Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor lost his job and home after false allegations of sexual abuse were made against him.
Now, five years on, I can reveal that he has moved back into his former home on the Belvoir Castle estate owned by the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.
Proctor resigned as the Duke’s £40,500-a-year private secretary and in 2015 moved out of his grace-and-favour home after it was raided by the police as part of Operation Midland — the investigation into allegations of historical child sexual abuse.
Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor lost his job and home after false allegations of sexual abuse were made against him
All the time he vociferously protested his innocence and sued the Metropolitan Police for damages, successfully receiving a £500,000 settlement last year.
The Duke, who backed Proctor’s compensation claim against the police, has now invited him to return to Belvoir.
‘In one sense, it is good to be back,’ Proctor tells me, his voice quivering with emotion, ‘but it is difficult that these five years have happened.’
After briefly moving to Spain, Proctor returned to live on the Belvoir estate in a shed with no running water for 18 months, before relocating to a country cottage for two years.
As he is no longer employed by the Duke on a full-time basis, he will be expected to pay the full market rent on his old home. ‘I’m paying £18,000 a year,’ he tells me.
Now, five years on, I can reveal that he has moved back into his former home on the Belvoir Castle estate owned by the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, writes SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE
Proctor protested his innocence and sued the Metropolitan Police for damages, successfully receiving a £500,000 settlement last year. The Duke (left), who backed Proctor’s compensation claim against the police, has now invited him to return to Belvoir
‘The Duke and Duchess are very good friends. He came round for coffee this morning. He has been a great support.
‘I’m pleased to be back, because when I moved here in 2013, it was the house I thought I would live in until I died.’
The Duke’s daughter, Lady Alice Manners and her boyfriend, Otis Ferry, son of pop star Bryan, were living in the house until last weekend but have moved out to make way for Proctor and his partner and their three dogs.
As he is no longer employed by the Duke on a full-time basis, he will be expected to pay the full market rent on his old home. ‘I’m paying £18,000 a year,’ he tells me
‘They were going to move out anyway,’ Proctor assures me.
Proctor, who has described the Met inquiry as a ‘Kafkaesque nightmare of deceit and injustice’, is still furious with the treatment he received.
‘It’s not the end of the matter. Not one police officer has been held responsible — [former Met Commissioner] Bernard Hogan-Howe became a Lord, and Cressida Dick, who could have stopped it in 2014, got a Damehood.’
Once he has settled back in, Proctor, 73, has plans for speaking engagements and lecture tours.
ROYAL favourite Alan Titchmarsh refuses to accept he’s in the ‘vulnerable’ coronavirus category, despite turning 71 at the weekend. ‘
Alan was fighting us to the bitter end when we said: ‘You’ve got to go home and look after yourself,’ says ITV executive Sue Murphy, who was forced to halt filming of his Love Your Garden series.
Irrepressible Titch is now making a ‘grow your own’ series in lockdown — but not without a struggle. Murphy adds: ‘We had to tell him we’re not sending a cameraman.
‘So in the end, Alan’s wife is filming it.’
Glitz is the new high, says Dara
While Princess Beatrice is in lockdown with fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, his ex-girlfriend Dara Huang is determined to show there’s no need to ditch the glam.
Architect and designer Dara, who has a three-year-old son with Edo, shared this photograph online at the weekend of her wearing gold stilletos made by her friend Aruna Seth.
While Princess Beatrice is in lockdown with fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, his ex-girlfriend Dara Huang is determined to show there’s no need to ditch the glam
‘Can’t remember the last time I put on a pair of heels,’ Dara said.
She has remained on close terms with property developer Edo and was due to attend his now-postponed wedding at the Chapel Royal later this month.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s favourite designer Amanda Wakeley reveals she’s been indulging in ‘baking therapy’ while in isolation.
‘As anyone who knows me well will tell you I am a complete chocoholic. Chocolate sparks joy in my life,’ she says.
‘When I lived in New York, I developed a taste for David’s Cookies. I’ve done my best to re-create them with a chewy biscuit and large chunks of molten chocolate — and best eaten while the chocolate is still runny.’
Explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison had an epic seven-week battle with coronavirus
Whatever you do, Robin don’t ask for the whiskey!
He’s ventured deep into the rainforests of the Amazon and of Borneo, and celebrated his 80th birthday in 2016 by running the London Marathon.
But yesterday, explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison made the sweetest journey of his life — the 30 miles by ambulance from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth to his hill farm on Bodmin Moor after an epic, seven-week battle with coronavirus.
‘He’s obviously longing for certain things,’ his wife, Louella, told me shortly before Robin, co-founder of the charity Survival International, returned home.
‘He re-learnt to speak two weeks ago,’ she added, thanking the ‘incredible NHS’ and explaining that Robin, who spent three weeks on a ventilator and ten days on a dialysis machine, additionally underwent a tracheotomy.
‘Whether he’s allowed a whisky, I’m not sure, but if the first thing he wants is a whisky rather than a cuddle, I’ll be very cross.’
That’ll keep neighbours up, Margot!
With all film shoots on hold, Hollywood star Margot Robbie is taking advantage of the hiatus to learn new skills.
‘I went out to buy myself a banjo,’ says Margot, 29, whose blockbusters include The Wolf Of Wall Street and Suicide Squad.
With all film shoots on hold, Hollywood star Margot Robbie is taking advantage of the hiatus to learn new skills. ‘I went out to buy myself a banjo,’ says Margot, 29, whose blockbusters include The Wolf Of Wall Street and Suicide Squad
‘I was, like, ‘now’s the time’, because I’ve always wanted to play the banjo. I’m learning French right now, too.’
Margot’s friend, British actress Carey Mulligan, has offered the musical talents of her husband, Mumford & Sons rocker Marcus Mumford.
‘He is really bored,’ Carey tells Margot in a discussion online. ‘He would 100 per cent give you lessons. I’ll hook you up.
Redman’s abs must be fab
New Tricks actress Amanda Redman, 62, reveals how she has been keeping the years at bay during lockdown — with a punishing fitness regime a woman half her age might balk at.
‘I’m really lucky to have a gym at home,’ she says. ‘Every morning, I’ll attempt 100 sit-ups. I use a bouncy ball with hand weights.
New Tricks actress Amanda Redman, 62, reveals how she has been keeping the years at bay during lockdown — with a punishing fitness regime a woman half her age might balk at
‘I’ll do 30 minutes on the cross trainer and, if I can push myself further, another half an hour on the treadmill.
‘It helps that I have a TV in there so I can catch up on documentaries while I’m pacing on the treadmill.’
Documentary film-maker Louis Theroux went in search of himself (or a part of it) at the weekend.
‘I cut a small slice off my finger while chopping a red onion for a Jamie Oliver recipe for carrot and coriander pancakes,’ he admits.
‘I briefly went pale and had to lie down. Family not impressed by my lack of stoicism. Me too, frankly. Still haven’t found the missing piece . . .’
Union Jack makes mum Rosie proud
M&S lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley admits she’s delighted that her two-year-old son Jack, whose father is action hero Jason Statham, is growing up a true Brit, despite living in Los Angeles.
‘I’m really proud to say he has a proper English accent,’ reveals the 33-year-old from Devon. ‘And he does have the same loud, booming voice as Jason — the pair of them are so noisy!’
Rosie adds that she and Derbyshire-born Jason, 52, to whom she became engaged four years ago, would ‘love to’ have more children — and she’s not fazed by their age gap.
‘Never been an issue,’ she insists. ‘Age is nothing but a number.’
M&S lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley admits she’s delighted that her two-year-old son Jack, whose father is action hero Jason Statham, is growing up a true Brit, despite living in Los Angeles