Sons of ‘Fifth Beatle’ George Martin in Bitter Will Dispute Over Father’s Legacy

There was shock when legendary music producer George Martin – known as the ‘Fifth Beatle’ – died in 2016 and left just £1million in his will.

His eldest daughter Alexis Stratfold said at the time that it was a ‘joke’ for her to get £68,000 in a bequest (alongside his chauffeur and secretary) when her father’s wealth had been estimated at between £250-400 million.

But she was lucky. Her brother Greg – Martin’s eldest son – was cut out altogether.

And it can be revealed that Greg is consulting lawyers because he believes his half-brother Giles may have benefited from a house and a £3.5million legacy. These, Greg claims, were separate from the will and were ‘always meant to be his’.

Alexis and Greg are George Martin’s children by his first wife, Sheena Chisholm. But their father left her for Judy Lockhart-Smith, a secretary at the Beatles label Parlophone, in 1962, and they had two children: Giles and Lucie.

The older children were largely excluded from Martin’s successful later life. Alexis was bitterly hurt when invitations to their father’s memorial did not include their names. Greg did not even attend.

The actor, writer and producer told me: ‘The only thing I inherited from my father was his coat of arms. I was not even mentioned in the will, and Alexis was left a small amount of money on the same terms as some of his staff.

There was shock when legendary music producer George Martin – known as the ‘Fifth Beatle’ – died in 2016 and left just £1million in his will – but his son Greg – Martin’s eldest – was cut out altogether (Greg and Martin seen in 1999)

‘It was painful. It is painful. I believe that my father would not have done that if it was not for Judy.

‘He used to try and slip me money sometimes, like $100, and say: ‘Don’t tell Judy!’ He added: ‘I believe there must be a huge amount of money hidden away’.’

The current potential legal action was prompted by contact from a family friend around a month ago.

Greg said: ‘She said there was a letter written by my father, which said that he wanted me to have a house and some money, but that Judy intercepted the letter.’ (Martin’s widow died in 2023.)

He went on: ‘I believe that it is possible that Giles has been living in that house on and off for the last nine years. If that is true, I want to sue. 

‘I think there is about £3.5million in a bank in America, and I believe there may be interest on that money also. I have engaged lawyers, but we have not filed a case yet.’

He added: ‘It would have been entirely in character for him to have secretly left a house in my name in a trust and money in a foreign bank account.

‘I took no legal action at the time, because I was devastated and exhausted. Now I have had enough.

‘My father would be rolling over in his grave. I adored him and know how deeply he loved me.’

A spokesman for Giles Martin did not return requests for comment.

It can be revealed that Greg is consulting lawyers because he believes his half-brother Giles may have benefited from a house and a £3.5million legacy (Giles seen in April)

Water fiasco! Did Ellen’s pool ruin Clarkson’s big day? 

The disastrous opening of Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds pub is the car-crash climax of season four of the global hit series Clarkson’s Farm.

Now, locals are whispering that one of the contributing factors might have been… a swimming pool belonging to his neighbour, US TV star Ellen DeGeneres.

As viewers of the show may recall, mains water failed on the second day of opening at The Farmer’s Dog last August. The pub toilets and kitchen had to close and customers were turned away.

In an exchange seen on screen, Clarkson’s plumber blamed villagers in the nearby hamlet of Asthall for draining the mains system, leaving the pub – a mile away up a hill – high and dry. Clarkson said on episode eight of the show: ‘I was hoping the problem was something trivial. But the plumber quickly realised it was being caused by the village down the hill.’

His plumber explained: ‘As far as I know the water pipe comes all the way up the hill from Asthall village. When everyone in the village is turning their water supply on – showers, filling up pots and pans and kettles – it doesn’t then have the oomph to push it up the hill [to the pub].’

A local from Asthall who did not wish to be named reveals: ‘It was around the August Bank Holiday weekend that the swimming pool at Ellen’s farmhouse was being refilled.

‘Pools of that size [a 56-footer reckoned to hold 100,000-plus litres], filled with normal mains water, can take a week to nine days to fill. Sometimes even longer, depending on the local mains water pressure.

‘If you can imagine having all the taps on to fill the pool, that has to take a lot of water out of the system and Asthall really is just a very small hamlet with a handful of houses. Perhaps it is no surprise that Clarkson, with all the water a business like that uses, ran out.’

A lawyer for DeGeneres has not answered requests for comment.

She bought a £15 million farmhouse in Asthall last year in an apparent protest at Donald Trump’s second US election win. But after land around the home flooded, DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi moved to a modern house near Chipping Norton.

The disastrous opening of Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds pub (Pictured) is the car-crash climax of season four of the global hit series Clarkson’s Farm

Now, locals are whispering that one of the contributing factors might have been… a swimming pool belonging to his neighbour, US TV star Ellen DeGeneres (Seen in 2015)

Alicia: You may mock but MY Ibsen will be funny 

Alicia Vikander is promising audiences ‘some laughs’ in her next stage outing — even though it’s in a play by Norwegian gloomster Henrik Ibsen.

Ibsen has never been described as a barrel of laughs, but Swedish actress Vikander insists that the contemporary adaptation of The Lady From The Sea, in which she will star this autumn, will not be all hemlock and ashes.

‘Simon Stone [the director and writer] has promised there will be some laughs — yes, in Ibsen!’ Vikander exclaimed.

The actress, who is married to Michael Fassbender, is in London for rehearsals with her leading man, Andrew Lincoln. The show will start previews at the Bridge Theatre in London on September 10.

‘Ibsen is actually my first memory of being at the theatre, which is seeing Peer Gynt,’ Vikander said. 

‘I was quite young for seeing that play. My mother was an actress and she took me there. It was an extremely profound experience.’

Alicia Vikander is promising audiences ‘some laughs’ in her next stage outing — even though it’s in a play by Norwegian gloomster Henrik Ibsen (Seen in March)

Could J Lo’s singing Spider Woman bag her an Oscar? 

Write off J Lo’s ambitions at your peril. Film bible Variety, no less, thinks she could be in the running for a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Kiss Of The Spider Woman.

The film premiered at Sundance this year to mixed reviews – but most critics admired her performance as Aurora (pictured): a singing, dancing, screen icon she might have been ‘born to play’.

Lopez has made plenty of not-awards-adjacent movies for streamers in recent years and has never been nominated for an Oscar, although she did pick up a hatful of nods for the 2019 film Hustlers. 

But now, 27 years after she melted the screen with George Clooney in Out Of Sight, she’s back.

Shooting on the picture coincided pretty much exactly with the breakdown of her marriage to Ben Affleck (who has an executive producing credit through his company Artists Equity). 

They filmed from March to June in New York, and she cited April as the date of their separation.

Write off J Lo’s ambitions at your peril. Film bible Variety, no less, thinks she could be in the running for a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Kiss Of The Spider Woman

I don’t want to talk about it… Rod TV ratings beaten by old pal Elton

More fuel for rock frenemies Rod Stewart and Elton John.

Ratings show Rod got 3.4 million viewers for his Sunday teatime slot at Glastonbury. Not too shabby. But still less than half of the TV audience attracted by Elton in 2023. 

The pair have been close friends/sparring partners for years, but seemed to fall out in earnest in 2018 when Rod called Elton’s lengthy ‘farewell’ tour ‘dishonest’, suggesting it was ‘not rock and roll’ – just an excuse to sell tickets.

Elton hit back, saying Rod — busy promoting his own tour at the time — ‘had a f***ing nerve’. 

However they’ve clearly made up since, as Sir Elton wished his old pal a warm happy 80th birthday in January. 

He told Rod: ‘So many great memories over the years! Hope you have a brilliant day celebrating!’

Ratings show Rod Stewart got 3.4 million viewers for his Sunday teatime slot at Glastonbury. Not too shabby. But still less than half of the TV audience attracted by Elton John in 2023 (Seen in 1978)

The BBC is thought to pay £35million a year for the broadcast rights to Glastonbury in a deal which runs out in 2027.

Most in the industry think the Beeb will lose the rights then, with a streamer such as YouTube or Prime Video snapping them up for double the price. 

Meanwhile, former BBC DJ Liz Kershaw has pointed the finger at three BBC execs who are all ‘paid six-figure sums’ and who should, she said, have put Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury performance on delay, not broadcast it live on iPlayer.

The band’s lead singer led chants of ‘death to the IDF’ (Israel Defence Forces). The execs are Jonathan Rothery, head of popular music, TV; Lorna Clarke, director of music; and Alison Howe, executive producer of the event. 

Howe, incidentally, picked up a Bafta in May for best live event… for Glastonbury 2024.  

Kate Winslet has ditched plans to star as a surgeon in a prestige TV drama — dropping out of The Spot due to ‘creative differences’. 

The show, from super-indie A24, was to tell the story of a successful medic whose husband thinks she might have killed a child in a hit and run accident. 

The plan is to recast.

Kate Winslet has ditched plans to star as a surgeon in a prestige TV drama — dropping out of The Spot due to ‘creative differences’ (Seen in June)

Peace has broken out in the BBC Radio 2 cold war between Sunday DJs Elaine Paige and Paddy McGuinness.

He had complained that the (very grand) Dame ignored him on handover every single week. But after 13 months, a thaw…

‘Next up, Dame Elaine Paige!’ McGuinness cried last week at 1pm.

And Paige countered with: ‘Thank you Paddy, great show as always.’

As Oasis reunite on stage tonight, here’s Noel Gallagher’s take on brother Liam’s vocal style: ‘Like Adele shouting into a bucket.’ 

As Oasis reunite on stage tonight, here’s Noel Gallagher’s take on brother Liam’s vocal style: ‘Like Adele shouting into a bucket’