Tag: golf

The Mystery of Thomas H. Lee – Clinton-Epstein Conspiracy Theories Continue

Matthew Steeples examines whether the recent suicide by gunshot of “the envy of Wall Street” billionaire Thomas H. Lee was in any way linked to a clear association with Bill Clinton and a possible one with Jeffrey Epstein

Thomas H. Lee did not appear in the 95-page infamous ‘Little Black Book’ associated with Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell. Now, however, after his apparent ‘suicide’ this billionaire financier has not only described as “considerate, generous and unpretentious” and a “constant presence” in her life by Hillary Clinton, but also as having “links” to Jeffrey Epstein.

Sparking rumours of yet another example of the ‘Clinton Body Count’ – the much disputed conspiracy theory that as many as fifty people with close links to the Clintons have died in nefarious circumstances – Stephen M. Lepore for the DailyMail.com shared a photograph of Lee at a New York shindig with another billionaire named Robert Kraft and a couple named Glenn and Eva Dubin. Swedish Ms Andersson-Dubin dated Jeffrey Epstein prior to his 2008 conviction and continued to “socialise with [him] after his time in jail,” Bloomberg reported in 2019.

The 78-year-old Harvard graduate and founder of Lee Equity Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners was best known himself for having bought the soft drinks brand Snapple Beverages in 1992 for £112 million ($135 million, €127 million or درهم496 million) and sold it for a 334% profit to Quaker Oats for £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion, €1.6 billion or درهم6.2 billion) in 1994.

Known also for being an “avid art collector,” father of five Lee also served as a trustee of Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Brandeis University, Cardozo Law School at Yeshiva University, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Harvard University, the Intrepid Museum Foundation, NYU Medical Center, and Rockefeller University.

In a statement currently opening the homepage of their website, Lee Equity Partners shared:

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our Founder and Chairman, Thomas H. Lee. He was a great partner and wonderful friend whose vision will continue to influence us for many years to come.”

“Tom’s determination, commitment and strategic vision will continue to inspire all of us at Lee Equity Partners. He was a leader, a friend, a partner, and our mentor. We know he will be proud as the firm continues on, with strength. We will work every day to meet the high standards he has set for us and the entire industry. On behalf of our employees, management teams and investment partners, we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to his family.”

Clearly illustrating that something might be amiss in the financial community, a member of the Wall Street Oasis forum last week remarked of Lee’s death:

“Self-inflicted gunshot wound. Wonder if he knows something about the future…”

Another added: “Perhaps another private equity guy with Epstein connections about to get exposed.”

Going further on Monday, Fortune shared an article with the headline: “Thomas H. Lee’s sudden death shocks partners at his $3 billion private investment firm – with a $1 billion fundraise in the balance.”

For the publication, Dawn Lim and Amanda Gordon added:

“Since then, Lee Equity’s executives have been forced to confront a difficult moment. In at least one conversation, they discussed the importance of reassuring clients that there’s no connection between his death and Lee Equity’s financial health or fund performance.”

“Lee’s death has ushered in a new level of public attention for a shop that manages £2.5 billion ($3 billion, €2.8 billion or درهم11 billion) and doesn’t have a formal media-relations team. It also comes at a critical juncture for the 40-person firm, which is raising a £833 million ($X billion, €942 million or درهم3/7 billion) fund just as investors have become increasingly reluctant to part with their cash amid volatile markets. The firm has raised the vast majority of that fund, other people said.”

“The suicide also presents a test for key partners Mark Gormley, Benjamin Hochberg, Yoo Jin Kim and Joseph Rotberg. They’re among eight executives who climbed the ranks to take bigger leadership roles and steered the firm into financial services and health care.”

“Some investors have taken comfort in the fact that succession is largely complete, people said. They pushed for the firm to spread its wealth more evenly among partners and had sway in the years after the financial crisis, when buyout firms struggled to raise new money. Lee’s cut of the profits was less than 10% for the firm’s last fund.”

“In recent days, several institutions extended condolences and provided expressions of support to the firm. Investors such as Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. committed money to the new fund. The firm’s backers have said they hope Lee’s death doesn’t rattle new investors.”

Returning to the story of the mystery surrounding the supposed ‘suicide’ also by gun shot of Bill Clinton aide turned Jeffrey Epstein associate and wannabe “international deal-maker” Mark Middleton, speaking exclusively to The Steeple Times this morning, Shaun Attwood provided comment to follow up by our two articles this week by Kirby Sommers and Matthew Steeples. The author of Who Killed Epstein? Prince Andrew or Bill Clinton? shared:

“Yet another ‘suicide’ in a long line of suicides #ClintonBodyCount. No surprises here when it comes to the Machiavellian behaviour of the Clinton crime family who’ve left a trail of corpses behind them from Arkansas when Bill was governor to the White House. It is a trail that continues to this day with Jeffrey Epstein and Jean-Luc Brunel.”

Separately, in developing news about the possible move of the “simple shooting party” bestie of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that is Prince Andrew to Frogmore Cottage and possibly taking over Prince Harry and the former Meghan Markle’s home, Matthew Steeples and Shaun Attwood will be live at 7pm GMT on YouTube tonight to discuss this in the fourth episode of Meghan Markle Expose. Follow the link below to tune in.

Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

Follow Shaun Attwood on Twitter at @shaunattwood and purchase his book ‘Who Killed Epstein? Prince Andrew or Bill Clinton?’ by clicking here.

Pictured Top – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton enjoying a jolly on the golf course with Thomas H. Lee and enjoying a bit of a bash at the White House with the sex trafficking fiends Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Was the suicide of billionaire friend of Bill Clinton and financier Thomas H. Lee in any way connected to matters about financiers linked to Jeffrey Epstein? #ThomasHLee #ThomasLee #BillClinton #HillaryClinton #ClintonBodyCount #JeffreyEpstein #GhislaineMaxwell #EvaAnderson
— Matthew Steeples (@M_Steeples) March 3, 2023

This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Was the suicide of billionaire friend of Bill Clinton and financier Thomas H. Lee in any way connected to matters about financiers linked to Jeffrey Epstein?” He accompanied the feature with the hashtags #ThomasHLee #ThomasLee #BillClinton #HillaryClinton #ClintonBodyCount #JeffreyEpstein #GhislaineMaxwell #EvaAnderson. As of 11:30am on Friday 3^rd March, 50% of respondents favoured the option: “YES; Eva Andersson etc.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5RMKkC3pkE&list=PLPT_cCpNMvT50d_7cJ55ciKoZEY8q_YPt&index=7
To watch ‘Meghan Markle Expose – Part 4’ click this YouTube link. The 1 hour 15 minute episode first airs at 7pm GMT on Friday 3^rd March 2023. Issues covered primarily focus on the ‘FORGXIT’ saga of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Frogmore Cottage, but there is also discussion of Prince Andrew and his grifting wife, Sarah, Duchess of York – a woman who has still never confirmed if she repaid the loans she so disgracefully took from the since croaked paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Lee’s body was found in a bathroom at his office at 767 Fifth Avenue, New York at around 11am on 23rd February. The 78-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after. A “family friend and spokesperson” named Michael Sitrick later shared: “While the world knew him as one of the pioneers in the private equity business and a successful businessman, we knew him as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, sibling, friend and philanthropist who always put others’ needs before his own.” Just prior to the time of his passing, ‘Forbes’ estimated his worth at £1.7 billion ($2 billion, €1.9 billion or درهم7.3 billion).

The now deceased billionaire (second left) partying with the billionaire businessman CEO of the Kraft Group Bob Kraft, the billionaire hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin and his “allegedly racy” wife Dr Eva Andersson-Dubin. Back in April 2022, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured the story of neighbours of the “decidedly dubious Dubins” slashing the price of their Upper East Side apartment from £25.1 million to £21.2 million. Of this news, a New York realtor told us: “1040 Fifth Avenue certainly has a perky past, but whilst Jackie Kennedy and Generoso Pope Jr. were unlikely bedfellows when they both lived there at the same time, the stench of the Epstein-Maxwell connections of Glenn, Eva and Celina Dubin is actually very off-putting to buyers. Who on earth would want to live next to them? It’s no wonder no one is biting-at-the-bit to snap up the apartment currently on offer and I can only suggest the sellers perhaps put off marketing until these two social misfits move off elsewhere.”

In February 2021, ‘The Steeple Times’ shared an exclusive story courtesy of information supplied by the crusading author of ‘Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography’ Kirby Sommers concerning Glenn and Eva Dubin. In it, we featured pictures of the vile paedophile Jeffrey Epstein with one of the couple’s daughters on his lap on his notorious sex trafficking private jet. We titled the article: ‘PLANE PERVERTED.’

The house Mr Lee – who went by the self-assigned nickname ‘Tomcat’ as he believed he had “nine different lives” – shared with his second wife Ann Tenenbaum in East Hampton, New York. Of it, the ‘New York Post’ observed: “‘He was regarded as having one of the most admired houses in the Hamptons – Bill and Hillary Clinton were frequent guests, they would regularly stay there,’ the source told ‘The Post.’ The Clintons famously holed up at Lee’s East Hampton pad after the bruising 2008 Democratic primary. ‘He was a regular at Maidstone golf club,’ also, the source noted.”

Both Hillary Clinton and her husband attended the New York funeral service for Brooklyn born Thomas Haskell Lee (27th March 1944 – 23rd February 2023) on Monday 1st March 2023 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Remarking, Hillary Clinton commented: “Tom was a constant presence. “We’ve shared births and weddings and anniversaries, state dinners at the White House, lively parties from New York City to Martha’s Vineyard to the Hamptons during good times and tough ones. We’re here expressing our gratitude for years as friends, as colleagues and certainly as family members for his long, successful life.” Mr Lee leaves five children – Jesse, Zach, Nathan, Robbie and Rosalie as well as Ann Tenenbaum, the second wife he married in 1996.

Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein and President Bill Clinton at the White House on 29th September 1993. Allegations that Clinton and Maxwell had sexual liaisons that became a full-blown affair have abounded, but remain unconfirmed by either party Equally, Epstein and Clinton travelled together on multiple occasions and clearly shared a mutual liking for young girls also. The former POTUS was most certainly advised about the derelict and deviant actions of the nefarious former taxi driver turned financier, yet conveniently chose to ignore such and to instead accept the dirty devil’s dollar.

March 3, 2023
A £5m Roofless Ruin

Fire damaged Wimbledon house with half its roof missing goes on sale for the staggering sum of £5 million; is this Britain’s most expensive roofless wreck?

In June 2015, The Steeple Times featured the sale of a repossessed 15,453 square foot house in Cumbria without any protection from the elements. At the time, its punchy £3 million ($4.1 million, €3.5 million or درهم15.2 million) price tag seemed ludicrous, but now we can ‘rain on its parade’ as it has ‘lost its eaves’ to a £5 million ($6.9 million, €5.8 million or درهم25.4 million) house in Drax Avenue, West Wimbledon currently for sale.

Britain’s now likely most expensive wreck without a roof comes in the form of a 5,000 square foot detached house – which, surprisingly is “locally listed” and thus cannot just be flattened – on a plot of one acre backing onto the Royal Wimbledon golf course.

The “period” property lost half its first floor and half its roof on 10^th January 2018 when it caught fire. It took six fire engines and thirty-five firefighters just over two hours to bring the blaze under control, according to the Wimbledon Guardian.

James Morrison of selling agents Savills is anything but despondent about the future prospects for this currently not-so-regal residence. In typically bullish realtor fashion, he seizes an exclamation mark and begins: “[This is] a simply exceptional opportunity!”

Continuing Morrison gushes: “The house requires extensive refurbishment throughout. However, there is plenty of scope to extend and renovate this wonderful period property.”

Aside from “well balanced living and entertaining space across three floors with a central galleried stairwell” – and presumably a lot of charring and ingressed water damage, there is also an overgrown garden, weed infested swimming pool and a currently derelict tennis court.

Buyers will no doubt be flocking round the block to move in time for the Wimbledon Championships 2021, which starts on 28^th June.

OTHER WRECKS WITHOUT A ROOF PREVIOUSLY FEATURED IN ‘THE STEEPLE TIMES’

The Lilymere Estate, Killington, Cumbria, England

Featured when offered as repossession from a disgraced and struck-off solicitor in June 2015, this lacking shelter from the elements, potentially 8-bedroom, house came with a price tag of £3 million ($4.1 million, €3.5 million or درهم15.2 million) and 1,530 acres of land.

Of the estate, at the time, another overly optimistic estate agent, Andrew Black, also of Savills, mused: “An awful lot has been invested in it and what has been done has been done to a high standard. You can see what the vision was but they never got to complete it.”

“It needs someone with the vision and the resources to finish it. Within reason, they’ve essentially got a blank canvas to put their own decorative style on. It is a one-off and a special place but it will be a challenge and require further investment.”

Muness Castle, Island of Unst, Scotland

Offered for auction in April 2021 for just £130,000 ($179,000, €151,000 or درهم659,000), this Grade A-listed castle came with with cottages, barony title, gold and copper reserves and 240 acres of land. It was bizarrely subsequently put up for auction again with just 160 acres of land a few days later after apparently selling for £184,000 ($254,000, €214,000 or درهم933,000).

Knockhall Castle, Newburgh, Aberdeen, Scotland

Also priced at £130,000 ($179,000, €151,000 or درهم659,000) when placed on the market in August 2017, this shell dates to 1565 and stands near the Trump International Golf Links course. The B-listed structure was accidentally burnt to the ground by Jamie Fleming, “a servant fool” of the then owners, the Udny of that Ilk family, in 1734.

MORE IMAGES OF THE £5,000,000 DRAX AVENUE, WIMBLEDON, LONDON, SW20 0EH WRECK CURRENTLY ON SALE

Seen from the rear, the damage to the roof is more extensive than it appears from the front of the building.

From this angle, the front doesn’t look quite so bad.

An aerial view of the setting shows neighbouring houses undergoing alterations also.

The one acre plot has become somewhat neglected since the January 2018 fire and a former tennis court is now nothing but a ruin.

The current condition of the swimming pool makes the one at Katie Price’s ‘mucky mansion’ look decidedly desirable.

A lawnmower is definitely required.

An aerial view of the wrecked house on Drax Avenue in otherwise ritzy West Wimbledon and its environs illustrates the degree of work required to fix up this property to liveable conditions. Beyond the somewhat punchy £5 million price tag, any purchaser will have to shell out a fortune for a lot more beyond just roof tiles.

June 20, 2021
Missing Maddie & Another Crackpot Clairvoyant

Crackpot clairvoyant Michael Schneider claims he’s found the location of Madeleine McCann’s body; he remarkably did so with Google Maps, his fingers and the help of God (according to the ‘Mirror’)

When the British government is in a mess – the current case being whether the 21^st June ‘unlockdown’ will actually occur due to the ever-increasing prevalence of the Indian variant of coronavirus – they encourage the reeling out of another senseless story about ‘disappeared’ Madeleine McCann.

After sharing a “nothing new” story in late May and an irrelevant “we won’t be getting a verdict until the end of the year” in the legal battle between the child’s parents and Goncalo Amaral last week, today the Mirror returned to the fray with an utterly preposterous “exclusive.”

Sharing suggestions from a clairvoyant – yes, you read it correct, a crackpot clairvoyant – named Michael Schneider, the paper reported that the BKA, “Germany’s equivalent of the FBI,” are “appropriately incorporating” his belief that ‘Missing Maddie’ is “buried in a forest just six miles where she vanished… into their work.”

Schneider argues he “does not give out such information lightly,” yet then laughably explained: “I look at a photo of the missing person and ask myself upwards towards God whether this living being is alive or dead.”

Continuing, this clearly off-his-merry-rocker 50-year-old fruitcake then added:

“After that I take an atlas or a road map and look at large areas superficially. Afterwards at Google Maps and Earth. Then I let my fingers and my eyes circle over these maps until they stop on a spot and mark it.”

Elsewhere, the MailOnline shared their thoughts on the development and declared:

“He isn’t the first clairvoyant to claim supernatural powers have helped him pinpoint Madeleine’s location. Nine years ago, detectives studied 100 logs from psychics that were previously ignored and termed ‘a waste of resources.’”

“And in 2017, the family were hit by a cruel hoax after Susan Kelly demanded payment from the family as she claimed to know ‘the truth’ about Madeleine’s whereabouts.”

Responding to Schneider’s plainly nothing but a publicity prank prattling, the frankly utterly useless German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters witlessly warbled:

“Several psychics have responded to our call for help in the past year and offered assistance. In some cases, we also received concrete tips. We do not ignore them, but we are cautious.”

On Twitter, members of the public called out this claptrap for what it truly is. One user named Eli remarked: “There’s a sucker born every minute” whilst another concluded: “If you wish to know where Madeleine McCann is… ask Kate and Gerry.”

Going further and echoing our previous sentiments about the total misallocation of £13.5 million to a case that plainly isn’t going to get solved whilst neglecting to support the families of other missing people, one David Osland shared an image of another child who went missing and quite rightly asked: “Any reason this poor boy didn’t get the same priority as Madeleine McCann?”

Pictured top: Michael Schneider (left) and Gerry McCann with an image of his ‘missing’ daughter, Madeleine McCann – a child supposedly ‘taken’ on the 3^rd May 2007 after she and her siblings were left alone in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Living it Large – Gerry MccCann enjoying a round of golf (left); Kate McCann at Downing Street, London hobnobbing with Missing People CEO Martin Houghton-Brown, the Duchess of Gloucester and the then Home Secretary Theresa May on 23rd May 2012 (right).

The ‘MailOnline’ shared that the location former TV reporter turned clairvoyant Michael Schneider believes where Madeleine McCann’s body is buried is just six miles from where she ‘vanished’ in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. They added: “[He] has told police officers the ‘exact co-ordinates’ of the spot he believes the youngster’s body can be found in a fresh blow to the McCann family… His clairvoyance technique includes looking at photographs of a missing person and asking God ‘whether this living being is alive or dead,’ before turning to atlases and Google Maps until they ‘stop on a spot.’”

Twitter reactions to Michael Schneider’s batshit bonkers claims…

June 6, 2021
The World’s Worst McMansion – It’s So Bad, It’s Good

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

November 2020 – For sale for £1.65 million ($2,199,999, €1.86 million or درهم8.08 million) with Robert DeFalco Realty Inc.

May 2008 – For sale for £1.353 million ($1.799 million, €1.518 million or درهم6.607 million), an increase of 480.3% on the previous sale price.

July 1999 – Sold for £233,000 ($310,000, €262,000 or درهم1.1 million), a most curious reduction of a further 59% within just six months.

January 1999 – Current 5,240 square foot, 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom property sold for £569,300 ($756,900, €638,500 or درهم2.8 million).

1998 – Current property built on a plot of 2.77 acres.

July 1997 – Sold for £2.39 million ($3.18 million, €2.68 million or درهم11.68 million), an increase of 1,490% on the previous sale price.

September 1996 – Sold for £150,000 ($200,000, €169,000 or درهم735,000).

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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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4rCvU_1xjY

November 23, 2020
Only Fools and Golf Cabriolets

1987 Volkswagen Golf cabriolet – nicknamed ‘Rodney’ – previously owned by ‘Only Fools and Horses’ actor Sir David Jason to be auctioned; sadly, of it, even Del Boy couldn’t claim: “Just one lady owner from new”

Del Boy’s Golf cabriolet – An alpine white 1987 Volkswagen Golf GTI Karmann convertible purchased for Sir David Jason’s late partner, Myfanwy Talog, is to be auctioned later this month, It was subsequently owned by his manager, Sidney Law, and then by his children’s godfather, John Williams.

Unlike the vehicle most associated with the character most famously played by Sir David, the custard yellow Reliant Regal van driven by Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, the Golf cabriolet that will be hammered down is described as “in sparkling condition, patently cherished and almost certainly a best of breed.”

Sir David Jason and his late partner Myfanwy Talog (1944 – 1995).

Del Boy was himself best known for driving a Reliant Regal three wheeler van in the series. There are many replicas, but the original vehicle used by the BBC was sold for £42,000 ($55,000, €47,000 or درهم203,000) in November 2017.

Prior to becoming famous Sir David Jason used to joke: “One day, one day I’m going to have a Rolls-Royce.” In Only Fools and Horses, he eventually got one complete with the plate ‘1 DEL.’

Boycie, played by John Challis in the series, bought a Jaguar E-Type in the second ever episode of Only Fools and Horses in 1981. Of this birthday gift for his “bit on the side,” he stated: “It’s only E-Type Jaguars and Adam Peaty that makes me proud to be British these days.” In May 2013, interviewed in ‘The Steeple Times,’ Challis stated his personal preference for Aston Martin DB4s.

When sold in December 2017, the Golf cabriolet offered this month came with various documentation including a file that stated its nickname as ‘Rodney’ alongside a quote that read: “This car has a longstanding association with David Jason and his family – naturally we call him ‘Rodney.’”

Sold for £17,820 ($23,439, €19,739 or درهم86,080) in December 2017 by Classic Car Auctions Everyman Classics and by Cotswold Classic Car Restorations on another occasion, the car – which was one of just 138 examples produced as part of Volkswagen’s limited edition all-white series – has just under 22,000 miles on the clock.

Silverstone Auctions will offer the car with an estimate of £18,000 to £22,000 ($23,700 to $28,900, €19,900 to €24,400 or درهم86,900 to درهم106,300) at their NEC Classic Live online auction on Saturday 14^th November 2020.

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In ‘Only Fools and Horses,’ Del Boy was prepared to trade anything – dodgy cars included. “Only one previous owner, a vicar” and “only left his bible in the glove compartment” were amongst the lines in this classic clip.

November 8, 2020
Outing Randy Andy

Will ‘Randy Andy’ the Duke of York erupt in anger with the outing of the depositions of Ghislaine Maxwell this morning? Could this be the non-sweater’s last stand?

The Duke of York will no doubt be glued to his computer screen at 9am Eastern Daylight Time (2pm Greenwich Mean Time) today as this is the hour that the bombshell depositions mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell tried to keep secret will be released to the public.

Like Gordon Brown, ‘Randy Andy’ might erupt in fury and chuck a coffee cup at his device when the transcripts appear and according to author Nigel Cawthorne, this could be the latest “severe blow” that will forever stop this notoriously temperamental golf loving sort’s attempts to return to conducting royal duties.

In comments yesterday to the Express, Cawthorne remarked:

“The decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Second Circuit to deny Prince Andrew’s close friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s request to keep the remaining unpublished depositions under seal has dealt a severe blow to the prince’s return to the frontline of the royal family.”

“The detailed questions to Maxwell regarding any involvement in Epstein’s sex ring and her answers will once again cast the spotlight on the promise the prince made almost a year ago on BBC Newsnight to assist the FBI with its investigations into Epstein’s associates.”

With this outing, could this be Randy Andy’s last stand? In spite of Richard Kay declaring his “fall” to be “complete” in July, we think not (quite yet), but it most certainly will be another body blow for this non-sweating Pizza Express fan.

Pictured top: Prince Andrew turning to look back at Ghislaine Maxwell at the wedding of Aurelia Cecil and Rupert Stephenson in 2000. The pair may well have to look at one another one day in a court room… Stranger things have indeed happened.

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Outing Randy Andy – Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein during a shooting weekend hosted by Prince Andrew at Sandringham. Today’s document release could be yet another body blow for the royal.

Outing Randy Andy – Prince Andrew’s live-in ex-wife Sarah Ferguson with Ghislaine Maxwell. It is still not known whether ‘Fergie’ ever repaid the money ‘loaned’ to her by the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

October 22, 2020
Bombshell Bill

“Bombshell revelation” about Bill Clinton dining with Ghislaine Maxwell after she was first accused is a signal he’s likely headed under the bus

Whilst Piers Morgan quite rightly slammed the fact the £15,848 of taxpayers’ money was spent transporting Prince Andrew in a private jet to a golf course as “a disgusting abuse of our money” this morning, news that Bill Clinton had an “intimate dinner” with Ghislaine Maxwell after she was first accused of involvement in sexual abuse is equally outrageous.

Described widely as a “bombshell revelation,” Clinton has neither confirmed nor denied dining with the mucky madam at the Crossroads Kitchen vegan restaurant on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles in 2014.

Speaking to the Daily Beast, one “friend” of Clinton shared that “claims of Maxwell’s involvement [in abuse] were known to [his] staffers in 2011, when the Daily Mail reported on survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who said Epstein and Maxwell trafficked her to Prince Andrew when she was 17. The report included a photograph of the British royal posing with Giuffre at Maxwell’s London home. In the picture, Maxwell smiles in the background as Andrew grips Giuffre’s bare waist.”

The friend then tellingly added:

“It’s always someone else’s fault, it’s always not true. [The Clintons are] always fighting against the reporting and not that they did it. That’s the problem.”

Elsewhere, other unnamed associates of Maxwell have been telling anyone willing to listen that she will not be “selling out” Prince Andrew, but hint that she will be “naming other big names.” Aside from the allegation of an affair between the former president and ‘Bouncing Bob’s’ daughter that continues to circulate, the repeated denial of visits to Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Paedo Island’ – when plenty of sources claim otherwise – is actually doing Clinton no favours.

Just as with his “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” line of defence back in January 1998, Clinton increasingly comes across as someone willing to lie his way out of trouble. Sadly for him, he lay down with dogs in the form of Epstein and Maxwell and now it seems his activities with these fleas are coming back to bite him in the bum.

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Bombshell Bill – Bill Clinton has travelled on private jets with Ghislaine Maxwell, he has dined with her, he has received largesse and donations from her and she even attended his daughter’s wedding.

Bombshell Bill – Piers Morgan quite rightly called out the amount spent flying Prince Andrew to watch a gold championship this morning, but in response some Twitter users highlighted his own links to the mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBe_guezGGc

September 25, 2020
A £1 Million Shooting Brake

Quirky Aston Martin DB6 Vantage shooting brake goes to auction with a reserve of just under £1 million

1966 is best remembered as the year that England won the World Cup, but now someone with very deep pockets has the chance to acquire one of that year’s finest vintage cars.

Offered by Bonhams at the Quail motorcar auction in Los Angeles, California on 14^th August with an estimate of £780,000 to £930,000 ($1 million to $1.2 million, €850,000 to €1 million or درهم3.7 million to درهم4.4 million), an Aston Martin DB6 Vantage shooting brake is one of only six ever built by Harold Radford.

Commissioned new for a gentleman realtor named Middleton George Charles Train – “Middy” to his mates – the example offered suited its owners passions for duck hunting and golf. With its commodious boot, the car most certainly provided ample space to accommodate clubs and guns and in addition the vehicle features the “novelty” of a Webasto sun roof and a luggage rack on the roof.

Trimmed with Connolly blue-grey leather and painted in black, the car has covered 50,000 miles and is offered from the estate of its second owner, one David L. Van Schaick. He acquired the car in October 1976 and “used it sporadically” and as a result Bonhams describe the vehicle as “running well” and “in remarkably good order for its age.”

They add: “[This car is] an absolute magnet for people of all ages, from the ‘cognoscenti’ to the ‘innocenti,’ the phrase ‘that’s cool’ [is] the most common way to describe it.”

Elsewhere, the £1.25 million ($1.63 million, €1.39 million or درهم5.99 million) 2012 Aston Martin Jet 2+2 shooting brake we featured in December 2019 has been reduced in price to £800,000 ($1 million, €888,000 or درهم3.8 million).

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August 10, 2020
Runners & Riders – Powering Up Pinatubo

‘The Steeple Times’ joins in sharing the delight about the return of racing and looks forward to Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas; Pinatubo is the ‘obvious option’ but we also rather like Mums Tipple

Lauded as the “wonder horse who can bring some joy back to a nation starved of sport” by the Daily Mail’s Marcus Townend, “pugnacious colt” Pinatubo is the Godolphin horse that will likely delight at the “first major sporting event in Britain” in months, the 2,000 Guineas on Saturday at Newmarket. Ridden by William Buick and the 10/11 favourite, here is a horse that is “hard to oppose” on the Rowley Mile.

Sadly but sensibly being held “behind closed doors,” the race – which ITV’s anchor Ed Chamberlain suggests “will have a larger audience than any recent 2,000 Guineas with people desperate for sport” – the “second best in the field” according to the Mirror is the Oisin Murphy – Andrew Balding combo Kameko at 7/1. Of this Qatar Racing owned beauty, Sporting Life’s Simon Holt remarks: “A formidable rival… Should see this out strongly with the promise that he may stay a mile and a quarter.”

Taking a bit more of a punt, we at The Steeple Times, however, would also suggest (excuse the pun) raising a glass to an each way on the Sean Levey and Richard Hannon’s Mums Tipple at 33/1. A “runaway winner” at York’s Ebor meeting where he “literally took everybody’s breath away,” the Mirror go as far as suggesting this outsider as having “plenty of pace.”

Happy racing.

Trainer Charlie Appleby on his much fancied horse, Pinatubo:

Speaking to the Daily Mail:

“Pinatubo’s main asset is that he is the ultimate professional. Any sportsman at the top, you generally do not see them fretting going into a champion competition whatever it is, boxing or golf.”

“Those cool, calm customers are the ones that often turn up with their ‘A’ game and channel their positivity into the swing of the club or the punch of the glove.”

“Pinatubo has a great mind. He turns up and knows that, once those starting gates open, it is game on. He is not a horse who lights you up in the mornings.”

“We went to Wolverhampton [for his debut last year] for that reason. If we thought he was going to be the horse he has turned out to be, we would probably have turned up in a Newmarket maiden.”

“He is a well-balanced colt. He showed his true attributes last season, taking in some of the most challenging tracks in Britain at Epsom, Goodwood and Newmarket – and he has strengthened over the winter. He has met every challenge we have set him so far.”

Speaking to the Guardian:

“I’m delighted with what Pinatubo has done through the winter. He does what he needs to at home, but most importantly he looks great and physically he has done well and I can’t be any happier with him going into the weekend.”

“We are all trying our best to have hopefully a superstar like he was last year going into his three-year-old career. The sport needs him at this time, and what a time for a potential superstar to turn up.”

Speaking to the Evening Standard:

“One of his key attributes is he’s very laid back, nothing fazes him… I don’t want to sound too confident, but he’s pleasing us. He looks great.”

3.35pm – Newmarket, Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes (Group 1)

Runners – 15; Prize Money – £250,000

Pictured top: Pinatubo, the horse that has attracted most of the pre-race focus.

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As horse racing returns “with a bang,” Pinatubo is expected to win the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday 6th June 2020 in “eerie silence.” The ‘Racing Post’ note: “Pinatubo could be a superstar, but is opposable at the prices.”

“Sensational” Mums Tipple might throw a spanner in the works, but is trying a mile for the first time. He “could find it too far with all his early speed” some suggest.

June 5, 2020
The Murky McCann Milieu

Former lead investigator in Madeleine McCann case predicted latest development involving German paedophile in April 2019; he suggested the man would be made a “scapegoat” by Scotland Yard

Amongst all the hubbub of the last 24 hours surrounding the “identification of a German sex offender as the key suspect” in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it has been conveniently forgotten that the former lead detective in the case, Goncalo Amaral, predicted such a development back in April 2019.

With nearly £12 million of public money spent on this case thus far, an ending – happy or otherwise – would bring closure for all involved. Yet, with British cops again recently grubbing around for yet more funding, this actually not so new ‘development’ actually could instead be primarily about helping that endeavour.

In April last year, Amaral – who had focused his inquiries onto a German paedophile without success in 2008 – told Australia’s News 9 (through an interpreter):

“Scotland Yard are preparing the end of the case. They are going to a use a German paedophile who is in jail in Germany at this time. He is going to be the scapegoat for it. I don’t how they will start it, but that will be the big ending. This will be the conclusion of the case.”

Significantly, Scotland Yard and the mainstream media seem to have now forgotten all about this.

The police have yet to explain the actual significance of photographs of a 1980s Volkswagen T3 Westfalia campervan and a 1993 Jaguar XJR6.

The car hired by the McCanns also remains a bit of a mystery. In 2008, it was revealed that “one of them had later removed the carpet from the boot compartment in order to scrub it clean.” The boot had been “left open for several days” also.

More significantly, shared on ‘The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann’ Facebook page last month is this photograph illustrating the distribution of blood spots in the sitting room of the holiday apartment where the McCann family were staying in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. Elsewhere, analysis of the setting highlights that tiles in the room were later removed by persons unknown.

Missing Madeleine – Questions STILL without Answers

Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked”from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?

Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared?

Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?

Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?

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June 4, 2020