Regards,
Dave.
The occurences around Herbert Stern, 1st Baron Michelham's will and his death in 1919 make for a rather interesting reading.
Several books on Coco Chanel claim that Chanel's lover at that time, Captain Arthur Edward "Boy" Capel, was not only Lady Michelham's friend and confidant, but also her lover, and helped her to get rid of an unfavourable secret testament, initiated in her absence by her husband's family in August 1918, which would have left her with nothing but the content of their houses and a fixed income. When Boy Capel was made coexecutor of the will, he informed Lady Michelham about its provisions, which allowed her to take action and induce a codicil, which reversed the will and named her as executor of her husband's entire fortune until their sons reached the age of thirty.
In exchange for Boy's help his sister Berthe (1879–1961) was married to Lord and Lady Michelham's son Herman (1900–1984). The wedding took place in January 1919, just three days before Lord Michelham’s death and under the conditions she never cause a scandal and never bear a child.
In one of at least two lawsuits in connection with Baron Michelham's death and testament, the dowager baroness later contested not only her husband's will of 1918, but also the financial provisions made for Berthe Capel upon her marriage and claimed her husband was not in a condition to understand business matters.
A newspaper report on the lawsuit (14 March 1919) refers to Aimée, Lady Michelham's pearls and emeralds, repeating the claim that they "belonged at one time to an Empress of Russia".
Baron and Baroness Michelham had two sons: Herman (*1900) and Jack (*1903), who was allegedly fathered by Jeff Cohn – that Captain Cohn who acted on behalf of Lady Michelham in abovementioned lawsuit. He had advised both Lord and Lady Michelham in all questions around horse breeding and racing and was later – again allegedly – together with Lady Michelham's son Jack Stern involved in some machinations around the auctions of art and furniture in the years before her death in 1927. Meryle Secrest's "Duveen: A Life in Art" about art dealer Joseph Duveen gives some interesting insight into how they helped (for a provision of 15%) securing record breaking auction results, of which Jack Stern benefitted again when he inherited half of his mother's estate.
The elder brother, Herman, 2nd Baron Michelham was married twice. After his first (much older) wife Berthe's death in 1961 he wed Marie Josée Dupas (*1939) in 1980, who is currently president of the "Fondation Lord Michelham of Hellingly", founded in Geneva in 1985, right after Baron Michelham's death. The foundation was among other things for many years involved in restoration projects in Versailles, but the foundation's main purposes are "aide à la vieillesse dans le besoin et aux personnes handicapées; aide à la formation et à la recherche en matière technologique, dans tous les secteurs de l'économie, de manière à assister les efforts de développement des pays sous-développés."
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