RICHARD EDEN: Grandson of retail tycoon sues his own mother for £1m

Both sides of his family have amassed fortunes of tens, if not hundreds of millions of pounds, much of which they’ve given away to artistic, humanitarian and educational causes – remarkable philanthropy which has, so far, earned them a brace of knighthoods.But Simon Lyons – grandson of late clothing retailer-turned-financier Jack (formerly Sir Jack) Lyons and nephew of textiles tycoon Sir Harry Djanogly – does not currently feel especially blessed, judging by an incendiary legal action which has just been submitted to the High Court.The document, which explains that Simon, 46, is seeking damages ‘in excess of £1million’, makes a series of blistering allegations, all aimed directly at a member of his own family – his mother, Miriam, 76.According to the court document, Lyons was defrauded in 2021 by his partners at the property business they’d co-founded 17 years earlier. ‘From that moment onwards,’ Lyons’s claim states, Miriam ‘did not act as a mother’ but ‘as a participant in the scheme against her son’.Allegedly ‘operating in concert’ with one of the company’s former directors, Miriam ‘demanded that [Simon] transfer his shares as part of a pre-formulated “whole package”... threatened that, if he refused, he would be left “penniless, friendless and without a reputation” – and would lose his own daughter’. Miriam also, states the document, spread ‘false allegations of substance abuse and instability to undermine his credibility and isolate him’.Only if Simon surrendered his company computer, alleges the document, would Miriam give him her support. Late clothing retailer-turned-financier Jack (formerly Sir Jack) Lyons, who died aged 92Miriam, sister of Sir Harry Djanogly, whose personal fortune is estimated at £300million, tells me – via her lawyer – that she is ‘saddened by the current proceedings’ but declines to comment further on the claims.In 2007, after 32 years of marriage, she divorced Simon’s father, Jonathon. A year later, Jonathon’s father, Jack Lyons, died aged 92.Though one of Britain’s most generous benefactors – giving immense support to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Opera House, among many others – he’d become better known for being stripped of his knighthood following his conviction for theft and false accounting in the 1986 Guinness share-trading scandal.Simon tells me: ‘It’s become a terrible, terrible mess.‘It’s going into the High Court now because it couldn’t be solved in a way that could be properly mediated, sadly. Especially when you’re Jewish, to go and have a lawsuit in the family is not something you want to be doing.‘Airing dirty linen in public is not something anybody really wants to do.’Well, look who’s Getty married... Isabel Getty - a great-granddaughter of oil tycoon Paul Getty - and husband Faris McKinnonShe's the lead singer in a rock band but looked radiant this week when embracing convention – by marrying at Chelsea Old Town Hall. QUOTE OF THE WEEK 'All I’ll eat now is caviar’Model and broadcaster Vogue Williams says she loves ‘being fancy’ with her changing food tastes. The bride, Isabel Getty, 32 – a great-granddaughter of five-times married oil tycoon Paul Getty – descended the steps arm-in-arm with new husband, financier Faris McKinnon, 41, who cradled their son, Viggo, one.They then swept off in a vintage black Rolls to a wedding lunch at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair.‘Some people bring a prejudice beforehand about meeting me,’ Isabel has reflected.‘After a while hopefully that goes. It’s just my family…’Got what it takes for a Toff job? Reality TV star Georgia Toffolo is advertising for a social media content creatorGeorgia Toffolo, who had to contend with snakes and drink crocodile anus cocktails on her way to winning I’m A Celebrity, expects her minions to prove their endurance, too.She’s advertising for a social media content creator who will have a bewildering number of tasks across five accounts. ‘Actually make the stuff,’ says Toff, whose husband is BrewDog founder James Watt. ‘Film it. Edit it. Post it. Test it.’ No mention of a salary, though she does offer ‘a chance to earn equity’.Bride Gizzi plans Scottish fling Aristocratic TV chef Gizzi Erskine, 47, is planning to return to Scotland for her wedding Gizzi Erskine is planning a poignant return to Scotland for her wedding.The aristocratic TV chef, 47, is due to exchange vows with rock singer Matt Turner, 41, later this year. ‘We’re doing something Scottish,’ Gizzi tells me at the opening party for the Hard Rock Hotel Malta. ‘I lived in Scotland for the first years of my life.’The cook, whose late father was Lord Erskine of Rerrick, is immersed in the wedding arrangements. ‘I’m trying my best not to be Bridezilla but the more you know, the harder it is to just relax, especially when you’re a feisty woman.’ Crivvens!Geri and Christian lose £500,000 on horsesCynics tend to scoff at Geri Halliwell’s new guise as lady of the manor. But they may need to think again, and not only because Geri, wife of former F1 team boss Christian Horner, is invariably astride a steed in crisp white jodhpurs.I can disclose that she and Horner, who have a 15th century residence on the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire border, sustained a £500,000 loss at their racehorse owning company in the last financial year.Exactly the sort of sum that much of the aristocracy – addicted to fast women and slow horses – has endured, year in, year out, for generations...Devastated when Sir Alex Younger died from cancer in June aged 62, the former MI6 chief’s family now have something to cheer them. His engineer son Tom Younger, 28, has proposed to fellow Nottingham University graduate Hannah Hudson, 27. ‘The whole family’s delighted,’ a friend tells me. Tom’s brother, Sam, tragically died in a car crash aged 22 in 2019.Thwarted by injury from competing in a single grand slam tournament this year – including Wimbledon – Jack Draper has seen his ranking plummet from world No 4 to 143. But the 24-year-old, who’s battling to recover from bone bruising in his left arm, has one or two consolations. Newly filed figures disclose that he tucked away £5million last year in JDBN Ltd, the company he co-founded and runs with his older brother Ben – his agent – and his mother Nicky, a former junior British champion.