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The Earl of Warwick | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Robin Francis Guy Greville 15 May 1934 Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 20 January 1996 (aged 64) Torremolinos, Spain |
| Spouse | Sarah Chester Beatty |
| Children | Lady Charlotte Fraser Guy David Greville, 9th Earl of Warwick |
| Parent(s) | Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick Rose Bingham |
| Family | Greville |
David Robin Francis Guy Greville, 8th Earl of Warwick and 8th Earl Brooke (15 May 1934 – 20 January 1996) was a British peer and landowner. He was the final owner from the Greville family of Warwick Castle, which he sold in 1978.
Early life and family edit
Born in Warwick Castle in 1934, David Greville was the only child of Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick by his first wife, Rose Bingham. They divorced four years later,[1] and his father married two more times.[2]
David Greville, then known as Lord Brooke, was educated at Summerfields School in Sussex and then at Eton College. On 28 June 1956, he married the model Sarah Chester Beatty, a daughter of the mining magnate Alfred Chester Beatty.[1] They had two children before they separated in 1963 and divorced in 1967.[2]
The Herald later described Lord Brooke as "a prominent and sartorially elegant figure on the London social scene" of the 1960s and 1970s.[1] The publication also wrote that he was an "accomplished artist" who "loved books, horses, and parties."[1]
Warwick Castle edit
The 7th Earl, seeking to circumvent inheritance taxes, gave Warwick Castle to his son in 1959.[3] After his divorce, Lord Brooke took up residence at the castle, which had been vacated for eight years by his family. The property had by now become a tourist attraction, and for a few years he took over personal management of it, opening the castle's dungeons and increasing admission fees. He eventually left daily management to agents, and moved to Paris in 1975 as a tax exile.[2]
During this period he sold four works by the Italian painter Canaletto for £1 million, which drew the attention of the art world despite the fact that other precious artworks had been sold by his family for years, including a famous portrait of Elizabeth I. Despite widespread criticism and the presence of demonstrators who protested the continued dismantling of Warwick's art collection, Brooke insisted it was a private matter and refused to stop. In 1978 he sold the castle and park to the entertainment company Madame Tussauds for £1.5 million, creating further uproar.[2]
Earl of Warwick edit
Lord Brooke succeeded to the Warwick title in January 1984 upon the death of his father.[1] The British press largely ignored him during his final years,[2] and on 20 January 1996 he died of pneumonia in Torremolinos, Spain. His only son, Guy David Greville, succeeded him as 9th Earl of Warwick.[3] His only daughter, Lady Charlotte, married a younger son of Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f "The Earl of Warwick". The Herald. 26 January 1996. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Kilburn 2004.
- ^ a b Thomas Jr., Robert (24 January 1996). "Earl of Warwick, 61, Who Sold His Castle to Madame Tussauds". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- Works cited
- Kilburn, Matthew (2004). "Greville, David Robin Francis Guy, eighth earl of Warwick and eighth Earl Brooke (1934–1996), art and property divester". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/106965. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)