A controversial aristocrat has launched an appeal to find a bride – and says he’ll pay her £50,000-a-year to father his male heirs and help run his sprawling 1,300-acre Somerset estate.
But despite edging ever closer to his eighties, Sir Benjamin Slade, 79, isn’t ready to settle for second best and has drawn up a long list of qualities he’s looking for in a wife.
The first cut-off point for interested applicants is age, as the next Lady Slade must be at least 20 years younger – meaning women in their 60s need not apply.
Sir Benjamin says he is after a ‘good breeder’ to provide him with at least two male heirs, although explains that having already birthed a child is not a dealbreaker.
He added: ‘I can have two sons, three would be better, but if I get two sons that saves the situation.
‘You always have a lady of the house, women run houses. People think that it is sexist. Jane Austen said if you got a big house, you need a wife.
‘The ladies run the house. They run the staff, they have an eye for it.’
However, the aristocrat also has some very specific stipulations, including that his new wife must be taller than 5ft 6ins and can’t be a Scorpio or read the Guardian newspaper.
And far from wanting a shrinking violet, the nobleman says the woman who wins his heart must have a shotgun and driving licence – while a helicopter licence ‘would be beneficial’.
When it comes to hobbies Sir Benjamin is seeking a bride who loves ballroom dancing, playing bridge and backgammon – and has a flair for administration.
She must be able to run two castles and having estate, legal and accountancy training ‘would be useful’.
The candidate would be paid £50,000 plus a bonus per year and this includes a car, house, expenses, food and holidays.
Sir Benjamin, a baronet descended from Charles II, says she can’t come from countries beginning with ‘I’ that have green in their flag.
He said: ‘I don’t mind Canadians, Americans, Germans and Northern Europeans – what I like to call similar people. I don’t think marrying an Eskimo is for me.
‘What I just need is a nice, ordinary country girl who knows and understands things.
‘I am very social, I go out a lot and I have to have somebody who fits in.’
Sir Benjamin also hinted at more pragmatic factors behind his rush to find a bride, saying he would have to marry a lady at least 20 years younger than him for tax reasons.
Slade has a daughter, Violet, with entrepreneur and former child author Sahara Sunday Spain, 34, but is still looking for a male heir who has genetic similarity to one of his further paternal ancestors.
‘Death tax is 40 per cent and the only way I can pass the estate and art collection etc on is to leave it to the wife tax free, who then disposes it to my distant relatives,’ he added.
‘Obviously she has to live for seven years. She would also have to be insured, that’s why we need a lady at least 20 years younger than me as I cannot insure an older wife so the younger the better.
‘Obviously the widow would receive a financial percentage for passing it on.This the only way left to get around inheritance tax.’
He added: ‘I can’t insure a woman of 70. I’ve got lots lots of lovely girls that would love to marry at 70 but they are getting older, last a few years and then you die and then they might die, and that is a risk.
‘I meet people socially and I have a very social life and I am introduced to people of my own.
‘If you were a young man and you stick to your own religion, your own class, your own country and your own politics, you have got a 50 per cent chance of success and not ending up on the divorce court.’
Sir Benjamin Julian Alfred Slade is the son of Sir Michael Nial Slade, 6th Baronet, and Angela Clare Rosalind Chichester.
He inherited his baronetcy from his father in 1962, and his older brother, Robert, predeceased their father.
He was educated at Millfield School. He lives at Maunsel House in Bridgwater, Somerset.
His full requirement read: ‘Sir Ben is on the search for a Lady of the House.
‘You must have a shotgun licence, a driving licence (also a helicopter licence would be beneficial), amorial bearings, be able to run two castles, an estate and a grouse moor.
‘Legal and accountancy training would be useful. Must be able to breed two sons (don’t mind if she has bred before and is proven).
‘A little private capital and income would be helpful. A large fortune would be more helpful!
‘The candidate would be paid £50,000 plus a bonus per year and this includes a car, house, expenses, food and holidays.
‘Guardian readers, Scorpios, drug users, alcoholics, Scots, under 5’6’, people from countries beginning with ‘I’ who have green in their flag and people from countries where they don’t wear overcoats in the winter, need not apply!’
