A legal dispute between the former wife of a baronet and her ex-partner concluded at Southampton County Court on August 14, with the judge dismissing all financial claims brought by both parties and ordering the claimant to pay the majority of the legal costs.
Anna Calthorpe, formerly known as Anna, Lady Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, sought repayment of £427,000 from her former live-in boyfriend, Stephen Constable-Maxwell, following the breakdown of their relationship in 2020. The couple had been together for nearly four years after meeting in 2016, shortly after Ms. Calthorpe’s divorce from Sir Euan Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, the 3rd Baronet. Mr. Constable-Maxwell moved into her farmhouse in Hartley Wintney that November.
Ms. Calthorpe, 51, based her claim on a signed loan agreement from December 2016, which capped the loan at £50,000 with an annual interest rate of 5 percent. She argued that the agreement had been informally expanded to cover a range of expenses over their time together, citing WhatsApp messages where Mr. Constable-Maxwell purportedly acknowledged the debt. Her detailed schedule of costs included nearly £160,000 in rent for his residence at her home, about £58,000 on luxury holidays to destinations such as Cuba, Corsica, and the British Virgin Islands, as well as payments for cosmetic dental work, physiotherapy, kite-surfing equipment, shooting lessons, and even minor items like windscreen wiper blades. She claimed approximately £215,000 charged to her credit card for his benefit and over £343,000 transferred to his account, minus an amount he passed on to her builder.
Mr. Constable-Maxwell, 62 and a former City financier, denied owing any money beyond the original £50,000 loan, which he stated had been repaid in full after he delivered £76,000 to Ms. Calthorpe in 2019. He filed a counterclaim seeking compensation for counselling costs amounting to £26,460 and payment for farm work performed over 198 weeks totaling £148,500. The relationship reportedly ended amid allegations of physical altercations, with Mr. Constable-Maxwell claiming Ms. Calthorpe assaulted him on multiple occasions, causing injuries including two broken noses and requiring surgery.
After a four-day trial, Judge Glen rejected both parties’ claims and ordered Ms. Calthorpe to cover 80 percent of Mr. Constable-Maxwell’s legal costs. She must pay an initial £75,000 by the set deadline in late August. The court did not impose any costs on Mr. Constable-Maxwell despite the dismissal of his counterclaim.
The case highlights the complexities that can arise from informal financial arrangements in personal relationships, ultimately resolving without any financial award to either individual but with substantial legal expenses incurred.