted 7,900 times, one could suggest that newsworthy, but since Rees-Mogg’s activities are not much different to those of the Mail’s very own proprietor Viscount Rothermere’s very own tax affairs, they wouldn’t be wanting to touch that with a barge pole.
Elsewhere this morning, humble and decent Marcus Rashford – whom responded to the Buckwell and Aitchison jamboree by quite rightly stating: “Ok, so let’s address this. I’m 23. I came from little. I need to protect not just my future but my family’s too. To do that I made a decision at the beg [SIC] of 2020 to start investing more in property. Please don’t run stories like this alongside refs to ‘campaigning.’” – announced plans to launch a book club. Unsurprisingly, the Mail showed very little interest in that.
Rashford sensibly addressed the hateful piece by Andy Buckwell and Max Aitchison with a civilised response on Sunday. In doing show, he showed himself as the bigger man.Amongst those who leapt to his defence were businesswoman Deborah Meaden. One Twitter user, Jon Butterworth, added: “Wonder if Andy Buckwell or Max Aitchison ever did anything decent that helped anyone or scored a good goal.” Another pointed out that Aitchison himself supposedly lives in a £1.2 million home.This morning, humble Rashford shared news of a book club he is working on to help children experience “escapism” from reading news. In a show of dignity, he didn’t even bother to mention Aitchison or Buckwell.Maureen Fitzsimmons’ tweet about the affairs of government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has attracted huge attention on Twitter. It has attracted no interest from the ‘Mail’ – how terribly surprising. Not.
Range Rover developed by Land Rover in conjunction with ‘Mr Blobby’ sidekick Noel Edmonds as a ‘mobile office’ at the incredulous price of £450,000 to be auctioned for a knockdown price of just £15,000
A once most expensive ‘mobile office’ on the road is to be sold for next to nothing today when Silverstone Auctions will offer a totally though unsurprisingly unique Range Rover for a sum 96% lower than it cost to produce at their NEC Classic online auction.
The 1997 Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (LR-SVO) “bespoke project” was originally developed as a “mobile office” concept in conjunction with the television presenter and spiritually wacky Noel Edmonds’ Unique Group.
Noel Edmonds is best known for his partnership with the character Mr Blobby from November 1992 onwards. Subsequently, more recently, his decision to share strange, David Icke-esque views and disputes with financiers have been what gain him more column inches.
Used initially as a pilot test and PR showcase by Cellnet, Land Rover and Sony, the car came with every imaginable piece of technology of the time. Here was a 4×4 not intended for taking its owner to his butt on the grouse moor, but more a bizarre kind of business space which even Warren Buffett might have found over the top.
Amongst technology crammed into the consequently weighty motor are a phone system with three telephone handsets, a fax machine, a HP printer, various laptops, a Sony VHS system, voice recognition software, web cams, a black box video recorder and Sony infrared headphones. As a result, according to an interview with the then owner in 2018, the Range Rover manages a very unimpressive 8 miles per gallon.
Noel Edmond’s chubby mate, Mr Blobby, is unlikely to have ever ridden in this ‘mobile office’ given there’d barely be space for his posterior, but one thing’s for certain: This must number amongst the fastest depreciating cars in history and it is certainly not surprising that its production run never expanded beyond one-of-one.
The Names & Numbers – 1997 Land Rover Range Rover HSE Autobiography, LP or P38A by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (LR-SVO) and the Unique Group, registration P880 KAC
14th November 2020 – To be auctioned by Silverstone Auctions with an estimate of £15,000 to £18,000 ($19,800 to $23,800, €16,700 to €20,100 or درهم72,700 to درهم87,200).
2020 – Offered for sale on website AutoVolo for £24,995 ($33,000, €28,000 or درهم121,000) with 86,000 miles on the clock.
2018 – Sold via eBay to Jaguar Land Rover employee Nav Singh Rai for “just under” £8,000 ($10,600, €8,900 or درهم38,800) with 81,000 miles on the clock. It featured in Drivers Insight magazine in October that year and in Land Rover Monthly in August 2019.
January 2012 – Offered for sale by Coys with an estimate of £25,000 to £35,000 ($33,000 to $46,000, €28,000 to €39,000 or درهم121,000 to درهم170,000)
2001 – Sold by Noel Edmonds.
1997 – Cost of development estimated at £450,000 ($594,000, €502,000 or درهم2.2 million) and technology was supplied by Noel Edmonds’ Unique Group. The ‘mobile office’ Range Rover was used subsequently sold to Noel Edmonds after being used for PR purposes by Cellnet, Land Rover and Sony – supposedly to avoid it being scrapped.
Pictured top: Noel Edmonds with the car (date unknown).
A recent image of the car. It is described as “coming to auction needing a little love and attention.”The rear passenger space is primarily dominated by office equipment.A bulky computer certainly absorbs a lot of space.The car offers plenty of options to watch Noel Edmonds on its screens.The driver gets plenty to play with also.There’s a load more (out-of-date) technology in the front.And the boot most certainly must contain a fair amount of wiring also.Mr Edmonds plainly wanted to advertise his love of the word “unique” on a car he eventually bought to save from the scrapyard.The engine of the ‘mobile office,’ however, is still pretty standard.The car has featured in various magazine articles; in this one its owner was deservedly described as “special.”
Matthew Steeples selects some of the most telling and cringeworthy remarks from the newly unsealed 2016 Ghislaine Maxwell deposition
On Thursday, I ploughed through all 465 pages of the newly unsealed April 2016 deposition of Ghislaine Maxwell at the law offices of Boies Schiller & Flexner. After being promised lurid details of ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ daughter’s “wild sex life” and her lawyers claiming it’d “spread like wildfire across the Internet” (and thus prejudice her trial), overall it was just a bit of a damp squib.
Whilst the bombshells many were hoping for simply did not emerge and though most names redacted could easily be identified – Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton included – what the mainstream media avoided mentioning was that there were many telling remarks and many contradictory statements in the unsealed document.
Mucky Madam Maxwell Unsealed – Ghislaine Maxwell with her chum Prince Andrew and accuser Virginia Giuffre at her London home. During the deposition, Miss Maxwell referred to Ms. Giuffre as a “liar” hundreds of times.
Aside from the fact that ‘Grubby Ghislaine’ clearly illustrated she has her late conman father’s temper in an episode of table thumping, Miss Maxwell’s evasiveness in avoiding giving straightforward answers was transparent. She also showed her own true character and also illustrated the lengths she would go to protect the late Jeffrey Epstein.
With the public set to see this mucky madam on trial next year, we can now anticipate the approach this devious devil will take. It’ll be bombastic and bold, but she’ll unlikely be doing anything that puts her great mate, the non-sweating, Pizza Express loving royal, at risk – that’s for sure.
Here below, we select a few of the amusing and strange questions and quotes from what was unsealed:
Ghislaine Maxwell gets questioned about a John Bryan – Duchess of York-esque ‘toe sucking’ equivalent incident:
Q – “Did you ever ask [Virginia Giuffre] to rub Jeffrey’s feet?
A – “I believe that I have read that, but I don’t have any memory of it.”
Asked about “sexual acts,” Maxwell – a woman well-known for teaching other women how to give blowjobs at dinner tables – unconvincingly answered:
A – “I don’t know what you mean by sexual acts.”
A – “I’ve never had non-consensual sex with anybody… At any time with anybody.”
Curiously defining her citizenships:
Q – “Are you a citizen of the United States?”
A – “I am.”
Q – “Are you also a citizen of England?”
A – “I am.”
Q – “Are you a citizen of any other land?”
A – “TerraMar.”
Q – “That’s the name of your charity project that deals with oceans, is that correct?”
A – “Yeah. I’m French as well.”
Bizarrely asked to define her own sex, Maxwell was honest in one regard:
Q – “Are you a female, is that the sex that you are?
A – “I am female… I am a 54-year-old woman.”
On sex toys:
Q – “How would you describe sex toys?”
A – “I wouldn’t describe sex toys.”
A – “I need you to define a sex toy, I don’t have enough knowledge of sex toys.”
On her and Jeffrey Epstein’s star-studded address book:
A – “I believe this a copy of a stolen document. I would like to know how you guys got it… You have the stolen document.”
A – “Like everybody, I have an address book.”
Put in her place by the interviewer:
A – “Let’s move on.”
Q – “I’m in charge of the deposition. I say when we move on and when we don’t. You are here to respond to my questions. If you are refusing to answer, the court will bring you back for another deposition to answer these questions. Do you understand that?”
A – “You have got your questions mangled… You have mangled your entire questions… I have to object.”
Q – “You don’t get to object… She is turning into a lawyer already.”
A – “I would like to.”
A – “I apologise sincerely for my banging at the table earlier, I hope you accept my apology.”
Asked if she was responsible for Jeffrey Epstein’s activities and actions, Maxwell replied:
A – “I’m not responsible for what Jeffrey does and I don’t always pay attention to what happens in the house. I’m very busy.”
On whether she ‘recruited’ girls for her boss/lover:
A – “Stop right there. I never recruited girls, let’s stop there. Break down the question.”
Q – “Have you ever said to anybody that you recruit females?”
A – “I don’t recruit anybody.”
A – “I resent and despise the word recruit… I never had to do anything with underage people.”
On whether she ‘recruited’ girls to take the sexual activity pressure off herself:
Q – “Have you ever said to anybody that you recruit other females… to take the pressure you having to have sex with Jeffrey?”
A – “I totally resent it and find it disgusting that you should use the word recruit. I have already told you I don’t know what you are saying and your implication is repulsive.”
A – “I never trained a female under the age of 18 at Jeffrey’s house.”
On her thoughts on the deposition process:
A – “You don’t ask me questions like that. First of all, you are trying to trap me, I will not be trapped.”
A – “Any interest I have is in accuracy. I’m only looking for accuracy.”
A – “Apparently, even saying Virginia is a liar has hazards.”
A – “You are trying to trap me.”
Asked about her interaction with naked people in Epstein’s residences, Maxwell brushed such aside:
A – “Sometimes… I have seen people from time to time take their top off. I have seen people from time to time do that.”
On whether she photographed naked people:
A – “It is possible that I took pictures of people that were somehow semi [nude] or had some clothes on or no clothes on, but at no time were any of those pictures remotely inappropriate… I know where you are headed with this and it’s nowhere appropriate and it’s really unattractive.”
Asked about her interactions with Virginia Giuffre – with whom she flew on private plans on at least twenty occasions and with whom she was pictured in her London home with Prince Andrew – Maxwell clearly lied:
A – “I don’t recall meeting her.”
A – “I wouldn’t recollect meeting her at all but for the tissue stories about this situation.”
A – “I really have no recollection of her.”
A – “I barely recall Virginia, period.”
A – “I don’t recall smoking cigarettes with Virginia Roberts.”
A – “Virginia is a liar… An exaggerator, a fantasist and an absolutely true terrible person.”
A – “I said that there are some things [Virginia] may not have lied about.”
On whether she had sex with Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre:
A – “I never ever, at any single time, at any point ever participated in anything with Virginia and Jeffrey. And for the record she is an absolute total liar and you all know she lied on multiple things and that is just one other disgusting thing she added.”
On whether she dined with Virginia Giuffre with Prince Andrew in London at Tramp:
Q – “Do you recall going to dinner with XXX, Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Roberts in London at any time?”
A – “I do not.”
Q – “Do you recall going to a place called XXX, XXX, Jeffrey Epstein and yourself and Virginia Roberts?”
A – “I would just like to state for the record XXXXXXXX I do not have any recollection of it and I doubt it happened.”
On whether Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre had sex in a bath at her Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London home:
“The tub is too small.”
On whether she and Jeffrey Epstein gave Prince Andrew a Spitting Image puppet of himself and whether they got Virginia Giuffre to “play with him” whilst sitting on his lap:
A – “There was a puppet… A caricature of XXX.”
On Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual activity preferences:
Q – “Does Jeffrey like to have his nipples pinched during sexual encounters?”
A – “I’m not talking about any adult sexual things when I was with him.”
Questioned about the number of occasions she’d flown on the ‘Lolita Express’ and other Epstein planes:
A – “I cannot tell you how many, a lot.”
Asked about a 13-year-old victim of Epstein whom came to one of his residences:
A – “I have no idea how old she was… I have no idea… I don’t hire girls like that.”
Turning to a 14-year old:
Q – “Was she a child?”
A – “I don’t know what you mean if she looked like a child… Leave it at that… You are making stories up again as usual, there would not be any reason why I would ask her how old she was.”
On a total of 30 underage minors allegedly being brought to Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach house:
A – “I cannot testify to 30.”
On whether Jeffrey Epstein abused minors:
A – “I can’t testify what Jeffrey did or didn’t do.”
A – “I never observed Jeffrey having sex with a minor.”
Q – “I’m asking what you believe, from your own belief, do you believe that Jeffrey Epstein abused minors?”
A – “I can only go from what I know personally about what Virginia’s lies talked about. She is the only person I know that actually claimed that. And I can say with certitude that everything Virginia said was a lie.”
A – “I don’t believe [Jeffrey Epstein] was sentenced for [sexual abuse of a minor] actually.”
Asked if she’d ever seen Jeffrey Epstein – with whom she had an intimate relationship with herself – having sex:
A – “I have never seen anybody have sexual intercourse with Jeffrey, ever.”
On whether she was ever in a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein herself:
A – “That’s a tricky question. There were times when I would have liked to think of myself as his girlfriend.”
A – “I don’t think I said I was his girlfriend.”
A – “I don’t think I would ever have characterised myself as his girlfriend.”
A – “I’m sure I would [have] loved anybody to come out and say they were Jeffrey rather than me.”
On whether she was asked to ‘carry’ a baby for Jeffrey Epstein:
A – “I don’t recollect conversation about Jeffrey and babies in any form… I don’t recollect baby conversations with Jeffrey.”
Asked if she’d ‘organised’ for Virginia Giuffre to have sex with others:
A – “I have never instructed Virginia to have sex with anybody, ever.”
On allegedly dressing Viriginia Giuffre up as a school girl when giving massages:
A – “I have no idea what you are talking about… I have no idea what you are talking about… I clearly know what a school girl outfit is. I have no recollection of providing anybody with a school girl outfit.”
On President Clinton being on ‘Paedo Island’ with Virginia Giuffre and herself and whether Jeffrey Epstein dined with him:
“Virginia is absolutely, totally lying. This is a subject of defamation about Virginia and the lies she has told and one of [the] lies she told was that President Clinton was on the island where I was present. Absolutely 1,000 per cent that is a flat out total fabrication and lie.”
“Allegations that XXX had a meal on Jeffrey’s island is 100 per cent false… I’m sure he had a meal on Jeffrey’s plane.”
On why she kept in touch with Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction:
“I’m a very loyal person and Jeffrey was very good to me when my father passed away and I believe that you need to be a good friend in people’s hour of need and I felt that it was very thoughtful, nice thing for me to do.”
On how much she got paid and what benefits she received post Epstein’s conviction:
Q – “Were you paid over a million dollars?”
A – “It was under 500, it was an amount of money less than $500,000, less than a million dollars and I did it out of thoughtfulness and consideration for somebody who was in trouble.”
A – “I don’t recall the details of the cars [I was given].”
A – “I don’t recall any gifts really… I barely recall gifts, I barely recall a lot of this.”
On her legal ‘arrangement’ with Jeffrey Epstein:
Q – “Do you have a joint defence with Jeffrey Epstein?”
A – “I believe I do.”
On her legal ‘arrangement’ with (presumably) Prince Andrew:
Q – “Do you have a joint agreement with XXX?”
A – “I don’t believe I do.”
On what dirt Jeffrey Epstein might have on her:
Q – “What negative, unflattering, private or potentially embarrassing information does Jeffrey Epstein know about you?”
A – “I imagine none.”
A – “I can’t think of anything I have ever done that is illegal… I have a DUI in the UK a long time ago.”
On where Jeffrey Epstein got his wealth:
Q – “Do you know how Jeffrey Epstein made his money?”
A – “No… I have no idea.”
On where she was then living:
“I’m just couch surfing.”
For more fascinating revelations about this ever-developing case, listen to the brilliantly put together The Prince & the Pervert Podcast’ by clicking here.
Mucky Madam Maxwell Unsealed – Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein at a memorial event for her late conman father Robert Maxwell on 24th November 1991 at the Plaza Hotel in New York.Mucky Madam Maxwell Unsealed – Ghislaine Maxwell is used to having things her way and here she is pictured in her youth tapping away at an early computer. In August 2020, she demanded the prison housing her give her another device and a desk also – her request was unsurprisingly denied.
Welsh ‘mock castle’ once occupied by notorious spendaholic Lady Docker for sale for £2.85m; the Dockers were turfed out in 1956 after it was discovered they’d lavished the equivalent of £1.3m today of company money on the place without permission
Alleged inspiration for ‘The Pink Panther’ film, Norah Docker (AKA ‘Naughty Norah’ and ‘Lady Muck’) described herself as “an artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”
Of her second husband, Sir William Collins, chairman of Fortnum & Mason, she announced: “He was 69, I married him for his money.”
Lady Docker used her third husband Sir Bernard Docker’s company money to create Daimler cars upholstered in zebra hide – “because mink is too hot to sit on.”
The couple also plundered the company to buy Glandyfi Castle in Wales and spent an equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money on it.
The Grade II listed, early 19th century ‘mock castle’ became a small hotel and is currently for sale for £2.85 million.
The best known ‘occupants’ of Glandyfi Castle, an early 19th century ‘mock castle’ eleven miles from Aberystwyth in Mid Wales, were Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) managing director and Daimler chairman Sir Bernard Docker and his notoriously decadent wife, ‘Naughty Norah.’
The Dockers, a “spendaholic” pair said to be the inspiration for the 1963 film The Pink Panther, lavished the equivalent of £1.3 million of today’s money buying and altering the castle in 1949 – the very same year they were robbed of £1.9 million of diamonds in today’s money at their Mayfair home also.
Sir Bernard and Lady Docker lived at Glandyfi until 1956 when it was discovered that they’d plundered the company through the presentation of vast expenses. Aside from the castle, Lady Docker had lavishly created five show ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars covered in gold and upholstered with amongst other things zebra hide. When asked why she had done such, she coyly responded: “Because mink is too hot to sit on,” but subsequently after these and the castle had to be returned, the couple bought a Bentley Continental as revenge.
Now, today, Grade II listed Glandyfi (pronounced ‘Glandovey’) is for sale for what seems like a comparatively reasonable sum of £2.85 million, but it now comes minus the “glitzy” additions made by the Dockers. The Regency Gothic style stone and slate main building extends to 8,280 square feet over four floors and provides 5 reception rooms, 10 double bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and in addition comes with a courtyard with guest accommodation, a 1 bedroom lodge and a range of disused barns.
Externally, aside from a mature landscaped garden, the 31.43 acre plot includes a walled former kitchen garden, grazing land and woodland, but what is most impressive is the setting of what James Delingpole termed “not so much an austere, toff’s castle as a theme-park recreation of one” with “undoubtedly the most magnificent view from any house I know in Britain.”
Speaking to Anne Ashworth of The Times last time the allegedly haunted castle was placed for sale in July 2019, current selling agent Belinda Hutchinson-Smith of Strutt & Parker – whom also was involved in marketing the property to the current owners, the Holmes family, back in 2007 when she worked at Savills – stated:
“It was surreal [in 2007]. We were in a time warp. Almost nothing had changed since the Dockers moved out in the 1950s. There were 1950s newspapers strewn across the dining tables and in the bedrooms, books were left open on bedside tables. But, at the same time, the house had a magical feeling.”
In comments to the BBC in September 2014, when the former Docker one-of-one 1954 Daimler ‘Stardust’ was sold at auction for £110,000, Glandyfi’s current owner Maureen Holmes remarked:
“[Sir Bernard and Lady Docker] were clearly living the dream. From the red and white marble fireplaces to a path through the woods made entirely of upturned gin bottles, the castle oozed excess.”
“The older people around here who remember them say they were unbelievable, almost mythical figures. At a time when everyone else was still on rationing, the Dockers were thundering through the lanes in limousines made out of gold and silver.”
“The irony is, that whilst the locals felt the Dockers’ perceived wealth meant that they were utterly removed from the community, in actual fact they probably had no more money than anyone else in the area.”
Lady Docker pictured in one of the opulent ‘Docker Daimler’ show cars she commissioned her husband’s company to create; the most famous of the examples was known as the ‘Golden Zebra’ – this 1955 Daimler two-door coupé based on the DK400 chassis featured metal trim pieces plated in gold instead of chrome, an ivory dashboard and zebra-skin upholstery.Thrice married Lady Docker (1906 – 1983), born Norah Turner and also variously Norah Callingham and Lady Collins, was born in Derby and began her career as a hostess at the Café de Paris in London. In Lancashire, her name is still used as a derogatory substitute for ‘Lady Muck’ and in spite of her once extravagant lifestyle, she died in poverty at the not so chi-chi Great Western Royal Hotel in Praed Street, Paddington, London. In one of her last interviews, Lady Docker remarked: “I have always had the persistence to march on. I will continue to do that, until the day I die.” In spite of her reduced circumstances, she is said to have “retained a remarkable joie-de-vivre, downing glasses of pink champagne to the last.”English poet Thomas Love Peacock got married at Glandyfi Castle in 1820; Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the property whilst filming ‘Springwatch’ in 2012.
The Names & Numbers – Glandyfi Castle, Glandyfi, near Machynlleth, Ceredigion, Powys, Mid Wales, SY20 8SS, United Kingdom
October 2020 – Relaunched for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker.
June 2019 – Listed for sale for £2.85 million ($3.69 million, €3.15 million or درهم15.54 million) through Strutt & Parker with 31.43 acres of land.
2012 – Whilst filming the BBC’s Springwatch, presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan stayed at the castle. Strachan wrote in the guest book: “I couldn’t imagine a nicer, more comfortable place to stay… I felt like a princess in my amazing room.” Packham added: “Staying at the castle has been a total treat. Hospitality, fine food, wonderful environment, views to die for and history.”
May 2007 – Offered for sale for £1.25 million ($1.62 million, €1.38 million or درهم5.94 million) through Savills with 43 acres of land on behalf of the late owner, one Mrs Betty Piper (1914 – 2006).
January 1964 – The building is given a Grade II listing, reference 9874, and is described as “the only example [of a] Georgian country house in picturesque castellated style in the county.”
1956 – Following discovery of the Dockers’ “profligacy” and their removal from BSA, the castle is sold.
1949 – Purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited for the use of Sir Bernard and Lady Docker for the sum of £12,000 or the equivalent of £427,000 ($552,000, €471,000 or درهم2 million) today. The company then lavished £25,000 or the equivalent of £890,000 ($1.2 million, €983,000 or درهم4.2 million) today on “opulent renovations of the home.”
1906 – Following the death of Charles Jeffreys, the castle and its lands pass out of the hands of that family after 114 years.
1820 – English poet Thomas Love Peacock (1785 – 1866) married Jane Griffith (also known as Jane Gryffydh) at the castle. His fellow poet and friend Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) referenced Peacock’s wife “the milk-white Snowdonian Antelope.”
Early 19th century – Built to the designs of an unknown architect for George Jeffreys, High Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1819 on an estate acquired by his great uncle, Edward, in 1792.
Some of Lady Docker’s Notable Remarks
Of herself, as she moved to London to seek fame and fortune:
“An artificial blonde, among thousands of artificial blondes searching for stardom.”
Of her vision in life:
“[To] bring some happiness back to a world left hollow by the horror of two world wars… We bring glamour and happiness into drab lives. The working class loves everything I do.”
Of her father:
“A self-made man.”
Of her male “targets” and those she viewed to be husband material:
“Through my life, I set both my sights and my price high.”
Of her chairman of Fortnum & Mason second husband, Sir William Collins:
“He was 69, I married him for his money.”
Of her third husband, Sir Bernard Docker:
“I deliberately trapped him.”
When asked to justify why she covered the seats of a 1955 Daimler in zebra skin:
“Zebra, because mink is too hot to sit on.”
On the loss of the ‘Docker Daimlers’ when they were taken away from her and her husband:
“It’s not the loss of the gold cars that makes me feel like this… And weren’t they fun? They were like my children… No, it’s that lovely party I was planning for 25,000 of the company’s workers for my 50th birthday. A tiptop affair – and now it’s all off. How could they do this to [Sir Bernard] after 17 years? Why, he’s such a hard worker that he even had a direct line to the firm from our yacht.”
Of Prince Rainier of Monaco after her son was banned from his son’s christening and she decided to burn the Monacan flag:
“I’m at war with Rainier.”
To the captain of the liner the Queen Elizabeth:
“This ship is being run by a bloody Communist! Don’t you dare touch me, you bloody Communist!”
Of some miners she invited on her yacht:
“The dear boys, I just loved them! It proved conclusively to me that the social barrier only exists in the mind.”
Of a Monaco casino employee she had allegedly assaulted:
“It was a good sock I gave that man, and he deserved it.”
Of the people of Jersey:
“They are the most frightfully boring, dreadful people that have ever been born.”
PICTURED TOP: Glandyfi Castle and the estuary beyond; Sir Bernard and Lady Docker at the castle.
Ghislaine Maxwell is condemned as a ‘British witch’ in a new podcast just as Prince Andrew is permanently banned from Remembrance Sunday services
This morning, it was revealed that Prince Andrew will not be appearing at this year’s Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph. Speaking to the Daily Mail, an unnamed source declared: “Unless matters change dramatically, no one believes we will ever see the Duke of York in the royal line-up on Remembrance Sunday again.”
Whilst this foreverness may seem truly deserved, in other news in a 56-minute episode of the Broken: Seeking Justice podcast titled ‘British Witch’ just released, it was revealed that Jeffrey Epstein met mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell “as early as 1988” through her father.
Key proof of Epstein’s closeness to Robert Maxwell and not just his daughter was previously provided in the form of photographs shared on Twitter in January by Kirby Sommers. Of them, in the podcast reporter Emily Saul remarked:
“In addition to these accounts, there’s also a photo, snapped a mere 19 days after Robert Maxwell’s death [on the 19th November 1991], that intimately links Epstein and Ghislaine. Shot at the Plaza Hotel during a memorial event for Robert Maxwell, the picture shows Ghislaine and Epstein in conversation. Wearing a blue silk jacket, Ghislaine smiles coyly at Epstein, who is seated to her right, wearing a white bowtie and an enormous grin. It doesn’t look like a first date.”
Going further of this revelation, Saul concluded: “If this is true, then the power dynamic between them shifts significantly. Perhaps she was the boss and Epstein did her bidding. Or, at the very least, they may have been equals.”
“Chronologically, geographically, the idea that Robert Maxwell setup his daughter with Epstein makes sense. Epstein and Robert Maxwell both had offices at the same address, the historic Helmsley Palace Hotel in Midtown Manhattan… Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein did business together.””
Pictured top: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the memorial event for her father.
Mother of ‘British Witch’ Ghislaine Maxwell – Betty Maxwell, Robert Maxwell’s widow, at the same event alongside a photograph of the megalomaniac crook.British Witch – Kirby Sommers’ tweet about the Maxwell memorial evidence.British Witch – Ghislaine Maxwell with her parents.
Matthew Steeples condemns the government’s ludicrous new 10pm bar, pub and restaurant curfew and slams the snitch culture of the next likely lockdown
Like sheep we’re being herded towards another lockdown. Our Prime Minister doesn’t dare force us into the pen in one fell swoop, so like the true coward that this miserable cretin is, Bosie The Clown is beginning by slamming closed the doors of bars, pubs and restaurants from 10pm tonight.
Of this strange move (and remember it is not 10pm last orders, but 10pm lights out), one London restaurant owner – who quite rightly wished to remain anonymous given the snitch culture that he expects to start tonight from busybody neighbours and over zealous police officers – told The Steeple Times that though he will abide by the rules, he could not understand the reasoning for them. He commented:
“Why 10pm? Why are bars, pubs and restaurants lumped together? A restaurant with social distancing should be allowed to trade normal hours. Restaurants are primarily about dining rather than drinking and eating involves sitting at tables and not moving. Since seating can be managed and guests can be controlled, what difference does getting rid of them before 10pm or 12 midnight make to the virus? Not much, but what difference does it make to the business… The answer: The fine line between profit and loss.”
Another, the owner of a busy bar and dining spot, added:
“This is another blow to an already damaged sector. We effectively will now have to take last orders for food at around 8.30pm and as 20% of our custom for dinks comes post 10pm, our business just won’t work. That this is going to be in place over our busiest period, Christmas, and for 6 months minimum is a killer. Will we last? I don’t know, but if we close completely, I will have to let 34 people go.”
Just as with the ludicrous rule of seven children not being allowed to gather to feed a duck, whilst thirty men can assemble to shoot it, here is a new draconian imposition that will inevitably not actually achieve anything except damage to the already crippled hospitality sector.
Coronavirus is spreading not because people are dining and drinking in carefully arranged spaces, but more so in care homes and student housing. The numbers suggest that it is the old and the young that are the primary ‘superspreaders’ and not in fact middle aged restaurant goers.
Moving from ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ to ‘Drink Up and Piss Off’ is, in my view, simply stage one of further restrictions on our freedom and a death knell for a significant contributing sector of the economy. We must call out this rudderless government’s totalitarian tactic for what it is and rise up and resist it. Now is the time to support your local venues – but remember: Go early, go often and watch out for the snitches in your midst.
“More Killjoy Cromwell than Churchill” – The words of a Knightsbridge restaurant owner when asked about his views on Boris Johnson and his government’s 10pm curfew and new desire for a snitch culture.
Matthew Steeples suggests Jeffrey Epstein treated Ghislaine Maxwell like a “mother figure”
With unnamed commentators telling The Sun that Jeffrey Epstein was “initially funded by [the] tycoon Robert Maxwell” rather than, as has been generally suggested, Leslie Wexner, his relationship with the all-round figure of grubby ghastliness Ghislaine Maxwell begins to make a hell of a lot more sense.
Mucky madam Maxwell rather reminds me of a woman I know with an equally vast address book. This childless individual, known for stalking parties collecting business cards, has a devotion to her boss that is quite beyond putrid in its obviousness. She fawns on this frankly vile man as if he’s a God and one can see ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ bitch of a daughter treated evil Epstein in the very same manner.
With the woman I know, the ‘love’ goes completely unrequited and he, in fact, just treats her as the ultimate skivvy. With Ghislaine Maxwell, it was likely just the same with the one-time teacher turned megalomaniac utilising her clear ability to inveigle her way through society to further his deviant desires.
Jeffrey Epstein, however, plainly found ‘Mother Maxwell’ a dull lover and that is why their relationship, just like with the aforementioned Londoner I mention, never moved to marriage. Here, instead, was a woman whom this monster viewed to be the mother he never had.
Elsewhere on Twitter, “sex slave survivor” Kirby Sommers this morning tweeted: “Ghislaine worked for her father at his flagship paper The Daily Mirror, and was disliked by the employees for her “insufferable arrogance.” One of her father’s former secretaries complained: “She’d ask for a cigarette and walk off with the packet.”
Mother Maxwell – Ghislaine Maxwell treated both her father and Jeffrey Epstein as if they were God-like figures in her life. They respectively actually treated her like dirt, but that didn’t stop her worshiping these mendacious megalomaniacs.
As Britain likely moves into further lockdowns, drug dealers are changing the way they operate and communicate; they now bizarrely demand customers ask: “Is now a good time?”
IS NOW A GOOD TIME? – In June, Misha Glenny – the author of McMafia and a fellow at the Berggruen Institute – penned a fascinating article for the Guardian about how organised crime has had to adapt due to coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Glenny highlighted how it was “too risky for [drug] dealers to move around” in cities like London and how prices had risen as a result. He rather over generously suggested “criminals are humans too” and were “abiding by the rules [of lockdown],” but also pointed out that the growth in online crime had been accelerated by COVID-19.
In a series of WhatsApp messages seen recently by The Steeple Times between a reader who works in the financial services sector and a London based drug peddler, the way in which such people have changed the way they communicate with their “customers” was fascinatingly illustrated.
We share said criminal’s messages below and highlight how he now uses that devoid of utterly anything phrase “reaching out” to communicate with his customers via all means other than Sim phone calls and SMS messages. He begins:
I hope this message finds you well. Just reaching out to inform you that I have changed my number from (old number: +44XXXXXXXXX) to (new number: +44XXXXXXXXXXX). Please save new number as old one will soon be inactive. Please make contact on WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal only (no Sim phone calls or SMS messages please). And as always, when referring my services to friends/colleagues/family, please call/message me in advance to inform me that you have done or intend to do so. Please also kindly forward me their contact details. Apologies if you have already received this message from my previous broadcast. Thanks.
In a further message, said individual laid his “is now a good time?” message on thick and continued:
Thank you for using my service and thank you for your valued custom. Moving forward I want to lay out my terms and conditions. In order for you to receive the best service and customer care it is advisable that you abide by them. They are as follows:
I will be your main point of contact for any disputes/feedback.
When contacting me please remember to use WhatsApp only (unless I advise otherwise).
Please message only and don’t call unless I ask you to you to (very important).
The first message you send should always be “is now a good time?”
Don’t engage in further contact until you have had a response to the first message. This is for your safety.
If I am unavailable you will receive a message with clear instructions to follow. Please follow them.
I won’t allways [sic] be available to meet you in person, and in this event you will be allocated an alternative driver. However I cannot guarantee you will be allocated the same driver every occasion I am unavailable.
You will be able to request a particular driver if they are available.
Contact the driver through WhatsApp only, with the first message being “is now a good time?”
All drivers carry the same stock.
All of my products have a distinctive packaging/branding.
If product presentation/quality is not up to standard it means that it has probably been tampered with and in which case you should report back to me immediately.
Allways [sic] make your order clear to the driver and have cash ready before they depart.
When referring my services to friends/colleagues/family, please message me in advance to inform me that you have done or intend to do so. Please also kindly forward me their contact details. And remember to tell them to use WhatsApp only using the phrase “is now a good time?”
And last but not least, always treat the driver with the same respect you would expect to have reciprocated.
Once again thank you for your business and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.
Our typically middle class reader – someone astonishingly typical of the majority using cocaine in Britain and a member of a social group where abuse of this substance is more common than alcoholism – sensibly wrote back: “Now is NOT a good time” and ended the dialogue. Sadly, many others will act to the contrary and that’s what will keep this vile piece of toerag in business now and “allways” [sic].
Misha Glenny’s 2008 non-fiction book ‘McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld’ inspired the brilliant eight-chapter, 2018 BBC One series of the same name. A second eight-chapter series is due to be aired in due course.
