Matthew Steeples asks: “Is brazen Simon Cowell wannabe Sir Frederick Barclay really broke or is he pulling the other one in an attempt not to pay his ex-wife Hiroko?”
Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born along with his late twin brother Sir David Rowat Barclay on 27th October 1934) in Hammersmith, London turned up at the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday sporting a pair of radiant red pants that were higher up his waist than anything even Simon Cowell would dare.
Aside from being mocked on Twitter for his unmitigated “fashion disaster” as he headed for yet another telling off from judge Sir Jonathan Cohen over his not having paid a £100 million ($121 million, €119 million or درهم446 million) settlement to his ex-wife Lady Hiroko, the 87-year-old got told that was in contempt of court and now faces potentially being jailed at a further hearing on the 11th August.
Known as “notoriously private” and until 2019 very close to his twin, Sir Frederick claims he is broke whilst his ex-wife, Lady Barclay, previously told the court:
“Frederick says he cannot pay. He says he has no money. I do not believe him. It is not that he cannot pay, but that he will not pay… He’s not allowed to have a bank account because he’s not paying tax in the UK.”
Going further the Japanese born 79-year-old claimed via her lawyers that her ex-husband was trying “to string things out” by hiding “behind a web of complex structures” as part of an attempt “to get out of paying the settlement before either she or Frederick dies.”
Complicating matters further, Lady Hiroko – whom the judge highlighted has come out of “a very long marriage” with “next to nothing” thus far – accuses her very own daughter, Amanda, of “conspiring [to] stop her receiving any money” and threatening her “with a move to social housing.” Of her child, Lady Hiroko went as far to ludicrously remark: “She was telling me you have to go and live in a council flat… You don’t have any money, so please stop this divorce procedure.”
Analysing the clearly very acromonious situation that is rather akin to the battle between the late dead-by-impaling-on-railings tycoon Scott Young and his off-her-not-so-merry rocker ex-wife, Sir Jonathan concluded:
“The wife’s suspicions are understandable. The husband totally excluded his wife from any knowledge, let alone discussion of, financial affairs and kept her in the dark… [This is a] put-up sham designed by the husband to ensure she is kept out of her money.”
“It is consistent with his approach to minimise tax and keep control himself. For only a short period of time in their very long marriage did the wife have a hold on property assets of any sort, other than her own bank account containing modest savings.”
Former co-owner of The Ritz hotel and the Telegraph Media Group Sir Frederick responded that he is “highly motivated to comply with the orders because of his abject fear of prison.” Though concluded: “I’ve never had as much stress as this divorce since I was a boy,” it is clear that Mr Justice Cohen is quite right – here’s a case of the ultimate audacity in asset hiding.
Pictured top – Clearly modelling himself on Simon Cowell (right), Sir Frederick Barclay (left) turned up at court yesterday in a velvet jacket and red pants that nearly hit his ‘man boobs’ to face his ex-wife Hiroko (centre). Where did the supposedly broke tycoon think he was going? A camped-up fancy dress party with Sir Noël Coward?
