Celia's Diary

Outstanding quest there. What happened after? Thanks!

Beyond the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, the Netherlands is dotted with around 700 castles and country estates. 

The charming properties are well worth exploring for
their history, gardens or as places to stay in the gentle
Dutch countryside.

WHERE BARDOT PARTIED

Kasteel de Haar

A-list haunt: Kasteel De Haar near Utrecht is ringed
by a moat and neat gardens

Reminiscent of Disney's Cinderella Castle, this popular attraction (kasteeldehaar.nl, £15 for adults, £10
for children aged four to 12) near Utrecht is ringed by a moat and neat gardens.

The original fortress was a ruin until its owner married into the wealthy Rothschild family and commissioned Pierre Cuypers, the architect of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, to design a grandiose summer home with 200 rooms.

Look up in the cathedral-like main hall to see medieval-style sculptures and stained glass windows.
Brigitte Bardot, Gregory Peck and Roger Moore are among the A-list guests who have stayed here.

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Room-only doubles from £107 a night at the nearby Logement aan de Vecht (logement.aandevecht.com).

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ANNE FRANK

Hotel Groot Warnsborn

Groot Warnsborn was the last place where Anne Frank and her family enjoyed a country break
before going into hiding. Pictured above is one of the rooms 

Occupying woodland between Arnhem and De Hoge Veluwe
National Park (and so well-placed for visiting the collection of Van Goghs at the Kroller-Muller
Museum), Groot Warnsborn was the last place where Anne Frank and her family enjoyed a country break before going into hiding.
A facsimile of a postcard written by Anne's father hangs in the
lobby.

Rebuilt following the Second World War, the white mansion hosts 25 cosy guestrooms, some with gilded wallpaper and freestanding bathtubs.

A marked trail winds through the sprawling estate.
For dinner, the estate's La Belle Source
restaurant serves seasonal, Mediterranean-inspired three to eight-course tasting
menus (£40-£85).

Room-only doubles from £107 a night (grootwarnsborn.nl).

NATIONAL PARK TREASURE

Landgoed Rhederoord

The Rhederoord estate occupies the southern fringe of the Netherlands' oldest national park, Veluwezoom, ten miles north-east of Arnhem.
The city's mayor lived in the brickwork manor
house, built in the 1740s, commuting from a now-demolished private railway station.

Two enormous Cape buffalo heads hang above the reception desk.
The hotel has 22 modern bedrooms, while two white, semi-circular verandas, reminiscent
of antebellum mansions in America's Deep South, overlook the patterned hedges of the French-style
garden to the rear.

The fine-dining restaurant in the former coach house
serves multi-course tasting menus, including a
reasonably priced three-course option for £31.

Room-only doubles from £76 a night (rhederoord.nl/en).

WHERE HORSES ROAM FREE

Slot Loevestein

Life behind bars: Slot Loevestein near Utrecht was long used
as a prison

Located 25 miles south of Utrecht, in countryside where feral herds of grey konik horses roam,
Loevestein Castle (entry £12.50) dates from the 14th Century.
Surrounded by a moat and low, grassy bastions, the brick-built
fortress holds the quirky distinction of having
been besieged by its owner, the Count of Holland, in 1397.

Long used as a prison, visiting means a chance to see the austere room where Hugo Grotius,
a founder of international law, was incarcerated before escaping by hiding
in a wooden chest. Accommodation is available in cottages by the castle gate.

B&B doubles from £115 a night (slotloevestein.nl/en).

CASTLE WITH A CHIC BISTRO 

Kasteel Kerckebosch

Set in woodland near Zeist, this castle is on the edge
of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park - named
after a ridge shaped during the Ice Age. Construction of the
castle began in 1904 and it features a crenellated tower.
Now a hotel with 30 bedrooms, the interior features stonework coats of arms, arched
windows and wood panelling reclaimed from much older
buildings. The recently added conservatory houses
a fine-dining restaurant and Bistoria, which
serves exquisite dishes.

Room-only doubles from £96 a night (kasteelkerckebosch.com/en).

PEAK OF PERFECTION

Kasteel Bloemendal

Bloemendal stands a couple of miles north of the Vaalserberg -
the 1,058ft peak is the highest point of mainland Netherlands.
The three-storey mansion is a 15-minute drive from Aachen and close to the
German border. It was commissioned by cloth merchant Arnold von Clermont in the
early 1790s.

Now a 77-room hotel, it has stylish modern bedrooms and an elegant restaurant with views over the gardens, which are open to the public.

Room-only doubles from £112 a night (hotelbloemendal.nl/en).

ESTATE WITH MODERN FOLLIES 

Fraeylemaborg

Fraeylemaborg is surrounded by a broad moat and
is reached by way of a wooden bridge

This castle (fraeylemaborg.nl, entry £6.25) is a 30-minute drive east
of Groningen, on an estate where the landscaping was
inspired by English parkland. Surrounded by a broad moat, the white-walled castle is reached by
crossing a wooden bridge. The rooms, including a library, are decorated as they would have looked when the
castle was occupied.

Ten quirky follies by contemporary designers are dotted across the estate.
They include a straw temple, formed by hay bales, and a hazelnut-shaped hut.

Room-only doubles from £129 a night at the nearby Prinsenhof Groningen (prinsenhof.nl).

BREAK FOR THE BORDER

Chateau Neercanne

On an estate that straddles the Dutch-Belgian border, Neercanne overlooks the rolling fields and woodland of
the Jeker Valley, south of Maastricht. The graffiti-scrawled caves
beneath the terraced castle have long been used to store wine.

In 1957, Neercanne's chandeliered restaurant was among the first in the Netherlands to be
awarded a Michelin star. L'Auberge, under the vaulted arches of the former stables, offers a more
moderately priced fine-dining (three courses for £48) at lunchtime.

Room-only doubles from £169 a night at the nearby Kruisherenhotel Maastricht (oostwegelcollection.nl/en/kruisherenhotel-maastricht).

A PARKLAND PEARL 

Elsloo Castle

Elsloo Castle houses a hotel with 24 bedrooms,
including compact doubles run through by sturdy wooden beams, and a restaurant serving French-influenced cuisine

The current incarnation of this ivy-clad castle stands in landscaped parkland, a 15-minute drive from Maastricht.
It was built a couple of hundred yards from the original, which was destroyed
by flooding in the late 16th Century during the Dutch fight for independence from Spanish rule.
Its rounded tower was added in 1843.

The castle now houses a hotel with 24 bedrooms,
including compact doubles run through by sturdy wooden beams,
and a restaurant serving French-influenced cuisine.

Room-only doubles from £71 a night (kasteelelsloo.nl/en/).

FILM STAR FORTRESS

Muiderslot Castle

Situated in Muiden, this can be reached in under
an hour from Amsterdam using public transport. With rounded towers and high walls, it's unsurprising the castle (muiderslot.nl/en, entry £14) is frequently used for filming scenes set during the Middle Ages.

Time-darkened oil paintings and suits of armour are displayed inside the moated fortress, which dates back to the 13th
Century. Children might enjoy donning medieval-style costumes and following the discovery trail
around the castle and its gardens.

Room-only doubles from £61 a night at the nearby NH
Naarden hotel (nh-hotels.com/hotel/nh-naarden).  

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Rose Leslie has told how her husband Kit Harington's past alcohol addiction is 'his responsibility' and
that it is solely down to him whether he choses to drink again.

The actress, 35, said that she 'won't nanny' him
into making good choices and refuses to 'put that pressure on herself'
during a candid new interview. 

Game of Thrones actor Kit, also 35, revealed he was suffering from alcohol addiction in 2019 after the hit series came
to an end and checked into the Privé-Swiss retreat in Connecticut to recover.

Strong: Rose Leslie has told how her husband
Kit Harington's alcohol addiction is 'his responsibility' and that it is solely
down to him whether he choses to drink again

Rose told Harper's Bazaar: 'I've learnt a lot about addiction and it's something Kit is
forever going to be aware of, but it's on him whether he chooses to
drink again. 

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'No amount of nannying is going to be able to stop him from doing
what he decides to do... I don't choose to put that pressure on myself.

The responsibility of his behaviour is on him. It's not on me to guard him from it.'

'For Kit, being an addict, it's very important for him to recognise himself as
such.

Having her say: The actress, 35, said that she 'won't nanny' him
into making good choices and refuses to 'put that pressure on herself', during an interview with Harper's Bazaar

'The AA community has provided such a loving space for him to feel heard, to make sure he's not alone.
But if it weren't for rehab, he would be in a very different headspace right now.'

Rose also said that she is 'doing well,' noting that Kit
suffered from addiction in 2019, 'so we're now several years into his sobriety.'

Last year Kit bravely spoke about surviving alcoholism and depression in a candid interview with
The Sunday Times.

The actor, who achieved worldwide fame with his role as
Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, said he 'went through some pretty horrible stuff' in the years since the fantasy drama series
ended in 2019.

Past battle: Game of Thrones actor Kit, also 35, revealed he was suffering from alcohol addiction in 2019 after
the hit series came to an end and checked into the
Privé-Swiss retreat in Connecticut to recover

Kit, who has been sober for two-and-a-half years following a stint in rehab, revealed that
while he was now 'very happy' and 'content', he
once battled suicidal thoughts. 

'I went through some pretty horrible stuff,' Christopher, who goes
by the moniker Kit, told publication, when describing his life
after the end of series. 

'Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended,
and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic
nature and they did include alcohol,' he revealed.  

Kit went on to describe his experience of hitting rock bottom,
that resulted in a stint in rehab at the Privé-Swiss
retreat in Connecticut, costing £95,000 a month.

When asked by the publication whether he ever contemplated suicide, Kit
reportedly hesitated before saying: 'The answer is yes.
Yes of course. I went through periods of real depression where I wanted
to do all sorts of things.'  

Kit said he hoped his comments would help others suffering, and admitted to being very 'secretive' about his addictions.

'I will say about my addictions that I kept them very, very quiet and I was incredibly secretive and incredibly locked
up with them,' he confessed.  

Rose and Kit wed in 2018 and welcomed their first child, a boy, in February
last year. 

Family: Rose and Kit wed in 2018 and welcomed their first child, a boy,
in February last year 

Kit gave a rare insight into fatherhood in a recent interview with Access Hollywood. 

The star admitted he didn't understand just how
big the journey through fatherhood was until he embarked on it
himself. 

He said: 'Everyone goes, "Look, it's big what you're about to go through." You have no way
of knowing that until it happens.'  

'Every day, I wake up and I look after this little human and
now we're part of a unit together.

'I think the thing that surprises me most about fatherhood is
you are now a unit, the three of you, and that's a whole new dynamic you need to find.'

Kit added: 'I pretty much find every day as he grows and changes,
how does that change you? It's a beautiful thing, it really is.'    

Kit and Rose confirmed the arrival of their baby boy last February but have not revealed
his name.

The couple have largely stayed out of the public eye since announcing that Rose was pregnant via a photoshoot the September before. 

They celebrated their three-year wedding anniversary last summer, after tying the knot in June 2018 at Rose's aristocratic family's spectacular 12th-century Wardhill
Castle in Aberdeenshire.

For confidential mental health support, please contact Samaritans on 116 123.
For support regarding alcohol addiction and
treatment, please contact UK Rehab on 02038 115 619. 

Love: They celebrated their three-year wedding
anniversary last summer, after tying the knot
in June 2018 at Rose's aristocratic family's spectacular 12th-century Wardhill Castle in Aberdeenshire

Game of ThronesRose LeslieKit Harington

William Pears profits slump 82pc after disappointing year
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Updated: 22:25 GMT, 16 February 2014

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comments

Down: Pre-tax profits dropped to £36million

One of Britain's biggest privately owned property groups has seen its profits plunge 82 per cent following a disappointing year in which rents fell.

William Pears Group, worth an estimated £2.1billion, owns thousands of homes, flats and office blocks,
and also manages buildings for Barclays, Royal Mail and the Department for Work and Pensions.

However, the latest accounts show pre-tax profits fell to £36million for the year to April 30, 2012, down from £204million.

This was attributed to a one-off gain the previous
year, when the business sold a number of ‘long-term investments'
which had inflated annual profits.

More...

Vodafone's UK shareholders could give economy big boost
after payout

£120m jackpot for Pets At Home staff as stock market float looms

In the current year, the firm, which is run by three brothers, made
an operating loss of £1.2million from a £22million operating profit on sales of £41million.

It was paid a dividend of almost £1billion by a subsidiary,
which is being reinvested in the firm.

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Swiss vote to impose world's strictest rules on executive pay after public
outcry over fat cat bonuses

People in Switzerland have voted for strict controls on executive pay

68 per cent backed plans to veto pay-outs to bosses

Move sparked by anger over the big bonuses blamed for fuelling risky
investments

It comes after the EU announced plan to cap bankers' bonuses at
a year's pay

By JANINE YAQOOB

Published: 16:43 GMT, 3 March 2013 | Updated: 17:
12 GMT, 3 March 2013

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Swiss citizens have voted to impose some of the world's
strictest controls on executive pay.

Early returns in a referendum revealed 68 per cent backed plans
for shareholders to veto executive pay and for a ban on big rewards for new and departing
managers.

The clear majority came as a surprise given fierce opposition and intense
campaigning by business lobby group Economiesuisse, which warned the proposals
will damage the country's competitiveness and scare away
international talent.

Support for the move was sparked by anger over the big bonuses blamed for fuelling risky investments that
nearly felled Swiss bank UBS, as well as outrage over a proposed $78
million payment to outgoing Novartis chairman Daniel Vasella.

Claude Longchamp, of pollsters Gfs.Bern, said the
public outcry last month that forced Novartis to cancel Vasella's 'golden goodbye' helped drive the campaign.

The Swiss vote for stricter rules on execuitve pay was sparked
by outrage over a proposed $78 million payment to outgoing
chairman of drugs company Novartis Daniel Vasella (pictured)

'It emotionalised and it mobilised,' he said.

Thomas Minder, the businessman-turned-politician behind the campaign,
says his proposals are aimed at ending a culture of short-termism and rewards for
managers of badly-run companies rather than just capping salaries.

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Despite threats from some executives, Switzerland is unlikely to see an exodus of big companies who have previously been drawn to the country by low taxes, stable politics and business-friendly laws.

And companies will seek ways around the new rules to reward executives, just as
banks in Europe are looking to soften the impact of a cap on bonuses for
top staff agreed by European politicians on Thursday. 

The Swiss vote comes as the European Union tries to push
through a proposal which will mean bankers bonuses will be
capped at a year's pay and a perk of two years' salary could
only be paid if a majority of shareholders agreed
to it.

Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron had ‘real concerns' about the plans and warned it must not be allowed to stifle Britain's role as a global
banking centre.

Chancellor George Osborne (left) is expected to argue against the European Union's plans to cap bankers' bonuses at
a year's pay. Prime Minister David Cameron (right) said he had 'real concerns' about
the plans

The deal must be signed off by EU governments before coming
into force next year but Chancellor George Osborne is expected to argue against it at
a meeting of European finance ministers next year.

Boris Johnson joined the chorus of British opposition, branding the plans 'deluded' and 'self-defeating'.

The London Mayor warned it would simply play into the hands of the City of
London's overseas.

Mr Osborne is expected to try to block the plans, claiming
it would prevent City firms hiring the best staff, prompting an exodus of
top talent to New York.

The deal must still be signed-off by EU governments before
coming into force in 2014 but the UK is struggling to convince other countries it is a
bad idea.

If Britain loses its showdown with Brussels, it would mean the most draconian clampdown on fat cats' perks since
the financial crisis of 2008.

Swiss companies accounted for five of the top 10 best-paid
chairmen in Europe in 2011, but only the heads of Novartis and
Roche made it into the continent's top 10 for chief executives.

While anger at multi-million dollar payouts for executives
has spread around the globe since the financial crisis,
the Swiss system of direct democracy means populist proposals have a greater chance of implementation.

Swiss citizens get to vote on a range of topics in up to four national referendums
each year.

A few other countries, including the United States and Germany,
have introduced advisory 'say on pay' votes in response
to anger over inequality and corporate excess.

Britain is also planning to give shareholders a binding vote on pay
and 'exit payments' at least every three years.

The near collapse of flagship bank UBS in 2008 stoked anger among Swiss who blamed its heavy losses on rewarding bankers
to make risky bets

Thomas Minder's initiative in Switzerland forces binding votes on compensation every year as well as on board composition and would also ban bonus payments to managers if their companies are taken over.

The plan also includes possible jail sentences and fines for
breaching the new rules.

While Switzerland has fared relatively well through the financial crisis, the near collapse of flagship bank UBS
in 2008 stoked anger among Swiss who blamed its heavy losses on rewarding bankers to
make risky bets.

Last year, more than one third of UBS shareholders rejected
the bank's plans for executive pay - including a 4 million franc signing-on fee for new German chairman Axel
Weber - after a sub-par 2011 profit and a $2 billion rogue trading scandal.

The centre-left Social Democrats are already pushing for another referendum on even tougher
curbs on executive pay - they want to limit
the annual compensation of top managers to just 12 times that
of their lowest-paid worker.

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