Lord Browne, the former BP boss, lived with his mother Paula for the last 20 years of her life — now he has paid her the ultimate filial tribute by making a £2 million donation to a Cambridge college in her honour.
The generous gift, made by the John Browne Charitable Trust, is to Murray Edwards College for women, enabling it to acquire a building, to be named Paula Browne House, in which undergraduates will both live and be taught.
‘So many people knew my mother, but very few were aware of her story until after she died,’ Lord Browne tells me. ‘This donation is a small way to remember her, in support of an institution with a mission that meant a great deal to her.’