EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Bank takes control of Damien Aspinall’s stake in his family’s casino empire after failing to repay his £6million mortgage
His father was a gambling legend who was a close friend of Lord Lucan before the peer’s disappearance in 1974, but Damian Aspinall’s own luck appears to have run out.
I can disclose that Aspinall has lost his stake in the family casino empire he revived two decades ago.
The banking group Investec is understood to have taken control of Aspinall’s 35 per cent stake in Aspers after he failed to repay a £6million mortgage.
‘It’s the end of an era,’ one of his friends tells me. ‘It’s not clear why he didn’t repay the mortgage. His stake in Aspers was worth about £50million at one point.’
Aspinall, 63, was said to have a fortune of around £200million.
Loss: I can disclose that Aspinall has lost his stake in the family casino empire he revived two decades ago
Millionaire: Aspinall, 63, was said to have a fortune of around £200million
A spokesman for Aspers, which operates casinos in London’s Westfield Stratford City, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Newcastle, confirms that Aspinall is no longer a board member of Aspers UK Holdings Ltd and its operating companies.
Gaming club Aspinalls – nicknamed ‘Aspers’ – was set up in Mayfair in the 1960s. Damian, whose ex-girlfriends include supermodels Naomi Campbell and Elle Macpherson, revived the Aspers name in conjunction with Crown Resorts, the Australian gambling group latterly run by billionaire James Packer. He’s the son of Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer, who founded World Series Cricket in the 1970s.
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US private equity giant Blackstone bought the wider Crown Resorts group in a deal worth £4.5billion last year.
Aspinall is also known for his family’s eponymous foundation, set up to breed gorillas and return them to the wild. He manages Howletts Wild Animal Park and nearby Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent. Boris Johnson’s wife, Carrie, was hired by the foundation as head of communications in 2021.
Last year, I disclosed that Aspinall had separated from his second wife, Victoria Fisher, who is 26 years his junior.
She admitted in 2017 that she had thought hard before accepting a proposal from Damian, who has two daughters, Tansy and Clary, with his first wife, Louise Sebag-Montefiore. He also has a daughter, Freya, with actress Donna Air.
A spokesman for Aspers tells me: ‘Aspers management continues to operate the business as normal, reporting to the board which represents all current shareholders.’
Aspinall declines to comment. A spokesman for Investec tells me: ‘I’m sorry, we’re not able to comment on this situation.’
Surprise visit for Countdown host Rachel
Happy: The 37-year-old seemed overjoyed when she was met by her family while leaving studios in Manchester earlier this week
Hug: Riley found her daughter Maven, aged three (above), and was then led to her husband Pasha Kovalev,
As A presenter of Countdown, Rachel Riley contends with a tough working schedule away from her loved ones.
So the 37-year-old seemed overjoyed when she was met by her family while leaving studios in Manchester earlier this week.
Riley found her daughter Maven, aged three (above), and was then led to her husband Pasha Kovalev, who was hiding from the Channel 4 host. ‘It was a delightful surprise,’ a friend tells me.
Former Strictly star Kovalev, 43, and Riley also have a one-year-old daughter, Noa. The presenter has recently spoken of the couple’s difficulties in spending time together because of their hectic working hours.
This might not go down well with Prince Andrew, who used to spend weeks at Balmoral when his mother was still alive. But I hear King Charles is to extend its opening times to the public, thereby limiting his relations’ opportunities to stay at the castle.
The royal Aberdeenshire retreat used to be open to the public from April to July. Now the King will also open its doors this autumn and winter.
‘It’s part of His Majesty’s plan to turn the castle into more of a museum,’ a source says. ‘Details will be announced next week.’
Charles, who goes to Balmoral next week, has already extended its summer opening by a fortnight.
Dame Emma Thompson was bemused when she was recently asked to be a patron of a particular London charity.
The Oscar winner, 64, became involved with Prospex, which aims to help young people ‘at risk of gang violence’ in North London, while filming an episode about food inequality for BBC programme The One Show in 2019 and has worked with them since. ‘We’ve never officially asked her to be a patron,’ Prospex boss Richard Frankland says. ‘So I thought I’d just make it official and ask her.’ Dame Emma’s reported response: ‘I thought I already was.’
Friel’s girl gets 5-star farewell
Family: Marcella star Anna Friel has treated her daughter to a luxurious holiday before she leaves home
Peaceful: Gracie’s father is Friel’s ex-boyfriend David Thewlis, 60, a Harry Potter star
Marcella star Anna Friel has treated her daughter to a luxurious holiday before she leaves home.
The 47-year-old has taken Gracie, 18, to a five-star resort in the Maldives.
‘Mama daughter holiday of a lifetime,’ Friel says. ‘Savouring every last moment with my boo before she flies the nest.’
Gracie’s father is Friel’s ex-boyfriend David Thewlis, 60, a Harry Potter star.
Bare facts of Bianca’s film career
Bianca Jagger once aspired to be a film star, but her dreams were shattered when she was asked to perform nude scenes.
‘There was some movie baron who wanted to make a dirty film,’ explains Ray Connolly, writer of the abandoned 1975 film Trick or Treat, in his autobiography Born At The Right Time.
Then married to Rolling Stone Mick, Bianca ‘finally walked out with the result the film was never made’, Connolly writes.
‘She never made another movie. Wise decision.’
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