Page 38 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019
Betjeman’s mistress
leaves £10m fortune
to adopted nieces
P
OET Laureate Sir
John Betjeman
referred to his mis-
tress, Lady Eliza-
beth Cavendish, as
his ‘London wife’ and she was
at his bedside when he died.
However, I can reveal that Lady
Elizabeth, who died last Septem-
ber aged 92, left nothing in her will
to the poet’s son, Paul Betjeman,
or his grandchildren.
Instead, she left her entire
£10 million fortune to her two
adopted nieces.
‘It is an unexpected windfall for
them,’ says a friend of the family.
Lady Elizabeth was the daughter
of the 10th Duke of Devonshire and
served as lady-in-waiting to Prin-
cess Margaret. She is said to have
introduced the Queen’s sister toher future husband, Antony
Armstrong-Jones.
She was Betjeman’s lover for
33 years and their relationship
remained an open secret until 1973,
when he and his wife, Penelope
Chetwode, moved into a property
five doors away.
He had met Lady Elizabeth at a
dinner in Mayfair, which was delayed
when one of the guests failed to
show up; he was Guy Burgess, who
had just defected to Moscow.
Lady Elizabeth had no children,
so left her estate of £9.9 million to
be shared between her nieces, the
writer Isabella Tree and Esther
Cayzer-Colvin. The pair were
adopted by her sister, Lady Anne
Tree, and her artist brother-in-law,
Michael, an heir to a Chicago
department-store fortune.
Issy is married to landowner Sir
Charles Burrell and they live at his13-bedroom Knepp Castle in West
Sussex. She has spoken of her
adoption, saying: ‘You definitely
have a sense of fate that stays with
you. I was incredibly lucky to find a
loving family.’
Esther married Jamie, who
changed his surname from Colvin
to Cayzer-Colvin at the behest of
his shipping magnate grandfather
Lord Cayzer. He duly altered his
will in Jamie’s favour — once his
name had been double-barrelled.
Lady Elizabeth left all her
correspondence with Betjeman to
the Chatsworth House Trust, at
the stately home where she grew
up in Derbyshire.
But she specified a list of items
not to go to the trust, including a
drawing of two teddy bears and a
list of poems, including one with
the intriguing first line: ‘He told me
I ought to varnish my nails.’Why Keira’s
gunning for
politicians
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY received a
political education playing
Katharine Gun, the govern-
ment translator charged with
leaking information about the
run-up to the Iraq War, in her
new movie Official Secrets.
‘You can’t question Katharine’s
courage,’ claims the Pirates Of
The Caribbean star, who
believes Iraq was a watershed.
‘That feeling of disillusion-
ment and that feeling of shock
that certain political figures
may be not telling the truth, I
think has had a major impact.’
Will an appearance on
Question Time be next?SPARE a thought for David Cameron. He
delayed his memoir until after Brexit in
March, so as not to cause trouble for Theresa
May. Now it’s due out next month amid
constitutional turmoil — and his role in it.
A friend laments: ‘David wanted to focus on
his legacy in other areas. Now he will be
questioned about Brexit, Brexit and Brexit.’■If you’re stuck for the solution to today’s clue, or any
others this week, call our Solution Line on 0901 293- Calls cost £1 plus your network access charge.
Solve the riddle to identify this city:
It was a stronghold for the Royalists
in the Civil WarBut they faced defeat at nearby Marston Moor.
The county’s home to the white rose
and the tykeAnd its Minster was restored after
a lightning strike.TODAY’S TEASER
■
THE Mail’s magnificent Royal
Treasure Hunt is now in the final
week of its three-week run. This week’s
set of puzzles started on Saturday
with a picture and clue in Weekend
magazine. Solve this week’s six clues
(if you miss any, see Solution Line
number on the right) for your chance to
win this week’s prize of £10,000 in
jewels or cash.■
WRITE your answer each day
inside the boxes provided. The
answers will all be famous castles,
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attractions, towns or cities in
Great Britain. This week, these willall be associated with the Cavaliers
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WHEN you’ve cracked all six clues,
transfer the words into the grid
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lighted letters will form an anagram.
Unscramble the anagram to find this
week’s answer. It’s not essential, but you
may want to keep the picture from
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for your chance to win. Full details will
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THE lucky winner with the correct
answer will be drawn at random thisSaturday, August 31, and called between
9am and 11am. Answer the phone and
you’ll win £10,000 in jewels or cash!■
IF YOU’RE not lucky enough to win
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three weeks, don’t worry — all correct
answers will count as one entry into a
prize draw for our overall Royal Treasure
Hunt winner, who’ll be invited to spend a
VIP weekend for two in London, includ-
ing travel, a five-star hotel stay, dinner at
the Tower of London and a tour of the
Jewel House. There, they will choose
their jewellery prize or a cash alternative
of £20,000. That’s a total of £50,000
that must be won!HOW TO PLAY
Terms and conditions are below or viewable online at dailymail.co.uk/treasure.
Entrants must be UK residents (excl NI) aged 18 or over. For help with this
competition or using the Solution Line, call Customer Services on 0330 100 0601.£50
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000Royal Treasure Hunt
TERMS & CONDITIONS: The Promotion is free to enter via email, or costs £1 per text or £1 by a premium rate
phone call, plus your standard network charge. You may enter by phone or text as many times as you wish,
but only once by email. The Promotion runs from August 10 until August 30, 2019. There are three weekly
competitions for one person to win a £10,000 cheque or £10,000 credit to spend at Asprey of London. Plus,
at the end of the third week, all qualifying entries will each count as entries into an overall prize draw forone person to win a £20,000 cheque or £20,000 credit to spend at Asprey of London, as well as a royal VIP
experience in London, including travel, a five-star hotel stay, dinner at the Tower of London and a tour of the
Jewel House. Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries, held before 9am on the proceeding
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£20,000 prize on August 31, 2019) by phone call between 9am and 11am that day. The Promoter shallattempt to call the winner three times on the telephone number provided by the winner. Failure by the
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Street, London W8 5TT. The winning entrant agrees to the Publisher’s use of their name, county of residence
and photograph in relation to the Publisher’s publicity material and activities.Week
3
£10,000 in jewels or cash MUST be won every week for
three weeks — just solve the clues and riddles! PLUS
all correct entries go into a final draw to win £20,000
in jewels or cash and a royal VIP experience in London
TODAY’S ANSWER