Ann Summers boss sued for libel over Princess Margaret 'illicit relationship' claim

• Jacqueline Gold suggested company's founder had 'adulterous relationship' with Princess Margaret
• Michael Caborn-Waterfield sets the value of claim 'in excess of £500,000'

Businesswoman: Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold is being sued for libel

Ann Summers boss Jacqueline Gold is being sued for libel after suggesting that the company’s founder had an ‘adulterous relationship’ with Princess Margaret.
Michael Caborn-Waterfield, a former boyfriend of 1950s film star Diana Dors, sets the value of his claim ‘in excess of £500,000’.
The 83-year-old, who is said to have founded the Ann Summers chain in 1970 ‘for a laugh’ before it was bought out by Miss Gold’s family in 1972, is suing over statements made in her autobiography, Please Let it Stop.
Miss Gold, daughter of controversial businessman David  Gold, is said to be Britain’s 16th richest woman, worth an estimated £180million.
Mr Caborn-Waterfield said the 52-year-old’s book had alleged he ‘had an adulterous relationship with Princess Margaret’ and ‘was in the habit of illegally landing his helicopter in Hyde Park’.
In a writ lodged at London’s High Court, Mr Caborn-Waterfield also complains that other statements made in the book ‘meant and were understood to mean’ that he ‘was a dissolute and profligate dilettante’.
The businessman, who lives in Fulham, South West London, goes on to say he was made out to be  ‘habitually irresponsible and incompetent in the conduct of his business and private affairs’ and ‘did not honour his personal debts’.
The writ adds: ‘Mr Caborn-Waterfield has been and is being gravely injured in his personal credit and reputation, has  suffered and is suffering acute distress and anxiety, and has been and is being brought into public scandal, odium and contempt.’
As well as damages, Mr Caborn-Waterfield is seeking an injunction restraining further publication of the book.
His relationship with Miss Dors began while she was filming Diamond City in 1949, and he is director of a business called Dors Productions. 
She died from ovarian cancer in 1984, aged 52.

 

Mr Caborn-Waterfield is also suing the publishers, Random House Group Ltd, and author Wendy Holden, who ghost-wrote another book about Miss Gold’s life, Good Vibrations.

Michael Caborn-Waterfield (left) is suing over statements that alleged he 'had an adulterous relationship with Princess Margaret' (right) and 'was in the habit of illegally landing his helicopter on Hyde Park'

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