Earl loses court battle to stop sale of ancestors' portraits

The Earl of Cardigan has lost a High Court battle to stop portraits of his ancestors being sold to raise funds.

The earl, David Brudenell-Bruce, 59, had claimed he was entitled to "use of the paintings" under the terms of a lease and wanted to block the sale.

But trustees of the family estate at Savernake, in Wiltshire disputed his claim and said the paintings were not part of the lease.

A judge ruled against the earl at a High Court hearing in London earlier.

Following a trial in London in March, Mr Justice Newey concluded that the paintings were "held by the trustees".

A spokesman for the earl said the dispute was over the ownership of about 40 paintings, thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in total.

Lawyers for the trustees said the intention now was to put the paintings up for auction in the coming months.

Trustees had told the court the estate was in severe financial difficulties and the need to sell and ease financial pressures was urgent".

The 4,500-acre Savernake Estate near Marlborough was once a regular deer-hunting haunt of King Henry VIII.

On one outing to Savernake he met Sir John Seymour's daughter Jane and within 24 hours of Queen Anne Boleyn's execution in 1536, was betrothed to her.