Latest news with #EarlofYarmouth
News.com.au
26-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
English lord responds to son's $177 million inheritance
An English lord has blocked his eldest son from taking over the family's £85 million ($A177 million) estate because of his 'lack of achievement'. The Earl of Yarmouth, William Seymour, was left out of the fortune after a fallout, The Sun reports. According to the BBC, the 31-year-old took his parents and three siblings to court over the estate, which included the 400-year-old family seat Ragley Hall, in Warwickshire. Lord Yarmouth asked for the two trust corporations to be removed as trustees and replaced with an independent one. Lord and Lady Hertford, along with Lord Yarmouth's siblings – Lady Gabriella Seymour, Lord Edward Seymour and Lady Antonia Seymour opposed the legal claim. The three settlements which consist of the estate, including farmland, residential properties and woodland, are valued at around £45 million ($A93 million). The court heard that while William held a 'very earnest belief' that the trustees failed in their duties in the way Ragley was run, it was unfounded. In his ruling, Judge James Brightwell said he accepted the 'damaged and fractured' relationship between Lord Yarmouth and his parents and siblings was 'poor'. The judge added the bad relationship between William and his parents wasn't enough to remove the trustees. Ragley estate, which is 6,500-acres, includes a 110-room mansion, farms, a sprawling woods, and hundreds of acres of parkland. It has been in the Seymour Family for about 400 years, and has connections to Jane Seymour, Henry VIII's third wife. The Earl of Yarmouth has been embroiled in the public spat with his family since 2018. The aristocrat complained that his parents had led him to believe he would take over the running of the estate when he turned 30. William also claimed his parents weren't happy he wanted to marry former Goldman Sachs banker Lady Yarmouth, Kelsey Wells. The court previously heard that William, who was worth £4 million at 21, had not been interested in the estate until he met his wife Kelsey. After their marriage, William began complaining about how the estate was being run and argued his wife was being shown 'disrespect' for not being invited to the trustee meeting. His father, Lord Hertford, told the court he had planned for his son to take over the estate but changed his mind – believing he was no longer 'appropriate' for the job. He said William and Kelsey marrying was not the 'main reason' for the decision, but rather his son's 'lack of achievement'. In evidence, he said: 'I am proud of the fact that he went to college but made a mistake at university and didn't graduate. 'William has not followed a profession or obtained qualifications or experience to take over the running of Ragley Hall.' The judge ruled that Lord and Lady Hertford had obviously shown 'deep antagonism' towards their daughter-in-law. However, the judge said that the son's dispute as to the way Ragley is run was not well-founded. 'The fact that the claimant has a very earnest belief that the trustees have failed in their duties or should have acted differently, in an unspecified way, is no sufficient basis for a finding that they have so failed in their duties,' the judge added.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Earl of Yarmouth loses £85m Ragley estate high court family row
The eldest son of an aristocratic family has lost a legal battle in which he was claiming he should have been given its £85m ancestral Earl of Yarmouth, William Seymour, took the High Court action against his parents, three siblings and two trust corporations over the running of parts of the Ragley legal claim related to three settlements which form part of the estate including the 400-year-old family seat, Ragley Hall in his ruling on Monday, Judge James Brightwell said he accepted the "damaged and fractured" relationship between Lord Yarmouth and his parents and siblings was "poor". Lord Yarmouth had asked for the two trust corporations to be removed as trustees and replaced with an independent and Lady Hertford, as well as Lord Yarmouth's siblings - Lady Gabriella Seymour, Lord Edward Seymour and Lady Antonia Seymour - all opposed the legal three settlements which form part of the estate, including farmland, residential properties and woodland, are valued at about £45m. In evidence for the hearing in London, Lord Yarmouth, 31, told the court his parents led him to believe that he would take over the running of the estate aged 30, and that several land appointments had been made to him when he was claimed his parents were "far from delighted" with his plans to marry Lady Yarmouth, Kelsey his evidence, Lord Hertford said he did plan for his son to take over the running of the estate but now did not consider him "appropriate".He added this decision "coincides with his marriage, but Kelsey is not the main reason", claiming that his son's behaviour "started to change" before the wedding."I am disappointed at William's lack of achievement," he added."I am proud of the fact that he went to college but made a mistake at university and didn't graduate."William has not followed a profession or obtained qualifications or experience to take over the running of Ragley Hall."Lord Yarmouth asked the judge to order the removal of two trust corporations, Ragley Trust Company Ltd and Seymour Trust Company Ltd, as co-trustees of the three the judge said that while it was "obvious" that Lord and Lady Hertford had shown "deep antagonism" to Lady Yarmouth and "created practical difficulties in the wedding arrangements", Lord Yarmouth was "keen to create a dispute about the way Ragley was run at a root and branch level".He also said he did not consider the claims to be "well-founded", and continued that he accepted evidence that the trustees "administer the trusts themselves, making decisions independently of Lord and Lady Hertford"."The fact that the claimant has a very earnest belief that the trustees have failed in their duties or should have acted differently, in an unspecified way, is no sufficient basis for a finding that they have so failed in their duties," the judge added. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
