When Sir Stirling Moss died in 2020 aged 90, the party-loving motor racing legend left a detailed will including £1,000 to a pal, whom he ordered: ‘Enjoy a few nights out.’
Now, I can reveal that his widow, Susie, apparently failed to make a will before her death last year at the age of 69, even though she left a staggering £28million.
The oversight may, however, eventually rescue their son, Elliot Moss, a restaurateur, who said last summer that he and his family risked being made homeless after he was left barely a fraction of the almost £21million fortune of his father.
He explained: ‘The choice I have is either to sell the restaurant or the flat.’ He was said to have been left £132,000, with the vast majority of the estate gone to his mother.
Newly published probate documents for Lady Moss disclose that she left a £27.8million estate. However, the Probate Office has issued a Grant of Letters of Administration – a legal document issued when someone has died without making a valid will.
Sir Stirling Moss and Lady Susie Moss at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, West Sussex in July 2012
Sir Stirling Moss and wife Susie Stirling Moss in Austria in April 2012
Susie Paine first met Stirling when she was five years old and he was 28
When that happens, the estate usually passes to the deceased’s next of kin, in this case Elliot, who could not be reached last night.
After Susie died in March last year, her sister, Tina, wife of ebullient retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, told me amid floods of tears: ‘My beloved sister died of a broken heart. She never recovered after Stirling left us. Their marriage was the greatest love story I have ever known.’
Susie Paine first met Stirling when she was five years old and he was 28. Yet theirs was to become one of the great love stories when, two decades later, acquaintance matured into a fast-lane romance, and led to her becoming the third and final wife of Britain’s greatest-ever racing driver.
Their union lasted for nearly four decades, in vivid contrast to his first two marital excursions. The first, to Canadian brewing heiress Kate Molson, ended after three years, while the second, to American Elaine Barbarino, with whom he had a daughter, Allison, endured just a year longer.
‘The age gap didn’t matter,’ Susie told the Daily Mail after Sir Stirling’s death. ‘I never thought about it because, to me, he was never old.’
Her self-confidence equipped her to cope with the attention he always received. ‘Women threw themselves at him,’ acknowledged Susie.
Getty heiress bids for pop stardom
Is pop music being taken over by the privileged? I ask only as billionaire heiress Ivy Getty has launched her career as a pop singer with her debut single, One Hit Wonder.
‘It’s a very girly pop song,’ says Getty, who can be seen singing into a microphone in an image she shared online. ‘I listen to all types [of pop], but I just thought it would be so much fun to create a song that I could play while getting dressed in my closet or one so I could request myself at a karaoke bar.’
The American socialite, 29, isn’t the only super-rich pop wannabe, as she follows the likes of Kirsty Bertarelli — and Daphne Guinness, who has just released her fourth album, to acclaim from critics.
Billionaire heiress Ivy Getty has launched her career as a pop singer with her debut single, One Hit Wonder.
The American socialite, 29, isn’t the only super-rich pop wannabe, as she follows the likes of Kirsty Bertarelli — and Daphne Guinness, who has just released her fourth album
Sir Karl Jenkins feels slighted by snobbishness
With his shaggy long hairdo, tinted glasses and handlebar moustache, Sir Karl Jenkins became an unlikely online sensation at King Charles’s Coronation when jokes were made that he was the Duchess of Sussex in disguise.
Now, the composer, who had written music for the Westminster Abbey service, says he feels slighted by snobbishness in the classical world.
‘I played jazz for years, but now it’s modern classical,’ he says. ‘I got some recognition for it, I’ve been knighted and all this type of stuff.
‘But I’m still not respected in some quarters of classical music. I’m not what they consider serious enough. Because my music is accessible and memorable.’
Will Kirsty Wark be replaced by a TikTok influencer?
Newsnight editor Jonathan Aspinwall is seeking applicants to join Victoria Derbyshire as the revamped show’s new co-host: ‘It has got to be someone contemporary, with a bit of a buzz around them.’
Could be another job for the busy Amol Rajan, if he is still considered sufficiently ‘contemporary’ at the age of 41.
Cathy Newman online backlash causes panic attacks
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman was reduced to spluttering silence by culture warrior Jordan Peterson when she challenged the best-selling author over sexism and free speech.
The online backlash she received caused her to have ‘panic attacks’, she says.
‘I got horribly trolled after the Jordan Peterson thing. It did knock my confidence.
Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman was reduced to spluttering silence by culture warrior Jordan Peterson when she challenged him over sexism and free speech
The online backlash she received caused her to have ‘panic attacks’, she says
‘There was a particularly stressful programme that I was doing and I was standing up about to do the headlines.
‘I remember my heart started to race and I was losing my breath during the headlines. I suppose I was having a panic attack.’
Roger Daltrey inviting fans to ask him about his illustrious career
Roger Daltrey is inviting fans to ask him about his illustrious career during his latest solo tour.
But don’t bother trying to ‘cancel’ The Who legend if the answers aren’t politically correct.
‘We have a box at the entrance, people can write down questions. I’ll answer some. But my show comes with a warning: Sooner or later you’re gonna be offended,’ says the singer, 80.
‘Something will upset you. Get over it now or leave. I can’t take that micromanagement. I’m too bloody old.’