An aristocrat is supporting a legal endeavor to ensure his son, born through surrogacy, can rightfully inherit a portion of his substantial £157 million estate.
Ceawlin Thynn, the 8th Marquess of Bath, along with his wife, Emma, the Marchioness of Bath, celebrated the arrival of their second child, Henry, in 2016.
The couple opted for surrogacy after the Marchioness faced hypophysitis during her initial pregnancy, with doctors cautioning that another pregnancy could be life-threatening.
Henry is believed to be the first member of the British aristocracy born via surrogacy, a milestone that has sparked debate over his inheritance rights.
This situation has brought into question his entitlement to a share of the family’s extensive fortune.
During a High Court session in Bristol, insights were shared regarding the family’s three separate trusts.
Mr Justice Matthews said trusts retained the ‘pre-1970, common law meanings of descriptions of family relationships’ so there was ‘uncertainty as to whether Henry falls at present within the class of beneficiaries’.
He added: ‘The [marquess] and his wife consider it would be unfair and unfortunate if their second son and his issue were excluded from benefit.’
The 8th Marquess of Bath, Ceawlin Thynn, and his wife Emma, Marchioness of Bath
The Marquess is seeking approval from the court to allow Henry and any of Henry’s future children to inherit his wealth.
However, issues of inheritance tax may also create a complication, as Henry was born in the US to an American mother.
The judge said that decision to ensure Henry’s rights could potentially ‘prejudice the interests’ of other beneficiaries, including his older brother, John, 11, or any other future legitimate children of the marquess.
The trustees include James Hervey-Bathurst, 76, whose family seat is Eastnor Castle near Ledbury, Herefordshire, and Anthony Westropp, 81, whose wife inherited Goadby Hall, the Palladian-style mansion near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
The court heard that Thynn was seeking to confer power to add Henry to his beneficiaries, but not to exercise the power yet, The Times reported.
The judge approved the appointment of a solicitor to represent the other beneficiaries of the family’s trusts.
Thynn inherited his title following the death of his father from Covid in 2020, aged 87.
He became estranged from his father, who was famous for keeping mistresses as wifelets, after removing some of his father’s erotic artworks from the Longleat estate.
The Marquess is seeking approval from the court to allow Henry and any of his future children to inherit his wealth
Emma Weymouth then made history when she became the country’s first black British aristocrat following their 2013 marriage.
Speaking after the birth of his son in 2016, the Marquess, 51, who runs the 900-acre Longleat estate on the Wiltshire-Somerset border, shared his joy.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: ‘Never did I imagine that in West Hollywood I’d become father to John’s little miracle baby brother.
‘It’s a wonder of modern science that the Longleat Bath family has been completed (for now at least) by Emma and I having a much-loved son, helped so crucially by a tremendous surrogate in California, to extend our family.’
Emma, who is also a fashion model and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, said: ‘We are simply ecstatic. His arrival has completed our little family and brought us so much happiness.
‘We have certainly been worried about how people will react to the news.
‘I just want them to know this is not about my vanity or that I was too lazy. I’m not the kind of person who would have done this for anything less than a very important reason.
‘I didn’t care about my weight gain or that breast feeding would ruin my body. I just want to live to see my children grow up. I did not want to take the risk of something tragic happening. I really enjoyed being pregnant up until the point when the terrifying pains began.’
Emma Weymouth made history when she became the country’s first black British aristocrat following the couple’s 2013 marriage
Their choice of surrogacy is the result of a terrifying brain illness suffered by Emma during her first pregnancy in 2014, when doctors warned that having a second child could kill her.
The problems began when Emma was diagnosed with a disorder of the pituitary gland, which left her with searing pain she describes as ‘like a knife stabbing at my brain’.
‘I had never known such pain,’ she told The Mail shortly after her second pregnancy. ‘It was beyond anything I could imagine.
‘I tried everything to alleviate it, but often ended up lying in a dark room trying not to move. Even breathing too hard was agony.’
The headaches – which started in the summer of 2014, during her third trimester – were manageable with painkillers until the family was on holiday in the South of France. There, her symptoms escalated.
‘I was more worried about the baby than myself,’ she continues. ‘It was so upsetting to be that ill. It hurt so much that I threw up and Ceawlin called an ambulance.’
Doctors at the local hospital thought the pain was hormone-related. But once back in Britain, Emma’s symptoms got progressively worse. She tried various treatments – including wearing a neck brace – but nothing worked.
Emma says it felt as if she was bleeding in her brain, which is exactly what an MRI scan revealed.
Although doctors initially suspected a non-cancerous tumour, she was diagnosed with a rare but serious condition called hypophysitis, involving swelling and bleeding, which can cause a stroke during a ‘traditional’ birth.
The Marchioness added: ‘The doctors didn’t understand hypophysitis very well at all, but they knew it was potentially fatal,’ he says.
‘They had to inject Emma with steroids to help develop the baby’s lungs, as they prepared for an emergency C-section three weeks before her due date, because her life was at risk from a natural birth.
‘It was a very worrying time, especially as no one could really tell us much about the condition.’
The underwent months of tests even after John was born safely.
