Pol and Poppet, Kate O'Brien and the Thomas's and John's

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Watching the film, 'All The Money In The World' about John Paul Getty and the kidnapping of his grandson in Rome, I was reminded of how one finds oneself on the outer fringes of history sometimes, usually through people that one knows.

We are slightly connected to the story through Pol and Poppet Pol who were old friends of my parents and who Prue and I also stayed with in the South of France, sometimes with Sally Wilson-Young.

Sally, Anette, Patrick and Prue in Pol and Poppet's garden

Pol’s daughter Talitha married John Paul Getty Jr, one of the sons of the original Paul Getty and it was his son (from a previous marriage) who was kidnapped in Rome in 1973. 

I sometimes met their son Tara at Pol and Poppet’s - he is now a conservationist in Africa - and gave him him an electric train set for his birthday.

The other odd connection is though Kate, (our friend and Kei's nanny who died last year). She looked after Tara for Pol and Poppet in the 1970s when Talitha was in Morocco leading a hippie life with the likes of Mick Jagger.

Llewellyn and Kate

Poppett was one of the daughters of Augustus John. I also recently met one of Augustus John's sons, Tristan De Vere Cole (aka 'The Last Bastard'), who was brought up among the families at Freyern - the Johns, the Macnamara's and the Thomas's - and met Kate when she was the girlfriend of Llewellyn Thomas. 

Tristan de Vere Cole with Ann Stow


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