Highclere Insider - David Sox: The Man Who Knew Too Much
An Investigation by William Cross, FSA Scot
In the 1990s, in the aftermath of being snubbed for unprofessional conduct by his colleagues in the Turin Shroud Community, Rev. H. David Sox, author and part time clergyman, took a job as a visitor guide at Highclere Castle (the backdrop to ʻDownton Abbey’).
Sox, an American by birth, soon had his feet under the table and proved a popular figure with tourists and the 7th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.
The new guide soon saw an opportunity to endear himself to his employers by suggesting a biography of Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, the 7th Earl’s beloved ʻgranny’ and the widow of the 5th Earl, of ʻOld King Tut’ fame.
Sox’s research went ahead and with access to the Highclere Archives he collected information and interviewed a dozen people who knew Almina. There were skeletons in Almina’s closet, Sox found himself the man who knew too much.
One controversy arose around tales of Almina’s only son, Porchey later the 6th Earl of Carnarvon, that his true father was Prince Victor Duleep Singh, a close friend of the 5th Earl and son of the last Maharaja of Lahore.
In a letter written by Sox he confided the paternity issue to Almina’s godson, Tony Leadbetter, implying he had found something in the Highclere Archives about it. But had he? The Carnarvons dithered about what they should do next. In a clever stroke, in order to provoke a result, Sox sent his manuscript around the world to would be publishers. What happened thereafter and the bizarre events ever since, has given rise decades of leaks, questions and prevarication.
William Cross, FSA Scot, author of several books on the Carnarvons, investigates and reveals a trail of lies, deceit and hypocrisy.
ISBN 10 1905914741 ISBN 13 9781905914746
CONTACT WILLIAM CROSS BY EMAIL FOR FURTHER DETAILS
williecross@aol.com