Duke's rendezvous with socialite divorcee sparks rumours they have rekindled romance seven years after affair that scandalised high society and forced her into exile
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By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS) and ALEXIS PARR
Published: | Updated:
It was the romantic liaison between an aristocrat and glamorous socialite that scandalised high society.
John Seymour, the 19th Duke of Somerset, was revealed by The Mail on Sunday in 2019 to have enjoyed a three-year affair with Eliza Dugdale, despite being married to Judith-Rose for more than 40 years.
Divorcee Ms Dugdale had been forced to leave her farmhouse near the Duke’s estate in Wiltshire and move to Spain after knowledge of the affair became public.
Now the MoS can reveal that after seven years living abroad, Ms Dugdale, 67, has returned to the UK. The Duke, 73, helped her move into a secluded property around 20 miles from Bradley Park Estate, his family’s 300-year-old seat.
The Duke is understood to be paying the rent for her detached four-bedroom house, which is around a mile from the nearest public road, and regularly visits her there. The pair also enjoyed a three-week holiday together earlier this year in Argentina and are said to attend lunches and dinners in Wiltshire as a couple.
‘It’s an open secret,’ one source close to the couple said. ‘Some locals, who didn’t know them well, assumed it had fizzled out but I think they’re genuinely in love.
John Seymour, the 19th Duke of Somerset, pictured with his wife Judith-Rose Seymour, the Duchess of Somerset
Pictured: Ms Dugdale was forced to move to Spain after her affair with the Duke became public
‘The Duke and Eliza have supper at Eliza’s house and he spends the night there. I know they’ve had various tradesmen in and out and the Duke’s neatly pressed trousers and clothes are everywhere.’
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess still share a home on their estate and together host some of polite society’s most prestigious events. As patrons of the so-called ‘London Season’, they attended the Queen Charlotte’s ball earlier this month. Founded more than 200 years ago, the event involves the ‘coming out’ of around 30 affluent young women into high society.
Ms Dugdale’s first husband was huntsman Robin Smith-Ryland, who is often considered an inspiration for Rupert Campbell-Black, the hero of Jilly Cooper’s ‘Rutshire’ novels.
The pair divorced in 1985 and she later married Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, the former Tory MP.
In 2019, Ms Dugdale confirmed the relationship, saying: ‘I love John and he loves me – we have had some great times together. His wife knows everything because he has confessed to her.
‘He is a man of honour so I now realise that he will never leave his wife.’
Ms Dugdale last week denied that she is in a relationship with the Duke and that he pays her rent. The Duke did not respond to a request to comment.
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