![]() When she and her husband left for Cumbria to shield from Covid in March 2020, they headed off 'with just about the clothes on our backs', said Mrs Gladstone. I would take my cue from a look from David and we would retire upstairs.' 'Although he never said anything to me or to Leigh, his stress was evident to me as he would just sit in his chair looking resigned. ![]() 'If Wotton was full of Leigh's guests, people David did not know, he appeared to find it stressful. 'She made heavy weather of needing to make beds up and changing sheets. ![]() 'David had always been very sociable, but I felt that Leigh discouraged visits from David's family, particularly his nephews Ben and Matt Gladstone, and his brother Robert and sister-in-law Sally. 'Leigh treated Wotton as her own,' said Mrs Gladstone in her witness statement. Mrs Gladstone denies telling Ms White that she was bringing her husband to her home in Cumbria 'to die' during the Covid epidemic and instead wanted him in a secure location to wait out the disease She said her husband appeared to become 'less relaxed around Leigh once she moved into Wotton'. Mrs Gladstone, who married David in 2020 following the death of his first wife in 2014, told the judge that once Mrs White had started living in Wotton during the week she 'began to take charge more,' insisting that his long-term cleaners were fired. The court heard that Mr Gladstone accepts initially giving Ms White wide scope to manage Wotton House on his behalf, but he says she went too far and 'treated Wotton as her own' and that he now wants her out. He demanded she move out so he could move back in and announced he had written a new will, placing his estate into a discretionary trust for the benefit of his family - and leaving nothing and no role for Mrs White. It was only after he moved north to Cumbria to shield from Covid-19 with his new wife, Mary, that the relationship and Mr Gladstone's inheritance plans changed unexpectedly, Mrs White claimed. They met Mrs White 30 years ago and their friendship bloomed due to a shared passion for Sri Lanka, classical music and theatre, and she became part of their inner circle, managing Wotton as Mr Gladstone got older.īut Mrs White claims that, from 2007 onwards, Mr Gladstone repeatedly assured her that Wotton House and two other properties making up his £20m estate would go to her when he died. Rebuilt in the early 19th century by leading architect Sir John Soane following a major fire, it boasts extensive grounds, including pleasure gardens and two lakes, which were modelled by the celebrated landscape architect, Capability Brown. Mr Gladstone, who is still at his wife's home in Cumbria, has gone head to head against Mrs White in a two-week trial in which he is seeking possession of Wotton House, while she claims he cannot go back on alleged promises that she would inherit it.Įighteenth century Wotton House, near Aylesbury, was originally bought by Mr Gladstone's first wife April's family in the 1950s, but he inherited it following her death in 2014. She also told Mr Justice Trower that Mr Gladstone, 87, had become 'less relaxed' in his home once Mrs White started living there with him in 2017 following the death of his son.Īnd she denied claims that, when the couple moved to her home up north during the first Covid lockdown, she told Mrs White she was 'taking David to Cumbria to die' and that he had 'abdicated from Wotton'. ![]() Mr Gladstone's wife Mary Gladstone, 84, told the High Court that it would be 'intolerable' for them to move back into Wotton, pictured, unless Mrs White leaves, adding: 'We are too old and tired to deal with the confrontation and drama'
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