The diamond tiara left behind by Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey. Credit: Hancock s
Matthew Dennison takes a look at the life and times of Henry Paget, aka the Dancing Marquess , whose legendary shopping sprees saw him blow a vast fortune.
It’s fair to say that Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, had a good start in life. In 1898 he inherited the equivalent of £60 million and an annual income estimated at £12 million, plus 30,000 acres in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Dorset and Anglesey.
Seven years later, its was all gone even his life itself. The man who won a reputation as ‘The Dancing Marquess’ bequeathed only mountainous debts and a reputation for glorious excess. He loved theatre and staged productions at a converted chapel in his Anglesey home, Pals Newydd, lavishing the equivalent of £1 million on a diamond-encrusted costume for