The richest self-made woman in the UK paid herself £217 million in 2016 and is said to have a personal fortune of circa £3.17 billion. A former betting shop cashier, Denise Coates purchased the domain Bet365.com in 2000 and has since grown the operation into one of the world’s largest online gambling companies. A Sheffield University graduate and the daughter of the chairman of Stoke City F.C., this incredibly successful business titan is nicknamed ‘The Patron of the Potteries’ for employing a large number of people in Stoke-on-Trent. She lives surprisingly modestly with her husband and five children in a farmhouse in Cheshire.
Tag: November 2017
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Warped Walker vs. Magnificent Markle
Kushner-Trump mouthpiece Andre Walker’s attack on Meghan Markle was an utter disgrace; it is time that this warped weirdo was called out for what he truly is
Unsurprisingly yesterday, the self-declared “fat Northern bruiser” turned Jared Kushner’s London based mouthpiece Andre Walker appeared on Sky News to defend Donald Trump’s “right” to retweet far right fake news shared by Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, slug-like Walker – an extremely sad excuse of a man who’ll forever be linked to his associations with the scandal linked to the ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke, the suicide of a Conservative activist named Elliott Johnson and his previous position at Steve Bannon’s bigoted Breitbart – decided to brand Prince Harry’s fiancée “a black woman in Buckingham Palace… [who] will have to bite her lip rather than supporting her old acting friends in the causes they love” in an article for the Kushner owned New York Observer.
Going further and referencing those describing Meghan Markle as “just another Hollywood liberal who will speak out on a few issues she cares about while ignoring the needs of the country,” Walker argued “she will face the merciless wrath of the British public” over having once tweeted “lamenting the resignation of David Cameron as Prime Minister” and declaring her “opposition to Brexit.”
Bizarrely referencing how “no one wants another Royal [sic] divorce” and stating: “After all, she did not make her first marriage work,” truly negative Walker plainly illustrated his belief that this is a union that will not last. He bizarrely also concluded: “In their first television interview [Prince Harry and Miss Markle]… It felt like the two of them had been sent to remind the world that the British Royals [sic] like all black people, especially the ones they rule!” He is wrong and the world should celebrate the fact that Prince Harry is to marry Meghan Markle, a lady of conviction and stature.
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Meghan Markle shared an image of a poster that read: “If EU leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me” after the Brexit referendum in Britain in July 2016 -
Sisters in Shock
Jack Monroe’s analysis of Katie Hopkins’s supposed “sacking” by the ‘Mail Online’ illustrates just one thing: The pair are actually virtually the same and simply ‘Sisters in Shock’
Yesterday, in a column for The Guardian, the self-opinionated, self-serving know-all Jack Monroe (sometimes a woman, sometimes ‘Gender X’ and sometimes no gender at all) shared her views about her equally bombastic adversary, Katie Hopkins, leaving the Mail Online in the wake of the paper having to pay libel damages to a school teacher named Jackie Teale.
In her words, Monroe, in spite of claiming “[Hopkins’s] sacking is nothing to celebrate” and admitting “I have been nasty on the Internet,” provides illustration yet again of her true character. Here, in suggesting Hopkins is “deemed too much” for even Mail Online readers and claiming she, herself, “take[s] responsibility for [her] words, and try to be better,” Monroe just illustrates that there two women are exactly the same and motivated by one thing only – the next pay cheque for their outrageous words.
#GetARoomGirls
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The Stars of Beel
Neglected Georgian mansion that has been home to Sir Dirk Bogarde, Basil Dearden, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Matt Aitken and Robert Kilroy-Silk for sale for 39% less than it sold for in 2014
A dilapidated Grade II* listed country house whose extensive roster of owners numbers aristocrats, rock and film stars and politicians is on sale for £3.95 million or 39% less from the £6.5 million sum it sold for in 2014.
Built for the Duke of Buckingham in the 1600s and extending to 10,743 square foot, Beel House in Little Chalfont, near Amersham in Buckinghamshire stands in 13.5 acres of land. It comprises of a 7 reception room, 8 bedroom, 6 bathroom main house and also comes with an indoor swimming pool complex, a tennis court and garaging for 5 cars.
Home to The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish in the 1830s and Colonel Abram ‘Arthur’ Lyle of the Tate & Lyle dynasty from 1909 to 1920, Beel House was bought by the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde in a “dilapidated state” in 1954. Of discovering it, Bogarde, who had been renting a cottage in the close vicinity on the Bendrose Estate, stated:
“[The actress Kay Kendall and I] walked across muddy fields from my rented home to look at Beel House. It was a horror. Bleak and empty, few of its twenty-six rooms caught the sun, and the garden surrounding it was a tangle of overgrown rosebeds. Inside it seemed a labyrinth of corridors and stone passages. It was painted throughout in dejected yellow and brown and each room had a rusty gas fire in it.”
Bogarde made significant changes to the building and pulled down a wing of 11 rooms. In their place, he built a swimming pool and a 30-foot long conservatory in the grounds – which Kay Kendall later described as looking like “an out patients’ department” – and it seems he spent several happy years there. He moved to another property nearby named Drummer’s Yard in 1960 and sold Beel House to Basil Dearden, the director of The Assassination Bureau, Khartoum and The Man Who Haunted Himself.
An aerial photo of Beel House, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9QP, United Kingdom 
Images of the exterior of Beel House in the 1950s 
Actor Anthony Forwood, Sir Dirk Bogarde’s eventual “life partner,” at Beel House with his dogs Sinuhe and Bogie; Sir Dirk Bogarde in his study at the house 
Sir Dirk Bogarde outside Beel House with one of many Rolls-Royces he owned and inside on the house’s main staircase 
Film director Basil Dearden, owner of Beel House between 1960 and 1966, worked with Sir Dirk Bogarde on the controversial film ‘Victim’ in 1961; it was the first English language film to use the word “homosexual” and of it one Italian critic remarked: “At last the British have stopped being hypocrites” Dearden sold up in 1966 and the next famous owners were Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. It was whilst here that Mr Osbourne “decided to murder his wife” and of the ensuing incident on 3rd September 1989, the Amersham Museum’s website reports:
“Ozzy Osbourne put the house up for sale after he had been arrested for the attempted murder of his wife whilst living at Beel House. After taking a cocktail of drugs and drinking heavily during a family meal at the Chinese restaurant at Nightingales Corner he attacked his wife and was subsequently arrested. He had no memory of the attack but the conditions of his bail were that he entered a rehab centre, did not contact his wife and did not return to Beel House.”
Marketed for £1.75 million in 1991, unsurprisingly Sharon Osbourne, herself, did not have much positive to say about her time at Beel House either. In her 2006 autobiography, Extreme, she remarked:
“I decided I wanted to go back to England. By this time we had already sold Beel House. I had enough bad memories not to be too sorry to see it go. Also it had reached what the builder called the domino point: mending one thing only triggered something else that needed to be done.”
Ozzy Osbourne, photographed by Conrad Rickenbacker, sitting on his four poster bed at Beel House in the 1980s 
Images of Beel House during the ownership of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne (photographs by Conrad Rickenbacker) 
Robert Kilroy-Silk at Beel House prior to his appearance on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here’ in November 2008 
The house as furnished by Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife Jan Beech, circa 2014 Matt Aitken, the composer of chart toppers for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama, supposedly lived at Beel House for a period subsequently and in the 1990s, the property was sold to the “exotically handsome man, with a very un-English facial glow and ice blue eyes” Robert Kilroy-Silk and his wife, Jan Beech.
Controversial television personality Mr Kilroy-Silk, an MP from 1974 to 1986 and an MEP from 2004 to 2009, brought with him a herd of fallow deer as well as Vietnamese pheasants and bantams to Beel House. He lived between there and his home in Spain and then sold up for the staggering sum of £6.5 million in 2014 to an “international buyer” who, according to Country Life’s Penny Churchill, immediately found “it ‘surplus to requirements’ and put it straight back on the market” through Savills.
Of the estate, which by then had been for sale for three years, in October 2017, then selling agent Hugh Maconochie told the Bucks Free Press:
“In many respects Beel House is the archetypal country residence: a Grade II* listed home in the heart of the Chilterns, beautiful grounds and easy access to London by both rail and road. Yet, while it was completely refurbished in the 1980s – new garaging, games block and swimming pool complex included – its current state necessitates a complete restoration project.”
“For those seeking a country residence to move straight into, Beel House is not the home for them. Instead it would appeal to a buyer looking to restore and revive a Georgian gem. A reduction in price over the years reflects the refurbishment that’s required.”
Empty and plainly somewhat neglected, Edward Welton of Knight Frank’s Baker Street office is now marketing the property. His firm describes Beel House as: “An exciting opportunity for a full restoration project, giving someone the chance to create their own style on a private estate, so close to London.”
Beel House – The Names and Numbers
November 2017 – Further reduced to just £3.95 million ($5.29 million, €4.47 million or درهم19.44 million) through Knight Frank.
January 2017 – Reduced to £4.95 million ($6.63 million, €5.61 million or درهم24.37 million) through Savills.
November 2015 – For sale again for £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) through Savills.
2014 – Sold to “an international buyer” by Robert Kilroy-Silk for “close to” the £6.5 million ($8.7 million, €7.4 million or درهم32 million) asking price.
June 1991 – For sale for £1.75 million (the equivalent of £3.45 million, $4.62 million, €3.91 million or درهم16.98 million today).
October 1989 – Placed for sale by media personalities Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne.
1966 – Placed on the market by Basil Dearden for £66,000 (the equivalent of £1.1 million, $1.5 million, €1.2 million or درهم5.4 million today).
Circa 1960 – Sold to film director Basil Dearden (1911 – 1971).
January 1954 – Sold to actor Sir Dirk Bogarde (1921 – 1999) for £4,000 (the equivalent of £101,000, $135,000, €114,000 or درهم497,000 today).
1836 to 1954 – Part of the estate of the Lowndes family, largescale landowners in the Chesham, Buckinghamshire area. During this time tenants included The Hon. Lady Caroline Cavendish and from 1909 to 1920 by Colonel Abram Lyle (of the Tate & Lyle dynasty).
1730 – Valued at £500 (the equivalent of £99,000, $133,000, €112,000 or درهم487,000 today) by Sun Insurance whilst home to Thomas White of Middle Temple.
1672 to 1682 – Home to Mary Pennington, the mother-in-law of the Quaker founder of the State of Pennsylvania, William Penn.
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The Harem Saloon
1931 Bentley Tourer nicknamed ‘The Harem Saloon’ because of its first owner’s penchant for taking spins with his lady friends for sale for £1.15 million
A 1931 8-litre Bentley Tourer that got the nickname ‘The Harem Saloon’ because it was first used by a Chinese Mau owner to take his girlfriends to the races in Singapore is on sale at a price of £1.15 million ($1.54 million, €1.30 million or درهم5.67 million).
The magnificent machine, which was subsequently kept in a mine during the Second World War and then eventually rebodied as a gentleman’s tourer in 2002, retains its original bonnet and scuttle but has effectively been completely rebuilt.
Described as having “very good long legs on the motorway and also around the country lanes without the need of an overdrive,” the car is said to have “behaved impeccably with no problems” on “numerous trips down to Le Mans” and is now offered by Richard Biddulph of Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars of Grays, Essex.
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Anything but Meek
What first attracted ‘Hot Felon’ Jeremy Meeks to the daughter of the billionaire ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green?
One could argue the criminal Jeremy Meeks hit the jackpot when his mugshot went viral and a modeling career as the ‘Hot Felon’ ensued. Not only did he achieve such, but one could argue he had a double whammy next when he struck gold and acquired the daughter of the much loathed billionaire ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green as his ‘girlfriend.’
Meeks, however, if what he allegedly said to the Mail on Sunday’s Charlotte Griffiths is true, plainly thinks to the contrary given he supposedly commented:
“The third time we met, designer Philipp Plein threw a dinner for me and Chloe [Green] was there. I didn’t put her on the guest list and I still don’t know who invited her but I am happy she was there, and after that we fell in love.”
Accompanying the article on the Mail Online’s site yesterday was a video of Meeks arriving at an awards ceremony in Monaco with Miss Green and her mother, the pugnacious Lady ‘Don’t Call Me Tina’ Green. In it, whilst Meeks looks at ease in front of the cameras, both Greens career before the flashbulbs and seem nothing but sozzled and out of their depth.
Of this ‘arrangement,’ one can only echo the words of Mrs Merton and ask: “Jeremy, what first attracted you to the daughter of the billionaire Philip Green?”
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The Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers MP (AKA ‘The Telegraph Crow’)
Aside from spending more time in television studios than working for the good of her constituents, this crow-like creature is a “hard Brexiteer” with a penchant for claiming expenses for a second home despite representing a North London constituency. Bombastic to her core and a one-time friend of the “arse grabber” Brian Coleman, Theresa Villiers has been described as “divorced, dogmatic and dreadful.” She has bizarrely used three word alliterative phrases at least 724 times in debates, is anti-fox hunting and staunchly pro-Israel.
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The Finery of Fatland
Vast Greek Revival style Pennsylvania mansion for sale for 56% less than it was marketed for in 2014; it comes with a pub in the basement
An extravagant and somewhat over the top estate in Pennsylvania is on sale for £2.96 million or 56% less than the £6.75 million sum it was listed for back in 2014.
Extending to some 11,377 square foot and consisting of 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, Greek Revival style ‘Fatland’ – originally known as ‘Vaux Hill’ and known as such once again since 1990 – in Lower Providence, Montgomery County dates to circa 1843 and stands on the site of an earlier stone farmhouse. That building served as the headquarters of General George Washington in 1777 and also was used by General Sir William Howe.
Now set on a plot of just 11.29 acres, the Fatland Estate used to be significantly larger but was reduced by land sales to make way for an express highway, a housing development and 154 acres towards the expansion of the Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Barbara Safford speaking at the time of the 2013 sale of the contents of ‘The Fatland Estate’ 
The house as previously furnished “Decorated in the rich French taste,” the house was stuffed to the brim with European antiques by an insurance tycoon named Robert Safford after he and his wife, Barbara, purchased it in 1990. The couple also altered ‘Fatland’s’ original asymmetrical composition with the addition of a west wing and end pavilion that mirrored the east wing and end pavilion and even added a pub to the building’s basement. After Mr Safford’s death in 2011, the property – which also includes an outdoor pool, tennis court and barn – was put up for sale in 2014 whilst separately, in 2013, Freeman’s auction house in Philadelphia held a sale of contents that netted £2.9 million.
After three years on the market and now with a significantly reduced asking price, Terese Brittingham and Tom McCouch of Keller Williams Realty Group are the agents currently handling ‘The Fatland Estate’s’ listing.
The Fatland Estate – The Numbers
November 2017 – For sale at a reduced price of £2.96 million ($3.95 million, €3.31 million or درهم14.50 million) after a pending sale in June failed to complete through Keller Williams Realty Group.
October 2016 – Relaunched to the market for £2.96 million ($3.95 million, €3.31 million or درهم14.50 million) through RE/MAX Elite.
August 2016 – Reduced to £3.7 million ($5 million, €4.2 million or درهم13.4 million).
February 2016 – Relaunched to the market for £5.248 million ($6.999 million, €5.866 million or درهم25.699 million).
September 2014 – For sale for £6.747 million ($8.999 million, €7.542 million or درهم33.042 million) through Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty.
July 1990 – Sold to Robert Safford and Barbara Harvey for £1.6 million ($2.1 million, €1.8 million or درهم7.7 million).
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More gin, vicar?
As Public Health Wales claims drinking spirits is bad for you, we rebut their frankly stupid study
On Tuesday, The Telegraph reported that a completely unscientific study by an organisation named Public Health Wales had found that spirits are more likely to “trigger bouts of depression and unexpected weeping.”
Said also to cause an increase in negative feelings and levels of aggression, spirits also are said to boost confidence and energy levels and make people “feel sexier.”
Whilst The Telegraph’s article about the study focused on the spirits category in general, today The Guardian moved the focus to gin specifically. In a feature titled: ‘Spirits down: proof that gin makes you sad,’ the paper mocked the survey and rightly pointed out: “Other things that make you sad include literally everything that has ever happened in the world over the past decade.”
They are right, but we’d go one stage further and suggest this: “Drink whatever makes you happy and if you can’t have one at eleven, have eleven at one.”
Cheers!
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Live for Free in Liverpool
Win a fully furnished, brand new £100,000 studio flat in Liverpool for free; surprisingly there are no catches to the competition
A property developer has launched a competition with a prize of a £100,000 ($133,000, €112,000 or درهم488,000) studio flat in the centre of Liverpool “free and forever.”
Situated in a 94 apartment, six-storey building named Colonial Chambers on the city’s Temple Street, the apartment offered is due to be completed in February 2018. The “affordable luxury” building itself is being marketed as coming with a two year rental investment guarantee of 8% net yield.
Of the competition Roy Ledgister, chairman of the firm developing the building, Ultimate Homes, told The Liverpool Echo:
“We’ve agreed to donate one of the studio apartments, free of charge, to the general public. Just fill in the free online entry form and keep your fingers crossed.”
“We’re delighted to be able to give something away in the city. We hope the apartment is an attractive proposition, seeing as how it’s in a really desirable part of Liverpool and also comes fully furnished.”
“It’d prove a good flat for a student or young professional in particular, or the lucky winner may want to rent it out and benefit from the rental income.”
“Hopefully it’ll make a real difference to the person who ultimately receives it, as we appreciated how hard it is for buyers to purchase property outright in the current climate.”
To be in with a chance to win, click here. Entrants are required to submit their name, age, mobile number and email address and must be over 18 years old. A winner will be chosen at random early next year.
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