Legacy Matters

A weakness for women and champagne

Thankfully Alexander Stuttaford reads the London obituary pages and brings us the most delicious tidbits.

The 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, whose death aged 66 was confirmed yesterday, demonstrated the dangers of the possession of inherited wealth coupled with a weakness for women and Champagne.

Longtime chairman of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, a respected conservationist who planted more than a million trees on his Dorset estate. Shaftesbury 

had been devoting himself to helping vulnerable young girls working in nightspots on the French Riviera to start new lives. But as the mystery deepened, it seemed that his interest was more than merely philanthropic.