8:00AM BST 01 Jul 2012
After four marriages had ended in failure, the Marquess of Northampton was
convinced he had finally found love with his fifth wife. But now that marriage
too — after 20 years — has ended in acrimony with Lord Northampton accusing his
wife of having an affair with his close friend.
Last week, the Marchioness of Northampton’s lover was named in a High Court
divorce hearing as Dan Stoicescu, a Romanian-born scientist and entrepreneur,
who, friends of Lord Northampton claim, is even wealthier than the peer.
Lord Northampton, 66, has offered his wife a £15 million divorce settlement
out of his £120 million fortune, although Lady Northampton, 60, is holding out
for more.
The High Court heard last week that she wants a further £10 million and it is
understood that Lord Northampton will be forced to sell one of his family’s most
prized possessions — a £6 million portrait of Queen Mary I, painted in 1554 — to
help pay for the divorce.
Lord Northampton, born Spencer Compton and known as “Spenny”, became friends
with Dr Stoicescu six years ago after meeting at a Freemasons gathering. Dr
Stoicescu, 60, describes himself as a “transhumanist” who is convinced human
life can be “extended through nanotechnology and artificial intelligence”. He
became the second person ever to have his human genome mapped, at a cost of
£220,000, and later paid for Lord Northampton and his wife to go through the
same process at an American clinic.
He also gave Lord Northampton expensive gifts before embarking on an affair
with Lady Northampton in 2010.
When Lord Northampton discovered the liaison — through secret, taped telephone conversations between his wife and her elderly father — he threw her out of the 84-room family home at Compton Wynyates, Warwickshire. She now lives in a £3 million flat in central London, which the couple once shared.
A friend of Lord Northampton told The Sunday Telegraph: “Spenny feels betrayed by Dan Stoicescu, whom he once regarded as one of his closest friends. At a time when he thought his marriage was solid, he and Pamela [Lady Northampton] holidayed with Stoicescu and he showered them with expensive gifts.
“Stoicescu also spent several nights as a house guest at Compton Wynyates. Stoicescu even gave Pamela a job with one of his organisations, which meant they travelled the world together. Spenny’s own friendship with Stoicescu cooled from early 2009, but Pamela had remained keen to continue working with him.
“Although it looks obvious now what was developing, Stoicescu’s role in the end of his marriage — just a few weeks before their 20th wedding anniversary — was a complete and utter shock. When Spenny was told about the content of the tapes he was knocked sideways, and was left in no doubt his marriage was at an end.”
But a close friend of Lady Northampton’s hit back yesterday as the row between the two escalated.
The divorce trial — set to last 15 days at a cost of more than £2 million in lawyers’ fees — is due to take place in January after two years of legal wrangling. It promises to be one of the most expensive divorces in English legal history.
The friend of Lady Northampton’s said: “Spenny has had a chequered past and Pamela has had to put up with a great deal.
“It’s fair to say that after 23 years together, the marriage was already faltering a considerable time before the relationship began with Dan.
“It is totally irrelevant what Dan is worth. Pamela put her heart and soul into that marriage. She has no plans to marry Dan and values her independence.
“Since Spenny decided to divorce her, she feels she has been treated like a common criminal — thrown out of Compton Wynyates and never allowed back.
“She resents the claim that she is being portrayed as a gold-digger. After a 23-year relationship, and after the contributions Pamela has made to Spenny’s properties, business and life, she is entitled to a good settlement.”
Lord Northampton’s own lifestyle — in the days before he met his fifth wife — often occupied the gossip pages of tabloid newspapers. Lady Northampton, who wore a cowboy hat to court, is — like most of his previous wives — blonde and glamorous.
Between 1967 and 1988, Lord Northampton married four times in relatively quick succession. He sold a painting by Andreas Mantegna for a then-world record sum of £8.1 million in 1985, two years after divorce number three.
English divorce law largely protects inherited wealth, meaning Lord Northampton’s two stately homes, Compton Wynyates and Castle Ashby, will remain intact for his heir.
His assets also include Roman treasure worth up to £100 million, although its provenance is so contentious it cannot be sold. The Sevso Treasure, consisting of 14 large decorated silver vessels and plates, is just one of the assets lawyers will argue over.
Lord Northampton met Dr Stoicescu in about 2006. At around the same time, Lord Northampton was praising his wife at a gathering of Freemasons in New York, thanking her for the “advice, love and support I receive from Pamela, who shares with me a passion for the Craft”.
Dr Stoicescu, who has a PhD in chemistry, made his fortune from a pharmaceutical company. He lives on the shore of Lake Geneva but also has access to houses in California, where Bill Gates is said to be a neighbour, and an estate in Australia.
Four years ago, after having his genetic code mapped, he said: “I’d rather spend my money on my genome than a Bentley or an aeroplane.”
Dr Stoicescu sits as a trustee on several charities. He also describes himself as an Honorary Consul of Finland interested in anti-ageing therapy.
Last week, during two days of hearings before Mr Justice Coleridge, lawyers argued about the secretly recorded telephone conversations.
The calls between Lady Northampton and her 87-year-old father, James Haworth, were taped by Mr Haworth’s partner Suzanne Shipwright, who ran a hair and beauty salon in Staines, Surrey. The recordings, made over several months, were passed to Lord Northampton, although there is no suggestion he instigated the covert operation. The tapes prompted Lady Northampton to sue her husband separately for breach of privacy. That part of the action, which was discontinued last week, alone has racked up legal bills estimated at close to £500,000.
Lawyers for Lady Northampton told the High Court last week that her and her father’s human rights had been violated by the recordings, but Mr Justice Coleridge questioned the wisdom of pursuing the privacy action. “Has she got nothing better to do with her life?” he asked.
When Lord Northampton discovered the liaison — through secret, taped telephone conversations between his wife and her elderly father — he threw her out of the 84-room family home at Compton Wynyates, Warwickshire. She now lives in a £3 million flat in central London, which the couple once shared.
A friend of Lord Northampton told The Sunday Telegraph: “Spenny feels betrayed by Dan Stoicescu, whom he once regarded as one of his closest friends. At a time when he thought his marriage was solid, he and Pamela [Lady Northampton] holidayed with Stoicescu and he showered them with expensive gifts.
“Stoicescu also spent several nights as a house guest at Compton Wynyates. Stoicescu even gave Pamela a job with one of his organisations, which meant they travelled the world together. Spenny’s own friendship with Stoicescu cooled from early 2009, but Pamela had remained keen to continue working with him.
“Although it looks obvious now what was developing, Stoicescu’s role in the end of his marriage — just a few weeks before their 20th wedding anniversary — was a complete and utter shock. When Spenny was told about the content of the tapes he was knocked sideways, and was left in no doubt his marriage was at an end.”
But a close friend of Lady Northampton’s hit back yesterday as the row between the two escalated.
The divorce trial — set to last 15 days at a cost of more than £2 million in lawyers’ fees — is due to take place in January after two years of legal wrangling. It promises to be one of the most expensive divorces in English legal history.
The friend of Lady Northampton’s said: “Spenny has had a chequered past and Pamela has had to put up with a great deal.
“It’s fair to say that after 23 years together, the marriage was already faltering a considerable time before the relationship began with Dan.
“It is totally irrelevant what Dan is worth. Pamela put her heart and soul into that marriage. She has no plans to marry Dan and values her independence.
“Since Spenny decided to divorce her, she feels she has been treated like a common criminal — thrown out of Compton Wynyates and never allowed back.
“She resents the claim that she is being portrayed as a gold-digger. After a 23-year relationship, and after the contributions Pamela has made to Spenny’s properties, business and life, she is entitled to a good settlement.”
Lord Northampton’s own lifestyle — in the days before he met his fifth wife — often occupied the gossip pages of tabloid newspapers. Lady Northampton, who wore a cowboy hat to court, is — like most of his previous wives — blonde and glamorous.
Between 1967 and 1988, Lord Northampton married four times in relatively quick succession. He sold a painting by Andreas Mantegna for a then-world record sum of £8.1 million in 1985, two years after divorce number three.
English divorce law largely protects inherited wealth, meaning Lord Northampton’s two stately homes, Compton Wynyates and Castle Ashby, will remain intact for his heir.
His assets also include Roman treasure worth up to £100 million, although its provenance is so contentious it cannot be sold. The Sevso Treasure, consisting of 14 large decorated silver vessels and plates, is just one of the assets lawyers will argue over.
Lord Northampton met Dr Stoicescu in about 2006. At around the same time, Lord Northampton was praising his wife at a gathering of Freemasons in New York, thanking her for the “advice, love and support I receive from Pamela, who shares with me a passion for the Craft”.
Dr Stoicescu, who has a PhD in chemistry, made his fortune from a pharmaceutical company. He lives on the shore of Lake Geneva but also has access to houses in California, where Bill Gates is said to be a neighbour, and an estate in Australia.
Four years ago, after having his genetic code mapped, he said: “I’d rather spend my money on my genome than a Bentley or an aeroplane.”
Dr Stoicescu sits as a trustee on several charities. He also describes himself as an Honorary Consul of Finland interested in anti-ageing therapy.
Last week, during two days of hearings before Mr Justice Coleridge, lawyers argued about the secretly recorded telephone conversations.
The calls between Lady Northampton and her 87-year-old father, James Haworth, were taped by Mr Haworth’s partner Suzanne Shipwright, who ran a hair and beauty salon in Staines, Surrey. The recordings, made over several months, were passed to Lord Northampton, although there is no suggestion he instigated the covert operation. The tapes prompted Lady Northampton to sue her husband separately for breach of privacy. That part of the action, which was discontinued last week, alone has racked up legal bills estimated at close to £500,000.
Lawyers for Lady Northampton told the High Court last week that her and her father’s human rights had been violated by the recordings, but Mr Justice Coleridge questioned the wisdom of pursuing the privacy action. “Has she got nothing better to do with her life?” he asked.
