Financier Christopher Shaw, 76, Takes Own Life, said to have had financial problems

Friday, January 31, 2014

Financier Christopher Shaw, 76, Takes Own Life, said to have had financial problems

Cressida's stepfather's ‘suicide’: Financier known for his lavish parties was 'huge influence' in Harry's girlfriend's life

Financier Christopher Shaw, 76, said to have had financial problems
Friends told two years ago he had 18 months to live from kidney disease
Shaw wed Cressida's mother, Lady Mary Gaye Curzon in 1994
They were together for six years, married for four, but divorced in 2000
Sources say he was strong influence in the life of Prince Harry's girlfriend

By Richard Kay
PUBLISHED: 20:03 EST, 20 January 2014 | UPDATED: 06:27 EST, 21 January 2014

Tragic: Christopher Shaw (right, here with 10-year-old Cressida and ex-wife Lady Mary Gaye Curzon) has been found dead at his home in Salisbury

The stepfather of Prince Harry’s girlfriend Cressida Bonas has died suddenly in what friends say was a suspected suicide.
Christopher Shaw, the one-time merchant banker, who wed Cressida’s mother, Lady Mary Gaye Curzon, during the Nineties at a time when he was one of London’s most lavish and generous party-throwers, is believed to have killed himself.
Shaw, 76, was suffering from ill-health and was said by friends to have been plagued by money worries.
Bon viveur Shaw fell madly in love with society beauty Mary Gaye who was previously married to Cressida’s father, businessman Jeffrey Bonas — he created a cocktail in her honour at Claridge’s called The Curzon.
Shaw was found dead by his housekeeper, Nicky, at his rented home in The Close by Salisbury Cathedral — virtually next door to Sir Edward Heath’s former home.
He is believed to have committed suicide by taking an overdose,friends said today.
Despite his financial problems Christopher, who celebrated his 76th birthday on New Year’s Day, had been in good spirits having just returned from a holiday in Cuba with the latest woman in his life.
He was on medication for chronic kidney disease and friends say he had been told two years ago he might have only 18 months to live.
Police were called to the house on Friday. A post mortem is to be carried out, but last night Wiltshire police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
The son of a country parson and a former head boy at Eton, father-of-three Shaw lived with Mary Gaye at the sprawling National Trust mansion Hinton Ampner in Hampshire, where he entertained in style with eight servants and five gardeners.
He also had a set in the Albany building. Guests at his parties included Sir Richard Branson and Rupert Murdoch. ‘He was unique,’ says his long-time friend PR supremo David Wynne-Morgan.
‘He decided at Eton that he wanted to live like a 19th-century landed aristocrat and he did just that.’

Married: The couple were together from 1992 and married in 1994 until 2000, when Cressida was 11. He was notorious for his lavish parties in London while they couple were together