Grim murder of millionaire aristocrat Lord Shaftesbury whose body was found in lonely ravine

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, lived a life of privilege - but met a brutal end.

The multi-millionaire aristocrat, who was 66 at the time of his death, was known for his fondness of extravagant parties, champagne, and glamorous women, recognisable by his flamboyant sense of style and array of funky sunglasses. Anthony would split his time between his 9,000-acre ancestral seat in Dorset and the French Riviera, where he would frequent Cannes nightclubs and splash the cash on his various female acquaintances.

While over in France in February 2002, the by-then twice divorced Anthony fell head-over-heels for French Playboy model Jamila M'Barek, after meeting her through an escort agency. Recently divorced herself, the mother-of-two was looking for a more permanent arrangement and enjoyed the attentions besotted Anthony bestowed upon her.

As explored in tonight's Channel 5 documentary A Very British Sex Scandal: The Earl & The Escort, however, Anthony's family weren't too sure about Jamila at all, with alarm bells ringing from the very start...

Anthony felt quickly for Jamila, but his family had their doubts
(Image: PA)





The Earl showered his new bride with gifts
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Recalling his first encounter with his future stepmother during a 2013 Mail Online article, Anthony's son Nick Ashley-Cooper recounted how he ended up walking out on lunch at a West London restaurant after realising Jamila was interested in his father for all the wrong reasons.

Nick recalled: "Instantaneously I saw her as someone who was out to get everything she possibly could. She immediately started saying to me, 'Oh, you just want to keep everything for yourself'. At that point, it became obvious to me that she was someone who was manipulating my father, so I walked out."

Things moved quickly from there. Over a summer dinner at the Grand Hotel in Cannes, Jamila announced she was pregnant, raising a toast to 'the three of us'. To the great dismay of his loved ones, Anthony married Jamila in the Dutch city of Hilversum in November of that same year, and spared no expense when it came to wedding gifts.

The new bride, who became the third Countess of Shaftesbury, was treated to a £8,000 monthly allowance, a converted windmill, and a £500,000 flat in Cannes. He also updated a will, making sure to leave his third wife £4million, an Italian villa, and a Versailles apartment.

Jamila appeared to revel in her new role as Countess, wearing tiaras when out and about, and requesting that women curtsey before her. Married life soon soured though, and, by the supposed seventh month of her pregnancy, the Earl grew suspicious that she didn't look as though she was expecting at all.

Anthony soon grew suspicious of his new wife's true intentions
(Image: Matrix Syndication)

Becoming furious, Jamila raged at Anthony that she had aborted the baby, telling him that he was a drunk who was unfit for fatherhood. A separation ensured, and, in 2004, Anthony fell in love again, this time with nightclub hostess Nadia Orche, whom he met at the Golden Gate bar in Cannes.

Speaking at his subsequent murder trial, Moroccan-born Nadia, who was 33 at the time, claimed that Anthony had been 'afraid of Jamila and her family', and that marrying her had been 'the greatest mistake of his life'. Soon after their first meeting, Nadia claims Anthony expressed his wishes to marry her and have a child together. As reported by The Guardian in 2007, she said: "She made his life hell. It was like a cult. He wanted to get out of this nightmare and live a quiet life with me."

That summer, one month after installing Nadia and her two children in their own flat, Anthony asked for her hand in marriage, and it seemed as though Nadia would become the fourth Countess of Shaftesbury. Things took a terrible turn however when, on November 5, 2004, Anthony seemingly vanished into thin air after checking out of the Noga Hilton Hotel in Cannes, after having travelled to Nice to meet with estranged wife, Jamila.

His disappearance sparked rumours of a mafia abduction, and for months, his loved ones were left with no answers. In February 2005, Jamila confessed that Anthony had been accidentally strangled to death by her brother Mohammed M'Barek during a fight at her flat. As reported by The Telegraph at the time, Jamila denied that Anthony's death was a pre-meditated murder, and claimed that her only part in it was to help load his body into her brother's car.

Jamila told investigators: "I did not want him to die. I just wanted my brother to intimidate him so that he would continue to pay me my allowance. But he didn't want to have anything to do with it, so a violent quarrel broke out. I left the room because I could not stand to see what was happening." Both she and her brother were arrested.

The murderous siblings claimed Anthony's death hadn't been premeditated
(Image: MAXPPP/NICE MATIN)

French authorities finally found Anthony's decomposed body dumped in a ravine at the foothills of the Alps. A double fracture of the larynx suggested he'd been strangled. A heated trial began in May 2007, as per The Guardian, in which Anthony's youngest son turned on his stepmother in a furious outburst, stating: "Jamila, I do not believe that you ever loved my father and I believe that you are manipulative and scheming, and ultimately an evil person."

Both Jamila and her brother were convicted and jailed – he for murder and she for aiding and abetting a murder.

You can catch A Very British Sex Scandal: The Earl & The Escort tonight (April 24) at 9pm on Channel 5.

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