Interim court order shields Viscount Gage and family after alleged stalking
Order bars contact with 91-year-old Viscount, his wife and staff at historic Firle Place amid alleged year-long harassment
An interim court order has been issued to protect Viscount Gage, 91, his wife and members of his household and social circle after a 30-year-old woman was accused of stalking the family, court papers show.
The order names Danielle Millis and prohibits her from contacting the viscount, his wife Alexandra Murray Templeton — whom he married in 2009 — their teenage son, the viscount’s heir Henry, 50, and friends identified in the papers as television producer Camilla Campbell and her husband Julian Kingsland. A friend of the Gage family described the period as "a very difficult time" and said those close to the couple hope the order "gives them the protection they need." The viscount and his wife declined to comment.
According to descriptions in the order, Millis is barred from contacting the named individuals "in person, calls, letters, emails, messages, social media" and from making any "vexatious complaints, allegations, publications or threats." The injunction additionally forbids her from contacting staff who work for the Gage family on their estate, which has been in the family for about 500 years.
Firle Place, the Gage family seat in East Sussex, sits amid roughly 7,000 acres and a village and has been used as a location in film and television productions, including the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. The viscount — whose private collection has been reported to include works attributed to Old Masters such as Rubens, Gainsborough and Van Dyck — has been a public figure in British society for decades.
The interim order follows what friends described as an extended period of unwanted contact. The legal measure is intended to prevent further communications while any additional legal steps or hearings take place. Court papers released in coverage of the case do not disclose criminal charges; interim injunctions are commonly used to provide immediate protection while matters are considered by the courts.
Henry Gage, the viscount’s elder son from his first marriage to Lady Diana Beatty, was named among those the order protects. The family’s public profile has fluctuated over time; the viscount received attention in the mid-2000s, and his marriage to Alexandra Murray Templeton drew media interest because of their age gap.
Representatives for Millis could not immediately be identified from the documents made public. The timeframe for any further hearings or decisions arising from the interim order was not specified in the materials disclosed.
The use of civil injunctions to restrict contact is one of several legal tools available in the U.K. to protect individuals from harassment and stalking. Judges can tailor such orders to prohibit particular behaviours, to protect named people and to extend protection to employees and contractors, as this order does for those working on the Gage estate.
Friends and neighbours, contacted through spokespeople, said they were relieved the measures had been put in place and described the family as seeking privacy while the legal process runs its course. The viscount and his wife continue to live at Firle Place, and the family have not indicated any change in their plans while the order remains in effect.
No further details about any possible criminal investigation were supplied in the court summaries that were reported. The interim order is intended to provide immediate protection and can be followed by further civil or criminal proceedings depending on the evidence and decisions of prosecuting authorities or the families involved.