The Earl of Pembroke’s stepfather shot himself in the head at Britain’s most famous country house due to ‘severe financial pressure’ and left notes saying he was ‘taking the coward’s way out’, an inquest heard.
Stuart Wyndham Murray Thripland left notes at Wilton House, a 14,000-acre Palladian estate near Salisbury, Wiltshire, saying he could ‘not forgive himself’ for the ‘mess’ he had caused.
The inquest at Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard she felt she was ‘losing control’ and that she was experiencing ‘significant anxiety’.
His death at Wilton House came on the day his estate and 13-bedroom castle in Dunbeath, Scotland, was put on the market for £25 million.
Mr Thripland and his wife Claire Rose have owned the 15th-century Dunbeath since 1997.
In a statement, Ms Thripland said the businessman, who resigned as director of 15 companies on the same day, would have taken his own life if he hadn’t found her at the Scottish estate with a gun in his lap using his ‘find-my-friends’ app.
Mr Thripland’s death at Wilton House came on the day his estate and 13-bedroom castle in Dunbeath, Scotland, was put on the market for £25m.
‘On Saturday, June 10, he told me he was going to the office so I checked the Find-My-Friend app and found that he was located half a mile from the office on a part of the Scottish estate he loved,’ she said.
The inquest heard that she knew her husband was ‘stressed’ at the time so went looking for him. When he arrived, he saw marks on his gun which were ‘out of character’ as he would never hunt out of season.
He found her on a bench with their dog, with a double-barreled shotgun ‘lying in her lap’, the inquest heard.
‘He said if I had stayed two minutes longer he would have shot himself,’ she added.
In a two-and-a-half-hour chat, Mr Thripland told his wife he felt he was ‘losing control’ by selling their Scottish property.
Thinking that he had ‘convinced her that it would be a bad idea to end her life’, the couple returned to Wilton, the historic seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. The next day Mr Thripland died.
The hearing heard that Ms Thripland had gone out riding on the morning of June 12 and Mr Thripland said he had gone to his office.
Stuart Wyndham Murray Thripland left the note at Wilton House, a 14,000-acre Palladian estate near Salisbury, Wiltshire, saying he ‘couldn’t forgive himself’ for the ‘mess’ he had created.
Mr Thripland and his wife Claire Rose have owned the 15th-century Dunbeath since 1997.
When he didn’t return by 1pm as expected, he called the office, only to learn from staff that he was ‘working from home’ that day.
After calling him with no answer, she used the find-my-friends app again and began to think it was ‘a repeat of last Saturday’.
She tracked him to a different part of the estate and when he reached his car, he found her lying with a gun by his side.
Senior Coroner David Ridley revealed there was a ‘series of letters’ on Mr Thripland’s electric BMW.
In a note to her three children she wrote: ‘I can’t forgive myself for the mess I’ve made, I’m taking the coward’s way out.’
The remaining notes were focused on his ‘financial concerns’.
The court heard the couple were in the process of selling their estate to ‘relieve the stress’.
Mr Ridley said ‘the financial difficulties Mr Thripland was facing were clearly a cause for concern’. ‘He didn’t want to let his staff or his family down.’
In a statement about his step-father, William Herbert, the 18th Earl of Pembroke said his ‘second father’ was a ‘kind, charismatic, energetic and very determined man’.
The hearing was told she last saw Mr Thripland three weeks before his death, where there was ‘discussion’ about him resigning as a trustee of the Wilton estate because he was ‘moving on’.
On the day of the incident, he received a call from his mother and attended the scene. He said he was ‘unaware’ of any financial stress Mr Thripland was under, until his mother told him.
Passing a verdict of suicide, Mr Ridley concluded: ‘Mr Thripland was undoubtedly under severe financial pressure and felt that it should be a person’s decision to take their own life.
‘Sadly, he did’.