2 days ago
‘My 98-year-old partner fell from a window and died. Now his family blame me'
A 90-year-old widow has spoken of how her aristocratic partner's family blamed her when he died.
Michael Brudenell-Bruce, the 8th Marquess of Ailesbury, was found dead on the patio of the couple's Shepherd's Bush home in London on May 12 last year after falling from a bedroom window.
Teresa Marshall De Paoli, his widow, has now claimed that her partner of 37 years' grandchildren told mourners at his funeral that she had 'pushed him out of a window'.
He was found with head and chest injuries and at least three belts wrapped around his arms.
Ms De Paoli told the Daily Mail: 'Members of the family wanted a verdict of assisted suicide. That way they could challenge Michael's will because, as with all these things, it is about money.'
A coroner's inquest ruled in March that Brudenell-Bruce took his own life, despite claims from barristers representing his family that there should be a narrative conclusion of assisted suicide.
David Brudenell-Bruce, the late Marquess's estranged son, and Lady Louise Brudenell-Bruce were among those to accuse Ms De Paoli of helping him take his own life.
The coroner found that Brudenell-Bruce took his own life because he was determined not to be a burden on his loved ones after being diagnosed with dementia four years before.
Money has 'torn the family apart'
David, the current Marquess of Ailesbury, and Lady Louise were both left out of their father's estate.
Ms De Paoli said that money had 'torn the family apart', adding: 'The saddest thing of all is that these fights are all about money.'
She went on to claim she had been left with PTSD over her partner's death.
Brudenell-Bruce had five children with his first two partners: David, Lady Sylvia, Lady Carina, Lady Louise and Lady Kathryn.
Lady Carina and Thomas Brudenell-Bruce, who is estranged from his father David, supported Ms De Paoli at the inquest, with Lady Carina, who lives on the Caribbean island of Tortola, writing a character reference in support of her stepmother.
She wrote: 'I live thousands of miles away and always had total belief that he was safe and happy with Teresa.'
Ms De Paoli also has close relationships with Lady Sylvia and Lady Kathryn.
The late Marquess and his son became estranged because David believed that his father had improperly removed assets from the trust that owns Savernake Estate before he handed it to him in 1997. Ms De Paoli has refuted this suggestion.
The Marquessate of Ailesbury was created in the 19th century, while the Brudenell ancestry dates back to medieval times. The family is custodian of the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire, and, until its £11.5m sale in 2014, were owners of the estate's Palladian mansion, Tottenham House.
