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EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Building saga leaves a sour taste for Lord Sugar's girl By STEPHANIE TAKYI Published: 00:00 GMT, 21 February 2025 | Updated: 00:00 GMT, 21 February 2025 e-mail View comments Lord Sugar doesn't mince his words, despatching would-be Apprentice tycoons with a curt: 'You're fired!' So let's hope his daughter, Louise, can cope with equally bad news from her local council. It used just two words to shatter Louise's dream of making improvements to the family seat in Essex – 'Permission denied'. The Edwardian country house was owned by Lord and Lady Sugar until Louise bought it in 2021, when it was valued at £8.
5million . Epping District Council's refusal to give Louise, 50, retrospective planning consent for new entrance gates and a fence around the boundary of the ten-acre property may not come as a surprise, as it had already denied permission before she went ahead and did the work regardless. It's just the latest setback in Louise's planning saga after she was told she couldn't replace the brick house with a white neo-Regency creation including such jazzy features as a cocktail bar, steam room, cinema, hair and make-up salon, a room to store out-of-season clothes, and twin dressing rooms.
The council said the proposed property would be too big and do 'significant harm' to the green belt. Louise then tried to get permission for the gates and 3ft-high boundary fence, only to be met with another thumbs-down on the grounds that they would be 'incongruous' and 'inappropriate'. Epping District Council's has refused to give Louise, 50, retrospective planning consent for new entrance gates and a fence around the boundary of the ten-acre property Lord Sugar pictured with his son Simon Sugar, and his daughter Louise Sugar Having installed them anyway, her planning agent argued that the work had been 'carried out in good faith' and claimed that although the site is in the green belt, 'it is not considered that the proposed arrangement will be of detriment to the openness of the surrounding area'.
The saga may not end here, as the council could now take legal action to ensure the property is returned to its 'original state'. Louise did not respond to a request to comment last night. At the age of 85, three-times Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has put the brakes on.
The Flying Scot tells me: 'I prefer a slower speed than before, and that's why I'm still alive.' Aged 85, three-times Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart has put the brakes on But the former racer says he still likes to keep his own motor running smoothly, adding: 'I keep fit and do my exercises every day.' Single Maura cosies up to Rev Richard! Model and TV star Maura Higgins may be single after calling it quits with Strictly's Pete Wicks, but at least there's one man she can still depend on for company – the Reverend Richard Coles.
Maura, 34, formed an unlikely friendship with Coles, 62, in the jungle for I'm A Celebrity last year, and they still talk every day. Maura at the Oh Polly show during London Fashion Week, to which she wore the brand's £80 backless Calissa turtleneck maxi dress Maura and Richard (pictured) still talk every day, the model and TV star has revealed Maura, 34, formed an unlikely friendship with Coles, 62, in the jungle for I'm A Celebrity last year 'We really bonded in the jungle, and I love him,' she tells me at the Oh Polly show during London Fashion Week, to which she wore the brand's £80 backless Calissa turtleneck maxi dress. 'He's a great listener, and we're always chatting on WhatsApp.
' Trinny's double date plan Are mother and daughter double dates set to become a thing? It looks as if they might be for stylist Trinny Woodall, 61, and her daughter Lyla Elichaoff, 21, who both share the same ambition – to find a boyfriend. During a chat on her podcast, Fearless, Trinny told Lyla: 'If we were manifesting, in five years I'd have a boyfriend, I'd own a home and you would live next door to me in a flat.' Stylist Trinny Woodall, 61, and her daughter Lyla Elichaoff, 21, share the same ambition – to find a boyfriend The former What Not To Wear presenter dated advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, 81, for a decade until they split in 2023.
Meanwhile, Lyla, whose father, businessman Johnny Elichaoff, died in 2014, says: 'I hope I have a boyfriend, too. That would be nice.' Any takers? Everett: Conclave snub was bitter pill The success of papal thriller Conclave has hit Rupert Everett hard.
Having hoped to be cast in the lead as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence – for which Ralph Fiennes is nominated for an Oscar – Everett, 65, admits: 'I have to take a Valium every time I see posters for Conclave. The success of papal thriller Conclave has hit Rupert Everett (pictured) hard Ralph Fiennes is nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in Cardinal Thomas Lawrence 'I would've killed to be in that film. When you're younger you forget and heal very quickly.
'When you're older you're careering down hill on that bicycle with worn brake pads. Bitterness sets in.' It's not often that Unforgotten star Sanjeev Bhaskar can get one over on his pal Hugh Jackman.
It's not often that Unforgotten star Sanjeev Bhaskar can get one over on his pal Hugh Jackman But Sanjeev, 61, recalls walking with the X-Men actor in New York when a woman passed them and said: 'I love you in Unforgotten!' Sanjeev reveals: 'I just wanted to say, 'Take that, Wolverine!' Earl counts cost of sister's split The Earl of Bradford has waged a magnificent crusade against those who sell bogus aristocratic titles to gullible members of the public. But Richard Bradford, as the earl prefers to be known, now has a new bête noir – his erstwhile brother-in-law, Brian Garnell, who married Bradford's younger sister, Caroline, in 1974, only to part after nearly 50 years, having had a daughter and three sons. Noting that the couple's divorce resulted in Garnell being awarded Caroline's villa in the Balearic Islands, plus other land there, the earl reflects that it seems as if 'members of our family end up very badly off in divorce'.
The Earl of Bradford has waged a magnificent crusade against those who sell bogus aristocratic titles to gullible members of the public Bradford, 77, has contended with two marital ruptures himself, the second of which, in 2021, caused him particularly intense regret. A year later, his second ex-wife, eminent obstetrician Dr Penelope Law, sold their former marital home barely two months after putting it on the market for £5.25million – a tasty mark-up, given that it had been valued at £3.
3million in the divorce settlement. 'If she got the asking price,' said one of the earl's chums, 'it would be nearly £500,000 for every year she was with him.' Share or comment on this article: EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Building saga leaves a sour taste for Lord Sugar's girl e-mail Add comment.
