Tag: royal

Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1980s

EXCLUSIVE – Kirby Sommers shares another chapter from her latest book ‘Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography’ with readers of ‘The Steeple Times’ and this time explores the currently incarcerated socialite’s life in London in the 1980s

Chapter Seven. Ghislaine in the 1980s.

Annabel’s is a private members’ only club in Mayfair located West of London. It was founded in 1963 by Mark Birley then married to Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart after whom he named it. Annabel would later marry Sir Jimmy Goldsmith, rumored to be a spy, and who, in the early 1970s became a friend of Jeffrey Epstein’s.

It was the first of its kind – a club for the very affluent, the very powerful or the very famous. Their clientele included the royal family. Charles, Prince of Wales who everyone believed would be King in short order and his younger brother, Prince Andrew. It was the only club that Queen Elizabeth ever attended. In later years it became the go to club for younger royals like Princes William and Harry.

The entrance was lined even from the earliest days with the rich, the powerful and the beautiful where streams of the upper-class descended into the basement to party. Journalists were never admitted and the entertainment included The Rolling Stones, Diana Ross and in earlier days Ella Fitzgerald. Joan Collins was in the club dancing one evening and a photographer from the Sun had managed to get himself into the club. He snapped a photo of her and was immediately plucked off the dance floor by two burly men who left him lying on the pavement outside sans the film in his camera.

After tumbling down the stairs into the poshest basement on the planet one is welcome into a den of hedonistic indulgence. The rooms were covered in wild wallpaper along with paintings by Picasso and racy nude drawings. The bathroom sinks were in the shape of golden swans and the walls a sensual floral pink. A life size gorilla sitting on a chair stood guard at the end of the hallway. It was over the top eccentric, but most of all it was posh.

In the 1980s Ghislaine Maxwell was one of the ‘somebodies’ along with her friends from Oxford. As with the debutantes of days long gone Ghislaine would murmur, “Take me to Bel’s” to the man of the moment. And, one of her ‘men’ in the 1980s was David Faber – a future MP.

Annabel’s was the sort of place where anything went and where “smooching” in one of dozens of its nooks and crannies was as much a part of the experience as kicking off one’s shoes or one’s clothes and losing oneself to the pulsating euphoria of the music on the infamous wooden dancefloor.

David Faber is a descendent of several British politicians. He also happens to be the great-grandson of the founder of MacMillan Publishing.

More tidbits about David include that his uncle, Maurice Macmillan, worked with Sir Edward Heath during the time he was Prime Minister. Heath is alleged to have sexually abused children commencing in 1961. He served for 51 years as a member of Parliament and died in 2005.

It should be noted that MacMillan was taken over by Robert Maxwell in November of 1988 for $2.6 billion. Although Maxwell claimed he had no plans to dispose of the company’s assets, one month later he sold a piece of it, Intertec, to an investment group led by Rothschild, Inc – the same company that served as his adviser in the purchase. Robert S. Pirie the Co-Chairman and CEO of Rothschild North America was his advisor in the transaction. In 1993 Pirie went on to became the Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns & Co.

I thought it interesting that all the people in the Maxwell world circled around to those in Epstein’s world and so I tracked down an old New York Times article. It states, “Bear Stearns hired Mr. Pirie as a senior managing director. The firm, known primarily for trading, is trying to increase its banking business.”

Below is a photo of David dragging a disheveled and unbalanced 22-year-old Ghislaine while holding up her arm attempting to keep her steady on her feet at Annabel’s.

While Annabel’s always maintained a “no photo” policy banishing any member who breached protocol, nowadays with the advent of social media, their house rule has morphed into: “Photography within the club and posting to social media should be discreet and not involve or feature other members and their guests.”

Ghislaine and David began their romance while both at Balliol College, Oxford University. There is a second photo of Faber with Maxwell at the Chelsea Arts Ball during the club’s extravagant New Year’s Eve party on December 31, 1985. And there were probably many more before all things Maxwell began to get scrubbed off the internet after Jeffrey Epstein’s second arrest on July 6, 2019.

Ghislaine’s father, Bob, who had already cozied up to the Royal family and was fond of having his photo taken with Prince Charles, Princess Diana and the Queen would have been delighted to know Ghislaine was dancing up a storm and rubbing elbows with the royals. Prince Andrew was also a frequent guest at Annabel’s which is an 8-minute drive to another one of his favorite clubs: Tramp.

The Chelsea Arts Club is another private members’ club established in 1891. To be considered as a member one needs to be sponsored by two current members. It was known for its hedonism where literally anything was allowed. Nudity, sex, homosexuality at a time when it wasn’t the norm – everything happened behind the ever-changing murals hand-painted by their resident artists.

Ghislaine wasn’t the only woman David romanced. While at Oxford he also dated Sally Gilbert, a leggy blonde, who is said by a contemporary of his to have “pursued him with great determination – he didn’t have a chance.” She became a television weather girl and they married in 1988.

By 1992 Sally had fallen out of love with David finding him to be lacking in warmth and found herself being comforted by the world’s most celebrated cad, James Hewitt. Faber when filing for divorce cited James Hewitt as co-respondent.

Major Hewitt, it should be noted, was Princess Diana’s riding teacher and in the Household Cavalry when tasked to give her riding lessons. Hewitt, while romancing Farber’s soon to be ex-wife, revealed himself as having a five-year affair with Princess Diana that began in 1986. To avoid getting caught Diana used the codename ‘Julia’ when sending mail to Hewitt.

Hewitt told the world, via a book co-authored with British journalist Anna Pasternak, that he was Princess Diana’s lover in 1994 when she was still married to Prince Charles, the future King of England. Diana was bitterly hurt and devastated when she learned he had shopped around the story of their affair. Although there are claims she continued to see him afterwards up to several months before her untimely death in Paris on August 31, 1997.

Ghislaine Maxwell was not considered a good student during her time at Oxford, not by her professors and not even by herself. She did however earn the nickname “Good Time Ghislaine.” This suited her just fine.

From the awkward looking teenager Ghislaine had grown into an adult. She seemed taller than her height, perhaps because of her heels, or how she carried herself. She was thin with broad shoulders and thick black layered hair. Her complexion was pale and according to people who knew her at the time she had “an intense sexuality, an almost androgynous allure.”

Ghislaine learned to use her sexuality to get what she wanted. And what she wanted the most was to marry a wealthy man. This appeared, however, to be out of reach for the girl who had everything.

Robert Maxwell was fond of saying, “I have a “beautiful daughter who is just like me.”

© Kirby Sommers, 2021.

Author, sex abuse survivor and advocate Kirby Sommers previously exclusively revealed the previously unknown name of the 9-year-old child sat on the lap of Jeffrey Epstein on his private jet to ‘The Steeple Times’ in February. To order her latest book ‘Ghislaine Maxwell: An Unauthorized Biography’ click here.

June 2, 2021
Phone Home Snowdon & Sellers

1964 Aston Martin DB5 convertible – complete with very first car phone in Britain – owned originally by Peter Sellers and subsequently by Princess Margaret’s husband to be auctioned

A “regal runaround” – a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 convertible owned first by the actor, comedian and avid car collector Peter Sellers CBE and then by both the 1^st and 2^nd Earls of Snowdon – is to be sold at auction next month.

Ordered new complete with the very first wireless Motorola car phone in Britain – which the then Viscount Linley later described as working “a bit like a walkie-talkie; you clicked a button twice and got through to the exchange” – the Caribbean pearl blue, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera designed car was one of only 123 soft-top variants produced.

Featuring a 282 bhp 4-litre straight-six engine, “mated to a state-of-the-art five-speed ZF manual gearbox,” according to auctioneers Bonhams, the vehicle is “capable of a 145 mph top speed.” It came with extras numbering fog lamps, a cigar lighter, a dark blue hood and cover and non-standard chrome roadwheels also.

In the possession of Sellers, it is believed, for just a year, the vehicle passed to his friend, the then husband of Princess Margaret, the former Anthony Armstrong-Jones, circa 1965 and was used for “family journeys” in Chelsea, Mayfair and Soho and even also for roadtrips to places as far away as Prague.

Tellingly, the 1^st Earl supposedly “smuggled Lady Jacqueline Rufus Isaacs, daughter of the Marquis and Marchioness of Reading, away from his country house when the Princess returned home unexpectedly one evening” in the boot of the car, whilst Bonhams add, the 2^nd Earl recalled: “We always had the windows down so my mother could smoke her cigarettes.”

Kept subsequently at the National Motoring Museum at Beaulieu, the 1^st Earl gave his son the car to mark his 25^th birthday in 1986 and during the next period, it was altered, rebuilt and maintained by Aston Martin Service Works.

Speaking of the convertible to Aston Martin magazine and driving it to Italy even, the 2^nd Earl of Snowdon – known professionally as ‘David Linley’ – mused:

“[When my father gave me the car], it had already spent a few years at the motoring museum at Beaulieu and my father advised me that it might be quite a good idea to leave it there… But I was 25, for God’s sake, and living in London – the car didn’t stay in the museum!”

“I loved that it had this patina that reminded me of my father. Everywhere I went in Italy it was: ‘Che bella macchina!’ [what a beautiful machine].”

Sold on in 2002 after “the pain and pleasure of owning a classic vehicle mounted up” for Viscount Linley, the car is believed to have been in the ownership of the radio and television presenter Chris Evans since circa 2011.

The Aston Martin has most recently been offered for sale by Joe Macari – whom declared of it on their website: “[It] was given to Lord Snowden’s son, Viscount Linley, who sold it in an auction in order to raise money to pay the Death Duty on his inheritance. While only £3 million was required to pay the duty, over £13 million was raised leading to Lord Snowden accusing his son of selling anything that wasn’t laid down… The chance to own such a stunning car with such interesting provenance is a rare one!”

The vehicle will be now be auctioned on Friday 9^th July at the Bonhams Festival of Speed Sale at Goodwood, near Chichester. The firm have set an estimate of £1.4 million to £1.7 million and commenting, director of Bonhams Motoring Cars UK, Sholto Gilbertson, commented:

“If ever a car defined an era, this DB5 is surely on the shortlist. Not only was it one of the most desirable and thoroughbred sportscars of its day but it has an extraordinary provenance being owned by the crème de la crème of the 1960s.”

Going further and speaking about letting it go, the now 2^nd Earl of Snowdon added:

“I sold it and everybody said it was a great price. Obviously, I had no idea that the market was about to go completely crazy.”

“The thing is, if you are always going back on what you did and regretting things, you just start beating yourself up. You do what you think is right at the time, right?”

“Should I have sold it? No. Do I regret it? Yes. Can I put back the clock? No. Could I pay five million pounds to buy it back? Definitely not! But it [the sale] helped get Serena [his then wife] and I on a steady keel. I got the Linley business working. Got a job here at Christie’s. Got myself in a better place.”

Anthony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon in the car seat with his then wife, Princess Margaret, and children David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (later Lady Sarah Chatto).

Peter Sellers driving another of his cars, a Mercedes-Benz, with Liza Minnelli and another friend.

Chris Evans in the Aston Martin in 2015.

The Names & Numbers

Friday 9^th July 2021 – Bonhams will offer the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 convertible with an estimate of £1.3 million to £1.7 million ($1.8 million to $2.4 million, €1.5 million to €2 million or درهم6.8 million to درهم8.9 million) at their Bonhams Festival of Speed Sale on Friday 9^th July 2021.

2015 – Chris Evans is pictured in the car just as he is announced as the replacement presenter of the hit show Top Gear in a multi-million pound deal that made him the BBC’s highest paid presenter at that time.

Circa 2011 – Believed to have been sold to television and radio presenter Chris Evans around this time.

2002 – Sold by the subsequent 2^nd Earl of Snowdon, the now former Viscount Linley, in order to pay towards the death duties incurred by his late mother’s estate.

1986 – Valued at £30,000 or the equivalent of £90,000 today ($128,000, €104,000 or درهم469,000 today), according to Aston Martin Magazine and given by the 1^st Earl of Snowdon to his son, then Viscount Linley, to mark the latter’s 25^th birthday.

Dates unknown in this period – Kept at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Hampshire.

Circa 1965 – Sold “at a loss” to Lord Snowdon, the former Anthony Armstrong-Jones, according to GQ magazine.

July 1964 – First registered in the name of Peter Sellars. The cost of the convertible new at the time was £4,490 or the equivalent of £93,000 today ($132,000, €108,000 or درهم484,000 today). This was “well above the average house price of the time, assuring that only a privileged few were able to afford one. The epitome of British elegance and class, celebrities snapped them up – Peter Sellers, Beryl Reid, and even HRH Princess Margaret could be spotted in a DB5 convertible,” according to RM Sotheby’s whom sold a 1965 left-hand drive example for £1.9 million ($2.7 million, €2.2 million or درهم9.9 million) in December 2017.

June 1, 2021
The Boat Britain Didn’t Ask For (Or Need)

Nikolay Kalinin joins those condemning Boris Johnson’s decision to waste £200 million on a boat Britain didn’t ask for (or need)

Remember when Eurosceptics pledged Brexit would enable the government to give £350 million per week ($496 million, €406 million or درهم1.8 billion per week) to the NHS? Well, now we finally know where that money is actually going as the government has officially decided to waste some of it commissioning a vanity ship they claim will showcase the “best of British.”

The £200 million ($284 million, €232 million or درهم1 billion) gin palace – which was to be named after the late Duke of Edinburgh though even the royal family have supposedly raised objections to such as they don’t think an association with it will do them any favours – is set to be the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was retired in 1997. Boris Johnson has stated that the vessel will “represent and promote the best of British – a clear and powerful symbol of our commitment to be an active player on the world stage.”

Yet, one cannot ignore that this project seems so pointless and unnecessarily expensive, a fact that has been called out by figures in Parliament. When asked about the diplomatic benefits of “recommissioning HM Yacht Britannia” by Conservative MP for Romford, Andrew Rosindell, President for COP26, Alok Sharma, admitted: “The royal yacht was used on just 37 occasions for… signing trade deals during 1989 – 1997. There’s no evidence that the yacht made a difference to the trade deals secured in these years and this level of use would not represent a good return on investment.”

The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson, also seemed to agree, stating: “We want to see public money used for targeted investment in a green economic recovery, resources for our NHS, and supporting families to succeed.”

She added that if the government does go ahead with the plan to build the yacht: “We’d want to see it built in Britain, supporting jobs and skills in shipyards here, and with a real focus on value for money at every stage.”

What we are seeing here once again is the government misappropriating taxpayers’ money in order to reinforce the fake vision of muscular unionism. The government is trying to reinforce a vision of a united Britain and ‘Britishness’ not through progressive deeds that reflect ‘British values,’ but through objects such as yachts named after recognisable things.

It’s not only the costly yacht however that reflects the idea that ‘muscular unionism’ is so empty, as some time ago an autonomous company launched trials of a self-driving bus in Cambridge, which was draped in the Union Jack.

Comedian Jonathan Pie reacted to the news by calling the bus “the perfect visual metaphor for a country in the grips of such inept and directionless leadership,” while Lord Andrew Adonis mockingly wrote that it “looks like a Brexit bus.”

While I like flags as much as the next man, the fact that ‘BoJo’ seems hellbent on putting them up everywhere demonstrates that his government has nothing much to offer. If Johnson really wants to unite the people of his country, he should work on fixing the rift between his government and Scotland and solve the problems Northern Ireland is facing as a result of Brexit.

The Queen’s love of the Royal Yacht Britannia was never a secret, but even she’s said to believe the decision to order a replacement to be quite beyond unrequired. Meanwhile, the most enthusiastic tin banger for the expensive tub has been Christopher Hope of ‘The Telegraph.’ He has run the paper’s campaign for the vessel since September 2016 and written three dozen articles in support of what he believes to be “putting right [the] historical wrong” of not having a royal yacht.

June 1, 2021
Is a Republic on the way?

Nikolay Kalinin analyses the results of a YouGov poll that came out in favour of a republic and elected head of state

Breaking away from the traditionalist views of their predecessors, the youth of today in Britain recently proclaimed support for the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of an elected head of state, a YouGov poll has found.

According to YouGov, which conducted its survey between 2019 and 2021, more than four in ten 18 – 24 year olds surveyed supported removing the monarch and replacing it with an elected representative. Meanwhile, 31% of 18 – 24 year olds were found to still support the monarchy, a 15-point decline from 2019.

Another key headline was that general support for an elected head of state rose over the past two years, from 26% in 2019 to 41% in 2021.

These results come after two years of controversies surrounding the royal family, including Prince Andrew’s juggernaut wreck of an interview on the BBC’s Newsnight regarding his friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview on CBS.

Nevertheless, backing for the royal family itself actually remains high – three in five support the Queen and her heirs – especially amongst the older age groups. Seven in ten people between the ages of 50 – 64 were found to still be in favour of the monarchy, whilst of people aged 65 plus, that number rose to 8 out of 10.

The results of this poll to me are not surprising. Many young people don’t like the idea of a monarchy and its disconnect from the rest of the population in general. Many also resent spending millions to sustain their palaces whilst more and more people become homeless in the UK every year.

We also have to remember that the government is planning on spending £200 million of taxpayers’ money – which could have been used to fund the NHS or to build more police stations – on a massive yacht named after the late Duke of Edinburgh. I join those questioning how that yacht will benefit the British public.

To young people, the monarchy is a reminder of an age when society was more backward, and to them there is also no need for a sovereign ruler whose very existence undermines the principle of democracy. Young people are also more likely to be critical of what they see as the cult-like attitude of the media towards the monarchy, even having ‘royal correspondents’ who report on their affairs. To them, it’s all so unnecessary and out of place in the 21st century.

Opposition to the monarchy is not leaderless; the pressure group Republic has risen to prominence in the recent years and currently has around 80,000 supporters in the country. Responding to the poll results, the organisation’s CEO Graham Smith stated: “Support for the monarchy has been sustained by the Queen’s long reign. The automatic succession of King Charles will dramatically alter the debate and public attitudes, putting the monarchy on collision course with modern British values. This latest poll is another reminder of the urgent need for a serious, honest and grown up debate about the future of the monarchy and the democratic alternative.”

Still, just as the Martin Bashir scandal and the intense hatred of the British public for ‘MeGain’ rumbles on, the royal family continues to enjoy popularity amongst the older traditionalist crowd. This comes especially as the Queen herself has reportedly been “deeply upset” by Prince Harry’s comments on his upbringing in a “cycle of suffering,” which he revealed on his new Apple TV+ series with Oprah Winfrey.

Inevitably, however, the older generation is going to die out, and the increasing republican and younger members of society will become more outspoken. There is even a parliamentary petition with almost 7,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the abolition of the monarchy, though it still needs to reach 10,000 signatures before a government response is even orchestrated.

This dissatisfaction with the monarchy can be easily reflected in Nick Abbott’s radio episode on LBC on 21^st May, in which he commented on the negative response to Prince Harry’s comments by stating: “It’s as if though we’re obsessed with time not advancing, and Brexit is a lot like that. We just want to regain some imagined past, some Disneyfication of the nation.”

Will the monarchy survive into the 2030s? Young people don’t seem especially enthusiastic for it if YouGov’s latest poll is to be believed. The scandal of Prince Andrew’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and other unsavoury characters hasn’t helped and nor has the behaviour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but the Queen remains firmly in the nation’s hearts – that is for sure.

“Replacing the monarchy with a museum” is the desire of some in the UK, but that most certainly is not backed by older British citizens.

In June 2012, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured reader favourite Anton Lorien’s tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It stands as a testament to the legacy of an esteemed lady whose service to her country is widely believed to have been exemplary.

May 25, 2021
The Plotless Pillock Prince

Matthew Steeples suggests decidedly dim Prince Harry has well and truly lost the plot; he should heed the words of the equally ‘woke’ wally Lily Allen and finally “wind his neck in”

The Duke of Sussex always seemed a sandwich short of a picnic, but now, with his latest attack on his birth family, he’s well and truly shown he’s utterly lost the plot and turned into nothing but a pompous pillock content only with satisfying his money and fame hungry wife.

Preaching from their capacious Californian mansion complete with 16 bathrooms, this out-of-touch with ordinary folk wazzock and his acerbically annoying dollar demanding Duchess annoy utterly everybody. Is there nobody that they just don’t have a desire to piss off? It doesn’t matter if you are pro or anti the monarchy, it’s just impossible to like this laughable pair of loons and their whingeing ways.

Now, aside from attracting the likes of Sarah Vine to Yankee Wally have a pop at this pernicious plotless pair, once jolly-for-a-jape Prince Harry has gone and upset not only his father and brother, but also piled blame on his perfectly patient grandparents as well.

Speaking of his “cycle of pain” to Dax Shepherd’s Armchair Expert, which premieres next Friday, 21^st May, the royal runt remarked:

“When it comes to parenting, if I’ve experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I’m going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don’t pass it on.”

“I know this about his [Prince Charles’s] life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he’s treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids.”

In the 17^th century, “to latibulate,” ‘Dictionary Corner’ doyenne Susie Dent, mused on Twitter this morning meant “to hide in a corner until conditions improve.” The Duke and Duchess of Sussex should take up just such and they should also listen to the normally woke wastrel Lily Allen’s 2014 song: Wind Your Neck In. It might do the pair of them some bloody good.

Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

Lyrics to Lily Allen’s ‘Wind Your Neck In’ that should be heeded by the plotless Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Why don’t you keep your eyes on the road

Keep yourself to yourself

Or you’re gonna explode

Don’t concern yourself in my sh*t

If I told you the truth

Well you probably couldn’t handle it

What’s it got to do with you

I don’t care what you get up to

Didn’t ask for your opinion

Not your business

Wind your neck in

Why’d you think you’re better

Little rubber-necker

No one likes a trouble maker

Pull up your socks

There’s nothing to see here

Why’d you have to be here

Can’t you turn around and get back into your box

Wind your neck in (repeat)

I always said each to their own

Won’t you give me a break

Won’t you throw me a bone

I’m a different cat or a fish

If you don’t understand

Just look the other way, you b*tch

I’ll do my thing, you do yours

What you get up to behind closed doors

No of interest, I’ve no opinion

It’s not my business

Wind your neck in

Why’d you think you’re better

Little rubber-necker

No one likes a trouble maker

Pull up your socks

There’s nothing to see here

Why’d you have to be here

Can’t you turn around and get back into your box

Wind your neck in (repeat)

Down (Down)

The rubber-neckers slow me down

When will they ever work it out (Own)

No, they can’t run me out of town

Wind your neck in (repeat)

Why’d you think you’re better

Little rubber-necker

No one likes a trouble maker

Pull up your socks

There’s nothing to see here

Why’d you have to be here

Can’t you turn around and get back into your box

Wind your neck in (repeat)

The Plotless Pillock Prince 2021 – Prince Harry and his wife do not grasp that they live a privileged life that mere mortals cannot relate to. This plotless pair need to finally realise that their attention seeking ways are doing them nothing but harm. It is not others whom are to blame for their predicament: It is them and them alone.

The Plotless Pillock Prince 2021 – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem to be motivated more by money and attention than anything else. They should be ashamed of themselves and now, after well and truly losing the plot, its just time for them to wind their necks in.

May 14, 2021
Brenda’s Brew

Her Majesty The Queen launches two home brewed beers just as it is announced that drinkers have drunk stocks nigh on dry in the wake of ‘unlockdown’

This morning, just as BBC Radio 4’s Today programme announced that pubs are literally “scraping the barrel” in desperation to find beer given customers have gone wild since lockdown restrictions were eased, The Sun revealed that “Her Majesty has moved into home brewing with two new bitters” made with crops grown at her Sandringham Estate.

Said like her late mother to be “partial to a gin and Dubonnet” according to her former chef Darren McGrady, the Queen’s 5% ABV Golden IPA and 4.3% ABV Sandringham Best Bitter are being sold at a punchy price of £3.99 per bottle, but have already attracted plaudits galore.

According to the paper, one unnamed fan remarked:

“To drink beers that the Queen’s had a hand in is the stuff of legend.”

“I can just imagine her supping the first pints and giving her royal thoughts on the taste. Unlike most of the home brews I’ve tried, these are actually really tasty.”

“I’m sure Prince Philip would be very proud that the estate is producing these ales as I know he was a fan of a good real ale.”

“Good on Queenie. She always knows what the country needs – and this summer, more than ever, it’s a beer.”

Sadly, however, you’ll only currently be able to buy the beers – which are made “using organic Laureate spring barley and spring water from a nearby borehole” – if you head to the estate shop on the Sandringham Estate.

The current monarch is surprisingly not alone in lauding the benefits of beer. In February 2015, we reported that Queen Victoria once remarked: “Give my people plenty of beer, good beer, and cheap beer, and you will have no revolution among them.”

Brenda’s Brew – The Queen is known for having a liking for champagne, wine and gin and Dubonnet, but now she can join the masses and indulge in her very own beers.

May 1, 2021
Maxwell Booked

As she is quite deservedly denied bail for a FOURTH time, mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell sues the publishers of a book about her and Jeffrey Epstein; we respond by urging readers to buy ‘Vice Island’ now

Jean-Gabriel Fredet – the former editor of the popular French news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur (now known as L’Obs) – is a greatly respected journalist. He has written about the “greed” of artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons and their “megalomaniac collectors” and now after turning his pen to the activities of the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell, she’s decided to sue.

In spite of being incarcerated and facing a likely sentence of upto 88 years if convicted for trafficking and abusing minors, Maxwell – via the frankly ridiculous RealGhislaine.com website set up ‘in her honour’ by her family – decided on Wednesday to issue a press release announcing she is taking legal action against Albin Michel, the publishers of Fredet’s latest book – L’île de tous es vices (Vice Island).

Claiming Fredet’s publishers have “violated her legal right to the presumption of innocence” via a French lawyer named Oliver Laude and issued in a two-page PDF document by “crisis communications expert” Yves-Paul Robert, founder of the Plead agency, Maxwell arrogantly announced:

“The publication of this book by Albin Michel constitutes an unacceptable attack on the presumption of innocence of Ms. Maxwell. Given the imminence of her criminal trial, to present her as already guilty – which this book does – is as repugnant as it is irresponsible.”

“Everyone has the right for the presumption of innocence to be respected. Where a person is, prior to any conviction, publicly presented as guilty of matters under judicial investigation, the judge may not only compensate the damage suffered, but also take all necessary measures, such as the insertion of a correction or the dissemination of a press release, in order to stop the violation of the presumption of innocence, and this at the expense of the person, or persons, responsible for that violation.”

“The violation in such an egregious fashion of the fundamental right to the presumption of innocence to which Ms. Maxwell is entitled calls for Albin Michel publishers to be made an example of, as much for their own flagrant breach of the law as to deter other media owners in France and indeed around the world from believing they can proceed thus with impunity against her or other persons in similar circumstances.”

Maxwell, a woman prone to banging on about the hardships of having not one but two computers in her cell, is demanding that “Albin Michel publishers be ordered to pay her damages for the prejudices suffered” and wants the “pulping of all extant copies of Vice Island” also.

What’ll this conniving crackpot be demanding next? Aside from Krug on tap in the pokey, this mendacious minx will probably be putting in a request via her PR peddler Brian Basham for a tame personal biographer to spin her as the modern-day Sister Wendy.

A hearing regarding Vice Island, according to the press release, is scheduled for the 19^th May 2021 in France and thus The Steeple Times now urges all interested readers to purchase a copy as a sign of support for Mr Fredet and Albin Michel today.

To buy a copy of ‘L’île de tous les vices: Sexe, pouvoir et impunité, révélations sur l’affaire’ by Jean-Gabriel Fredet, click here.

Pictured top: An especially smug, smirking Ghislaine Maxwell boozing with Mick Jagger (left) and the cover of Jean-Gabriel’s ‘Vice Island’ (right).

Maxwell Booked – “The publishing of Albin Michel’s book ‘is as repugnant as it is irresponsible.’ As Ghislaine awaits trial she is presumed innocent and yet this book ‘constitutes an unacceptable attack on the presumption of innocence of Ms. Maxwell’” stated the team behind RealGhislaine.com on Thursday on Twitter. PR peddler Brian Basham (pictured left), chairman of a firm named ACUITY Reputation, is generally spokesman for the mucky madam, but now she’s added others to the rota and in doing so illustrated the vast resources she’s throwing at the case.

Maxwell Booked – Jean-Gabriel Fredet’s book ‘Vice Island’ is described as follows: “How did a billionaire received by the entire American elite find himself, after years of madness, plunged into a dizzying descent into hell? Jeffrey Epstein is unquestionably rich. However, he left no trace in the world of finance. Its main activity? Satisfy his impulses in an organised gang! For more than twenty years, hundreds of young girls, many of them minors, made the trip to her island in the Antilles archipelago, aboard the ‘Lolita Express,’ one of his private planes. Who helped Jeffrey Epstein? Who participated in his sex trafficking? Who, among the rich and famous registered in his little black notebook, accompanied him to the island of all vices? Clinton, Trump, Kevin Spacey, Prince Andrew … and others? Prosecutors under influence, unscrupulous lawyers, nouveau riche and old fortunes … the Epstein affair sheds light on the flaws of a society indifferent to the crimes of those who live by their own rules and who know only one law: that of impunity.”

Maxwell Booked – Yves-Paul Robert is described on his firm Plead’s website as: “[A] chief executives on their oversight of communications, advocacy and intermediation strategies. He is also a recognised expert in crisis communications and has developed specific expertise in media relations. Prior to setting up Plead, Yves-Paul was head of crisis communications at Havas Paris. In 2017 he wrote a book entitled ‘Le Despote-Consommateur’ (‘The Consumer Despot’) published by Editions Plon, which analyses the way that consumer behaviour is influenced by brands and social media in an increasingly digital world.”

April 23, 2021
Website of the Week – Yankee Wally

Sadie Quinlan’s ‘Yankee Wally’ YouTube channel where she “plays by the rules” whilst exposing what she views to be the nefarious activities of the Duchess of Sussex is a must watch

Piers Morgan is undoubtedly her best known ‘hater’ and whilst the likes of the knicker-free-flasher who’ll do-anything-for-the-limelight Lizzie Cundy repeatedly bangs on about having been “ghosted” by her (for a dime), there’s a one-woman band who actually brilliantly tears down the wicked wastrel formerly known as Meghan Markle and that’s Sadie Quinlan and her ‘Yankee Wally’ YouTube channel.

Complete with a drawl from the Welsh Valleys or thereabouts, “strong Brexit, strong Trump supporter” Quinlan always begins with an announcement: “All my content is found on the public domain, it’s just my opinions and I play by the rules” (whatever they may be) and she well and truly tells it like it is. Here, indeed, is someone with a passion for taking down the Sussexes and of them she declares: “I thoroughly enjoy exposing the lies of Meghan Markle, and her husband is just as bad. I’m here till they lose titles and funding.”

Aside from uploading videos analysing what she views as the nefarious activities of the ‘Modern Day Mrs Simpson’ for her 34,500 subscribers, Quinlan it seems keeps herself busy elsewhere and announces on her blog DirtyGiftedWelsh: “The bigger picture matters. Think. Ahead. #meghanmarkle #charlatanduchess #MEGXIT #notmyduchessever.”

Curiously, in July 2005, the South Wales Echo reported on a Cardiff “brothel madam [named Sadie Quinlan pulling] a gun on a man during a row over a car parking space.” After the then 49-year-old was jailed for this incident of road rage, at sentencing her solicitor remarked: “She accepts that she overreacted.”

Whether this is the same Sadie Quinlan is unknown, but elsewhere the YouTuber of that name declares on the National Theatre Wales community website that, aside from her interest in rogue renegade royals, she is currently working on “projects” including “justice, the sex industry, tax is theft, government transparency, despises hypocrites, changing the bankruptcy laws in [the] UK.”

Yankee Wally is a must watch. Pour yourself a strong G&T and be prepared to be amused as you get ‘De-Markled.’ You won’t regret it.

Pictured top: The woman formerly known as Meghan Markle was once snapped playing with bananas whilst her drip of a husband looked on; Sadie Quinlan, meanwhile, is definitely a cheerleader for her to slip on one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEKricEm2SU

April 8, 2021
Basham-ing About

As Brian Basham peddles another puff piece for mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell today, ‘The Steeple Times’ reminds him that we covered this news first on the 6^th March

PR peddler Brian Basham has friends in high and low places and today, yet again, his chums at The Telegraph gave him acreage in a puff piece where he tried to big up the currently incarcerated mucky madam he’s acting as “spokesman” for, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Of “breaking news” this morning (that we’d covered first on the 6^th March and later on 10^th March also) that Maxwell was selling her “showgirl-hooker-esque” Belgravia mews house, bombastic Basham – who’s also been prone to keeping his fingers busy retweeting the obnoxious oddity Owen Jones of late – told the Barclay family owned rightwing rag:

“She is selling the house in order to pay her lawyers. There is already £5 million ($7 million, €5.9 million or درهم25.7 million) set aside but this will take it to more than £7.2 million ($10 million, €8.4 million or درهم36.7 million).”

“Ghislaine will be sad to see the house sold. She is devastated by all this. She will have a lot of good memories. She will be terribly sad to sell the house. It was her refuge in London.”

Whether such “good memories” included Prince Andrew bonking in the romp pad’s supposedly tiny bathtub on 10^th March 2001 was unsurprisingly not discussed, but yet again Brian Basham’s obsequious spin that the ‘Bouncing Czech’s’ daughter is trying to cooperate with authorities as she seeks bail ought to be called out for what it truly is and that is “complete Barry bull.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday, our editor, Matthew Steeples, appeared on Shaun Attwood’s True Crime Channel to discuss Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein’s curious real estate shenanigans. A link to the half hour discussion will follow on YouTube in due course and will be published in The Steeple Times also.

Pictured top: PR peddler Brian Basham (left) and demanding deviant Ghislaine Maxwell with her one-time lover croaked paedophile and ‘ex-bestie’ of ‘Randy Andy,’ Jeffrey Epstein.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnUxiOADzY&feature=emb_logo
Basham-ing About – Shaun Attwood visited 44 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, London, SW1X 8ES in September 2019 and managed to film the white bannister that was also seen in the now infamous photograph of Ghislaine Maxwell lurking as the Duke of York wrapped his chubby fingers round the waist of Virginia Roberts (now married and known as Virginia Giuffre) on 10^th March 2001.

Basham-ing About – ‘That’ photograph that Prince Andrew has so desperately tried to claim to be a fake that nobody at all has managed to discredit yet. Of it, even ‘Grubby Ghislaine’s’ own brother, Ian Maxwell, told Radio 4 this week: “I recognise the setting.”

Bashaming About – Ghislaine Maxwell purchased 1,000 square foot 44 Kinnerton Street on 22nd January 1997 for £290,000 ($401,000, €337,000 or درهم5 million) and tried to flog it for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3 million or درهم3 million) in September 2020 through agents Aylesford. Of it, one leading property commentator remarked: “It’s the kind of house that could have featured in ‘Smiley’s People,’ in fact it’s the kind of house where the showgirl-hooker Mandy Rice-Davies could have cavorted with John Profumo.”

March 12, 2021
Murky Maxwell’s Property & PR Projects
As her brother takes to the airwaves to PR her on Radio 4, Ghislaine Maxwell’s sale of her “showgirl-hooker-esque” London townhouse for an astonishing sum 44% lower than it was marketed at is branded a “shenanigan”

This morning, Ian Maxwell was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Talking extensively and featured in several segments, the brother of Ghislaine Maxwell went into PR overdrive and attempted to spin that his sister deserved bail. He even went as far to insist of a woman whom managed to disappear for nearly a year: “She is no longer a flight risk… This is not somebody who’s seeking to flee.”

Going further, the businessman banged on about the “grotesque” conditions within the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and bleated about his sinister sister’s hair falling out and her being served “brown water.”

Mr Maxwell claimed that he “assumes” the Duke of York – who allegedly sexually abused Virginia Roberts (now married and named Virginia Giuffre) in a bathroom at his sister’s Kinnerton Street mews house on 10^th March 2001 – still considers Jeffrey Epstein’s henchwoman “as a friend” and moaned: “The water that is provided through the prison is brown and the food that she’s given is very highly microwaved and basically inedible.”

Whilst admitting he “wished she’d never met the man [Jeffrey Epstein], obviously,” Mr Maxwell attempted to slam the fact the alleged victims of his sister have not been named, but meanwhile elsewhere The Steeple Times can today reveal that the financial shenanigans surrounding the sale of ‘Grubby Ghislaine’s’ London home are starting to look increasingly curious.

Last night, a leading property expert often quoted by the BBC who did not wish to be named, told us:

“Estate agents Aylesford were instructed to sell 44 Kinnerton Street in September 2020. They sought £2.6 million for the house and when it failed to sell, they later reduced the price to £2.1 million.”

“It’s the kind of house that could have featured in Smiley’s People, in fact it’s the kind of house where the showgirl-hooker Mandy Rice-Davies could have cavorted with John Profumo.”

Going further, Yeoman’s Row, Knightsbridge based agent Matthew Kaye of Kaye & Carey added: “Knowing the street as I do, 44 is one of the smaller houses which I assume it to be a little over 1,000 square foot in size. Depending on the condition, I estimate the freehold value to be circa £1.8 million to £2 million.”

Given that the Maxwells tried and failed to raise finance on the property – quite possibly due to its association with an incarcerated jailbird alleged sexual offender – in December 2020 and given last week that the mucky madam’s lawyers announced a sale on the property was pending at a sum of just £1.45 million, another agent remarked:

“This sum seems incredibly low and it sounds to me like the notorious Maxwell family are upto financial shenanigans yet again. This asset is most likely being moved to an entity they themselves have connections with rather than ‘sold’ to someone unconnected.”

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he concluded.

The Names & Numbers – 44 Kinnerton Street (AKA ‘Mucky Madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s Bathtub Bonk Pad’), Belgravia, London, SW1X 8ES, United Kingdom
- March 2021 – Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer offered cash from the “pending sale of her £1.45 million ($2 million, €1.68 million or درهم37 million)” home as part of a package when they sought bail for the mucky madam for a third time. This sum is 44% lower than the September 2020 asking price and 400% higher than the January 1997 purchase price.
- March 2021 – Knightsbridge estate agent Matthew Kaye of Kaye & Carey tells The Steeple Times: “Knowing the street as I do, 44 is one of the smaller houses which I assume it to be a little over 1,000 square foot in size. Depending on the condition, I estimate the freehold value to be circa £1.8 million to £2 million ($2.5 million to $2.8 million, €2.1 million to €2.3 million or درهم9.2 million to درهم10.2 million).”
- December 2020 – Members of the Maxwell family attempted to raise finance on the property but are not successful.
- September 2020 – Estate agents Aylesford list 44 Kinnerton Street for sale for £2.6 million ($3.6 million, €3 million or درهم3 million) on a freehold basis, a sum 797% than the January 1997 purchase price. They subsequently later reduce the asking price to £2.1 million ($2.9 million, €2.5 million or درهم10.7 million) according to a leading property expert.
- August 2019 – According to Insider, a woman with “long hair [who] appeared to be in her 60s” was seen entering the property. She “denied that the socialite owns or lived in the house, claiming instead that the elusive socialite lived elsewhere down the street.”
- 10^th March 2001 – Prince Andrew allegedly had sexual relations with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts in a bathroom in the property. He continues to deny this occurred whilst claiming that a photograph of himself with Miss Roberts and Ghislaine Maxwell on the first floor of building is a fake also.
- 22^nd January 1997 – Ghislaine Maxwell paid £290,000 ($401,000, €337,000 or درهم5 million) for the three-storey leasehold mews house. It is situated at the heart of the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor Estate.
Murky Maxwell’s Property & PR Projects 2021 – Ghislaine Maxwell’s decision to go on record on Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme this morning on behalf of his mucky madam sister, Ghislaine, appeared remarkable. It was most likely orchestrated with the help of their PR peddler, Brian Basham.

Murky Maxwell’s Property & PR Projects 2021 – Of the now infamous photograph of Prince Andrew – which he continues claims to be fake, but which has never been proven to be such – on the landing of the property with Virginia Roberts on 10th March 2001 with Ghislaine Maxwell to the rear, Ian Maxwell remarked: “I recognise the setting.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGnUxiOADzY&feature=emb_logo
March 10, 2021