EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: 'Fourth man' in 'Sextator' scandal at The Spectator magazine leaves staggering sum in his will

Daily Mail​

a day ago

As parties go, it can plausibly boast of being the highest-octane mix of the rich and powerful, blended with generations of glamour – Dame Joan Collins, Sophie Winkleman and Georgia Toffolo have been among its guests.
But Thursday's Spectator summer party, held in the gardens of the magazine's Westminster headquarters, promises to be a vintage one, thanks to the publication of a will which sheds new light on the most restless era in the magazine's history.
It's that of Sandy Leitch, ennobled in 2004 by Tony Blair as Lord Leitch of Oakley in Fife. And it is, in layman's terms, a whopper.
The bespectacled, softly spoken Leitch left a fortune of more than £32million – after tax, according to newly published probate documents.
It's the sort of sum which surely helps explain why Leitch came to be described as 'a most unlikely Romeo' at a time when several Spectator luminaries were tucking into rather more than a cocktail sausage.
Among them were its then editor, Boris Johnson, who, while married to his second wife, Marina Wheeler, was enjoying an affair with his deputy, Petronella Wyatt, only daughter of four-times married Lord Wyatt of Weeford.
But their romance was eclipsed by the even more hectic love-life of one of the magazine's executives, Kimberly Fortier.
The effervescent American brunette was, by then, married to her second husband, Stephen Quinn, having already divorced investment banker Michael Fortier.
Unconstrained by her new marital status, she embarked on an affair with the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett.
Simultaneously, she enjoyed the favours of parliamentary sketch-writer Simon Hoggart.
But that wasn't the full extent of Kimberly's adventures. In 2004, it emerged that, two years earlier, she'd given birth to a son whose paternity became the subject of feverish debate – more feverish still when it emerged that, before marrying Quinn, she'd become romantically entangled with a 'fourth man', named as insurance specialist Sandy Leitch, whose firm funded the Spectator's annual political lecture.
Leitch, a divorced father of three adult daughters, was mortified by the attention, but relieved when DNA tests established that the boy's father was Blunkett. His will divides his millions between his second wife, Noelle, and his children by his two marriages. There's nothing for Kimberly – not even 'for old time's sake'.
No Chelsea tractor for Clarkson's Farm girl
Here's Jeremy Clarkson's farmhand Harriet Cowan as you've never seen her.
The nurse, 24, who was seen helping the TV star manage Diddly Squat in Oxfordshire in Kaleb Cooper's absence in the fourth series of his hit Prime Video show Clarkson's Farm, has posed for Country Life magazine's 'Girls in Pearls' page, once the preserve of royalty and demure debutantes.
Harriet has swapped wellies for cowgirl boots in this photograph taken on her father's farm in Belper, Derbyshire. She's joined by her border collie Tyke as she sits on the tyre of a vintage tractor wearing a summer dress.
Hollywood star John Lithgow, who's currently playing Roald Dahl in West End play Giant, is still hungry for success aged 79.
'Movies are a luxury because they feed you well, midday every day,' the actor tells Ruthie's Table 4 podcast. 'I did two months in Rome on Conclave,' he says referring to the Oscar-winning film starring Ralph Fiennes.
'We were in an amazing, funky hotel, eating and drinking after a long day of working, it was great. Much better than doing theatre.'
Don't cry but... 'meaningless' Evita gets a critical mauling
The new West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita, starring Snow White actress Rachel Zegler as the Argentine political icon, has opened to a slew of five-star reviews.
But veteran West End producer Matthew Mitchell was so underwhelmed by director Jamie Lloyd's staging that he walked out on opening night during the interval.
'I'd like to be able to say that it was three hours of my life that I'll never get back,' says Mitchell, whose productions have included Three Sisters, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, and Sweeney Todd.
'Fortunately, I only had to endure the first half. Literally only the second 'show' in my entire life that I've left in the interval.'
For good measure, Mitchell adds: 'I've seen more charisma in a flea circus... if you want to see a Beyonce concert version of it (without Beyonce)... and meaningless choreography, you'll love it.' Ouch.
Tigerlily takes on park 'creeps'
The splendour of summer evaporated this week for Tigerlily Taylor, model daughter of Queen drummer Roger Taylor – and it's got nothing to do with the recent heatwave.
'Just walking my dog in the park, wearing a skirt,' muses Tigerlily on a video on social media, before explaining that her London stroll was then violated by what she calls 'two creepy, creepy men screaming at me from across the f****** park, talking about my a**e cheeks'.
Tigerlily, 30, adds that she is not 'crying about it', pointing out that 'this s*** does happen all the time to women'.
Due to be portrayed by Saltburn star Barry Keoghan in Sir Sam Mendes's Beatles biopic, Sir Ringo Starr confirms he's now personally made amendments to the script.
Having recently spent two days with Mendes, the former Beatle explains: 'He had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with [Ringo's late first wife] Maureen and I.
That's not how we were. I'd say, 'We would never do that'.' With Mendes having apparently agreed to Ringo script tweaks, the drummer warmly adds of the director: 'He'll do what he's doing... and I'll send him peace and love.'