Although
Alexander, 13th Duke of Manchester maligns his mother on
every imaginable occasion and, for the record to me and for
publication, accused her of having an illicit sexual relationship
with Rupert Murdoch while he, Alexander, was in the home, he seems to
have relied on her to pull him out of trouble, when all else failed.
My
understanding with Alexander was that I was to take notes every time
we talked and use these for the book. No contract had been signed,
but I was told one would be. There was also no non-disclosure
agreement, which would have been signed at the time a contract had
been signed and payment had been made for work already done.
This
included a website, The Duke of Manchester. I put up the site on Yola, a site offering one
site free, and made the 'account' in the name of Manchester. All of
the writing, and ideas for re-establishing Alex's good name, were my
own and represented, eventually, several weeks of time-dedicated
work.
In agreeing
to take on this work, I had relied heavily on Raye Smith, a friend of
mine, who had vouched for both Alex and Laura. Raye was very much
mistaken in the characters of both Alex and Laura, something she
deeply regrets now. Before and after introducing me to the Montagus
Raye had been loaning them money to pay for such necessities as rent for a storage space, food, and prescriptions.
I received
the letter discussed below from Mary Montagu (AKA Lady Mary Montagu) on April
1, 2012. Since by then I had been in contact with Wendy Buford
Montagu and had time to review the multitude of documents the
Montagus had sent me, which previously I had only filed, unread, the
falseness of Mary's letter was striking. Among these points were the court
documents from Australia for 1984 – 1985.
“Wendy
has forwarded me your documents claimed to be filed on behalf of
Maroin Stoner ... this is the first I have ever seen these documents
- but I can assure you Alexander was not living with her for the
period you allege... He was never presented in Dandenong Court with
assault. The names given in the notice of divorce you
sent are completely false and I can vouch for where Alexander was
from December 1983 until July 1984 and it was not in Victoria
Australia.”
Notice
Mary uses the same technique employed by Alex and Laura, asserting
the validity of statements unsupported by any buttressing proof to
refute documentation which was also in the hands of the Manchester
Trust, evidently obtained through examining the court records.
The
statements are even more outrageous because the Manchester Trust had
ended support to Wendy and the children because of these documents
and other proof of the Stoner marriage was authentic in June of 2009,
reinstating support for the children after a decision rendered by the
Chancery Court on July 19, 2011.
Mary
continues:
“I
have previously stated and it is the truth I obtained the divorce
after Ms Stoner presented herself at my office. And at no
stage did she mention any earlier actions nor any violence but
strssed that she had lived with the same person for over 20 years, go
figure..”
At
this point Stoner's title would have been Viscountess of Mandeville,
but she, herself said in an article, “I
still may be Lady Marion Montagu, legally, but I never call myself
that. If I did people in Australia would laugh at me.”
The article, by Ian Dougall, was published in “The
People,” in 1988.
“I
filed the documents and paid - not only the money demanded by this
woman - but the divorce costs.... I can give you my absolute
word that at no stage was Alexander ever living with this woman who
as I understand it - and on her own testimony at all times lived in a
de facto relationship with another man. I do not believe
this ... anybody can file a document in the court.... I could draw up
a document and file it naming you and accusing you of any manner of
behavior but this was not proceeded with. I is not an
affidavit as such and bears no relevance to anything.... It is not a
sworn document and frankly I don't understand it.”
In
her letter Mary Montagu admits filing the documents and paying, the
amount mentioned elsewhere was $5,000.00, evidently, so the woman,
Marion Stoner Montagu, then Lady Marion Montagu, would cooperate. Clearly, Marion Stoner
Montagu was not particularly concerned about being legally married as
long as she was not being dunned for her husband's debts.
The immediate problems, and potential scandal, were firmly in the lap of the Montagus and Alex was not inclined to be bothered, witness the fact that even after his mother paid and did the filing he ignored the obvious next step, informing and remarrying Wendy to legitimate his son and the daughter who would be born in 1999.
The immediate problems, and potential scandal, were firmly in the lap of the Montagus and Alex was not inclined to be bothered, witness the fact that even after his mother paid and did the filing he ignored the obvious next step, informing and remarrying Wendy to legitimate his son and the daughter who would be born in 1999.
At
the time, during the summer of 1996, Wendy, interviewed for this article, said, Mary came to
visit Alex and Wendy at their home, staying with a Norman and Parke,
friends of theirs. Wendy believes this might have been when the
papers were done. This was the first time Wendy had met her
mother-in-law.
Wendy
believes Alex never intended to tell her because he knew she would
leave him if she knew she was not trapped by the spectre of going
through a divorce. As long as Wendy was bringing in money, and
potentially having more children to produce more money from the
Trusts every month, Alex was satisfied and getting what he wanted. He
also had free medical insurance through Wendy's work. The money Alex
was receiving from the Trust was minimal at this point, Wendy
believes by the evidence available to her at the time.
“Finally,
and I have checked, Alexander was never charged with any assault
offences at all in Australia. Matters he was charged with
and convicted were absolutely fraud. And there has never been
any question of violence raised.
In
other words it is a nonsense.
If
this continues with lies, threats and the malicious spreading of same
I will no choice but to get my attorneys in NY to take immediate
action.
I
have been very honest with you and the family history including the
serious ill health of my daughter. But you seem to
have no concern or respect for someone who genuinely tried to help
you in your research.”
This
section made me wonder which of two explanations was correct. Was
Mary really incompetent at research or did she really think this kind
of threat would work? For the record, I kept writing and never heard
from her again, unfortunately.
|
Apr 1 |
|
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Wendy
has forwarded me your documents claimed to be filed on behalf of
Maroin Stoner ... this is the first I have ever seen these documents
- but I can assure you Alexander was not living with her for the
period you allege... He was never presented in Dandenong Court with
assault. The names given in the notice of divorce you
sent are completely false and I can vouch for where Alexander was
from December 1983 until July 1984 and it was not in Victoria
Australia.
I
have previously stated and it is the truth I obtained the divorce
after Ms Stoner presented herself at my office. And at no
stage did she mention any earlier actions nor any violence but
strssed that she had lived with the same person for over 20 years, go
figure..
I filed
the documents and paid - not only the money demanded by this woman -
but the divorce costs.... I can give you my absolute word that
at no stage was Alexander ever living with this woman who as I
understand it - and on her own testimony at all times lived in a de
facto relationship with another man. I do not believe
this ... anybody can file a document in the court.... I could draw up
a document and file it naming you and accusing you of any manner of
behavior but this was not proceeded with. I is not an
affidavit as such and bears no relevance to anything.... It is not a
sworn document and frankly I don't understand it.
Finally,
and I have checked, Alexander was never charged with any assault
offences at all in Australia. Matters he was charged with
and convicted were absolutely fraud. And there has never been
any question of violence raised.
In
other words it is a nonsense.
If this
continues with lies, threats and the malicious spreading of same I
will no choice but to get my attorneys in NY to take immediate
action.
I have
been very honest with you and the family history including the
serious ill health of my daughter. But you seem to
have no concern or respect for someone who genuinely tried to help
you in your research.
sincerely
Mary Montagu
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