Daphne Guinness: Old British Aristocracy 'All Gone'

Daphne Guinness, a prominent socialite and heir to the Guinness brewing fortune, has declared the British aristocracy's traditional allure "all gone." Speaking to The Sunday Times, the 58-year-old expressed that the "old mystique" surrounding the ruling class has disappeared, replaced by what she perceives as a "worship of money."

Guinness, who has engaged in various creative pursuits including fashion design, modeling, and music, reminisced about a time when wealth was not openly discussed, finding that period more appealing than the present. She acknowledged that not all members of the old aristocratic world were pleasant, some being excessively snobbish.

Her family's lineage is steeped in historical intrigue and scandal. Her father, Jonathan Guinness, is the eldest son of Bryan Guinness, whose wife, Diana Mitford, famously divorced him to marry British fascist leader Oswald Mosley. Mitford's sister, Unity, had a close association with Adolf Hitler.

The controversial aspects of her ancestry were recently highlighted in the Netflix drama "House of Guinness," which Guinness described as an "accident waiting to happen" for her family. She understands the public's fascination with these historical narratives, though she admits to not fully comprehending them as a child.

Ms. Guinness's upbringing was unconventional, spent in a Spanish villa where artist Salvador Dalí was a family friend. She later moved to the United States, living with her half-sister who worked with Andy Warhol. In 1987, she married shipping magnate Spyros Niarchos, from whom she received a $39 million settlement upon their divorce in 1999.