The Aristo, a Workers' Revolt and the Missing Millions
The Aristo, a Workers' Revolt and the Missing Millions
By Keith Dovkants and Adrian Gatton
19 February 2006
Evening Standard (London)
The free-spending British heir to an ancient title is under investigation in Germany over a company he acquired
To his many friends on the polo circuit, the Hon Rhodri Philipps is the consummate owner-player. His team, Prodigal, often includes leading professional Jack Kidd, whose sister Jodie, the model, is an enthusiastic supporter. Philipps, heir to an ancient title and said to be a descendant of Richard the Lionheart, plays with attacking verve and, win or lose, is always dazzlingly generous with his hospitality.
Indeed, his free-spending has been noted far from the polo field. In the German town of Nuremberg a large number of unemployed workers have followed Philipps’s exploits very closely. There was the polo tournament on snow at Klosters last year, where Philipps fielded his team against world-class players, including Kidd. Jodie presented the trophy. Then there were the celebrity matches at Cowdray Park where Philipps played with some of polo’s stars including his friend Lucas White, who inherited £70 million from his father, the legendary entrepreneur Lord (Gordon) White. Led by Philipps, Prodigal won the Daniele de Winter cup. Lucas’s wife, Normandie Keith, was among the first to offer her congratulations.
Alas, Philipps’s sporting successes prompted a quite different reaction in Nuremberg. It was here, not so long ago, that a group of angry men stormed Philipps’s office, apparently intent on a confrontation. Only when the police arrived and Philipps was able to escape the scene in his car was calm restored.
Those who know him as the debonair 40-year-old heir to Viscount St Davids and the title Baron Strange de Knokyn (which dates from 1299) might be perplexed by the Nuremberg incident. Philipps is a popular figure in London, a regular at the Walbrook Club in the City and frequent patron of some of the capital’s finest restaurants and shops. James Purdey and Sons, the celebrated gun- maker in Mayfair, has done several thousand pounds worth of business with him recently His Wikipedia entry lists his hobbies as “polo, exclusive shopping”.
This has also been noted in Nuremberg. Workers at the old-established construction company Hans Brochier, which was taken over in a deal done by Philipps, claim his lavish spending habits have been financed by money that was meant to benefit them.
It seems an extraordinary thing to allege about a member of one of Britain’s noble families …
Indeed, his free-spending has been noted far from the polo field. In the German town of Nuremberg a large number of unemployed workers have followed Philipps’s exploits very closely. There was the polo tournament on snow at Klosters last year, where Philipps fielded his team against world-class players, including Kidd. Jodie presented the trophy. Then there were the celebrity matches at Cowdray Park where Philipps played with some of polo’s stars including his friend Lucas White, who inherited £70 million from his father, the legendary entrepreneur Lord (Gordon) White. Led by Philipps, Prodigal won the Daniele de Winter cup. Lucas’s wife, Normandie Keith, was among the first to offer her congratulations.
Alas, Philipps’s sporting successes prompted a quite different reaction in Nuremberg. It was here, not so long ago, that a group of angry men stormed Philipps’s office, apparently intent on a confrontation. Only when the police arrived and Philipps was able to escape the scene in his car was calm restored.
Those who know him as the debonair 40-year-old heir to Viscount St Davids and the title Baron Strange de Knokyn (which dates from 1299) might be perplexed by the Nuremberg incident. Philipps is a popular figure in London, a regular at the Walbrook Club in the City and frequent patron of some of the capital’s finest restaurants and shops. James Purdey and Sons, the celebrated gun- maker in Mayfair, has done several thousand pounds worth of business with him recently His Wikipedia entry lists his hobbies as “polo, exclusive shopping”.
This has also been noted in Nuremberg. Workers at the old-established construction company Hans Brochier, which was taken over in a deal done by Philipps, claim his lavish spending habits have been financed by money that was meant to benefit them.
It seems an extraordinary thing to allege about a member of one of Britain’s noble families …
Labels: Offshore Money
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