It also emerged in the high court on Tuesday that the feud between two sides of the Barclay family, which owns the Telegraph media group as well as Yodel and Shop Direct, has cost the businessman and his daughter Amanda £7.5m in legal fees . Under questioning Sir Frederick’s barrister Stewart Leech QC, who was acting for Sir Frederick’s ex-wife Lady Hiroko in a contempt case which could see the 87-year-old billionaire go to jail, said: “At the end of the trial which cost Amanda and your client £7.5m, should have been £800,000. So there’s not a lot of returns for £7.5m.” Marcus Dearle, who is testifying in the case on Sir Frederick’s behalf because of his age and health, did not respond. At issue in the hearing is why Sir Frederick has not paid the £100m he was ordered to pay his wife of 34 years in a divorce settlement handed down in March 2021. Sir Frederick’s lawyers argued they were unable to raise the funds. Mr Leech read evidence that at the heart of the case were “both” liquidity issues arising from over-indebted or “highly leveraged underlying businesses” and “the nephews cutting capital”. However, Sir Frederick’s late twin brother Sir David Barclay’s sons Aidan, Howard and Alistair have so far contributed almost £1m to their uncle’s divorce battle after his daughter, who owns a 25% stake in the family business, she stopped funding her father’s defense. Although not involved in the divorce, the nephews applied for most of the case to be heard in private, a motion opposed by the Guardian News and Media and other members of the press and largely rejected by Sir Jonathan Cohen, citing the seriousness of the contempt proceeding. On Tuesday, the judge rejected a bid by the nephews to prevent the media from revealing that Sir David is buried on Brecqhou, the Channel island he jointly owned with his brother. The court also heard that, in 2014, a dispute over the business and inheritance led to a row between the twins with Sir David subsequently banning Sir Frederick from the island. Evidence read by Charles Howard QC, representing Sir Frederick, said that when, in October 2019, his client wrote to his brother on a notepad from the Ritz Hotel asking him to come to Brecqhou to value it, the reply it was short. “My answer is an emphatic no,” Sir David wrote to his twin brother. “First, Brecqhou is mine and my wife’s home. It is a serious invasion of our privacy and, as you know, we value our privacy.” He also wrote that although Sir Frederick owned half of the Brecqhou property, it was “worthless” given the fact that the brothers had taken out a 150-year lease on the island in 2000. In the letter, read to the court by Howard, Sir David valued his brother’s interest in the island at just £75,000. Under cross-examination, Lady Barclay said this was “typical David” and contempt for the valuation. In evidence he pointed out that Sir Frederick’s lifestyle remained unchanged and said Sir David’s widow had homes in Monaco, Gstaad and London as well as Brecqhou. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST In a statement made after the truce in the devils case in June 2021, the Barclays said: “We are pleased that as a family we can put this difficult time behind us and now look forward to our future together. In these difficult times, unity within families is more important than ever. We are grateful to everyone who helped us resolve this issue.”
