It’s an extraordinary tale, and one that continues to unravel. James Stunt, 38, the former husband of Formula One heiress, Petra Ecclestone, has been turfed out of his decadent £11 million home in Belgravia.
His response? ‘They have made a billionaire homeless’ he fumed in a face-on 30 minute tirade on social media with the reckless abandon of a Hooray Henry who has lost his Rolex. Another complaint he raised was that he might contract Covid-19 if he needs to make home on the streets – that, is an eligible concern, given that the government escalated the UK to the secondary ‘delay’ phase in virus response on Thursday.
Stunt, a hair-slicked-back, self-styled playboy of a man, has had two of his other luxury apartments overlooking Chelsea Harbour, worth £5 million, repossessed already. ‘James Stunt owned three residential properties and now owns none. Penniless,’ he claimed in the extraordinary video, one of many that he posts to his Instagram that features him talking face-on to the camera, always addressing his audience as ‘my friends, my followers’ and always to an upbeat track.
In the video Stunt, who was once worth an estimated £3 billion, ranted about ‘completely farcical’ money-laundering laws and said rumours of his arrest were false. It was in June last year that he was declared bankrupt by a judge who branded him ‘appalling’ for stringing along his creditors. His assets and cash have all been frozen at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service.
In the video he claims that in a private hearing at the High Court on Wednesday, ‘I called the judge a c***... I said you can’t even judge an egg and spoon race’. It was yesterday that the team of bailiffs descended on Stunt’s Belgravia palace, accompanied by a trail of security guards, dogs and locksmiths. A ‘notice of repossession’ was posted on the front door, saying West One Loan Ltd had secured a writ at the High Court to take control of the property, which was bought via a shell company in 2017 for £11million.
In the Instagram video, where he frequently refers to himself in the third person, he said: ‘It's sad it's come to this. They made a billionaire homeless today. I am a little bit ticked off they chucked me out of my palace in Belgravia. It's obviously not very nice when your beautiful home is taken from you. I could sleep in the street tonight, with the coronavirus, even though I'm a billionaire.’
Last year, Stunt, who is often photographed fag-in-mouth, sometimes putting his middle finger up at the paparazzi, embroiled Prince Charles in a fake art scandal. He lent a Picasso and Monet to the Prince's Foundation to hang at a stately home, but it was later claimed they were forgeries – which Stunt denies. Whatever next for Stunt? An easy way to keep up would be to join his 91,000 Instagram followers and while away pointless hours.
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