Izvestia: 'Russian Aristocrat Wants to Be British Premier'MAIL ONLINE: Yesterday he was at it again.
Touring Newcastle, Nick Clegg - who, as we now know, was a keen childhood actor - told students he was: 'the only one of the three leaders who actually comes from one of our great cities in the North.'
So just how true is that statement? In fact, the Lib Dem leader was brought up in affluent comfort in the Home Counties.
But to understand just how wealthy his background is, we need to cut to South-West France, and a hill overlooking the hamlet of Curac where an imposing ten-bedroom chateau stands.
The house is approached by a long, straight drive bordered by poplar trees which lead up to two sets of iron gates. Inside is an outdoor swimming pool, four-car garage and spacious outbuildings.
By any reckoning it is an impressive pile and one that, were it in England, would undoubtedly fall foul of the Lib Dem's proposed mansion tax on properties worth more than £2million.
It is possible that Clegg actually dreamt up the tax while in Curac, maybe while splashing about in the pool or strolling through its gardens.
After all, it is his parents' house and one that he and his family often visit.
'It's an idyllic spot, and the Cleggs have made it their home from home,' said a near neighbour, who often bumps into the politician and his Spanish wife Miriam, a successful London lawyer whose annual earnings run into the high six figures, when they are there.
'They come down with their children and always look very relaxed and happy.'
Not a bad place for a summer break. And come the winter there is another alternative. Clegg's parents also own a 20-room skiing chalet in the Swiss Alps.
Some ordinary northerner! How Nick Clegg is really a man of extraordinary privilege whose family own a chateau >>> Tom Rawstorne | Saturday, April 24, 2010
Nick Clegg Hailed as 'Russian Aristocrat'
Nick Clegg: 'Winston Churchill-like popularity ratings'. Photograph: The GuardianTHE GUARDIAN:
Izvestiya newspaper talks of Liberal Democrat leader's Russian heritage and 'Winston Churchill-like popularity ratings'Is there no limit to Cleggmania? It seems that not only Britain, but now also Russia has fallen under the Liberal Democrat leader's mesmerising spell, with today's Izvestiya newspaper hailing him as a genuine
"Russian aristocrat" (article in Russian).
Under the headline "Russian aristocrat wants to be British premier", the paper picks up on Clegg's emphatic victory in the first leaders' TV debate and notes his "Winston Churchill-like popularity ratings".
But a blue-blooded Russian toff? In fact, Izvestiya is not far off the mark: Clegg's father (also Nick) is half-Russian. Nick Clegg senior's parents, who married in 1932, were Hugh Anthony Clegg, a subeditor on the British Medical Journal, and Kira Engelhardt.
Engelhardt was actually a Russian baroness. Her mother, Alexandra Moullen, was the daughter of Ignaty Zakrevsky, a former attorney general in the imperial Russian senate.
In common with other dispossessed Russian aristocrats, Clegg can even lay claim to a ruined manor house.
Zakrevsky, his great great-grandfather, lived on a large estate in modern-day Ukraine, not far from Kiev. The crumbling estate is currently occupied by an agricultural college, but still boasts a two-storey classical mansion, annexes, and a large park. It also has a
pyramid.
>>> Luke Harding in Moscow | Tuesday, April 20, 2010
