Strict rules aristocrat, 79, has for wife as he launches new appeal for woman ’20 years younger’

A 79-year-old aristocrat is on the hunt for a new wife who he insists must be at least 20 years younger than he is.

In fact, despite saying he's looking for 'a nice, ordinary country girl who knows and understands things', he's insisting she meet rather a lot of criteria before he'll consider putting a ring on her finger.

Sir Benjamin Slade is a baronet who is descended from King Charles II, and he believes he is in need of a male heir.

This is the sort of thing he should probably have attended to earlier in his life, but he had several relationships which ended up producing no children (that he has a relationships with anyway) and at his age, he's still on the hunt for what he describes as a 'good breeder'.

With lines like that one suspects he's not doing particularly well on the apps, your humble writer cannot claim to have ever asked a woman if she is a 'good breeder', but he suspects it would be a fairly atrocious thing to say on a date.

Sir Benjamin Slade is 79 and is looking for a woman to give him two sons (SWNS)

People might think they want a man who knows what he wants from a relationship, but in the case of Slade, he might be rather too strict with the requirements.

He says he is looking for 'a Lady of the House' who can 'run two castles, an estate and a grouse moor', and 'must be able to breed two sons'.

This woman would be paid £50,000 a year plus bonuses, with a car, house, food, expenses and holidays covered.

He's hoping she's trained in the law and as an accountant, though this isn't a dealbreaker, and has his fingers crossed that she has 'a little private capital and income', though as far as money goes he says 'a large fortune would be more helpful'.

If the lady in question could also be a good ballroom dancer and have a helicopter licence then he says that would also be 'beneficial', but all of those are just the optional extras.

"I don't mind Canadians, Americans, Germans and Northern Europeans - what I like to call similar people. I don't think marrying an Eskimo is for me," he said.

The picky aristocrat has got one hell of a series of red lines where he's a lot more strict with who his future wife might be.

He's looking for a wife to run his estate and has some very strict requirements about a partner (SWNS)

The strict rules

While he'd like a woman with money who can run his estates for him and fly a helicopter, there's a fairly long list of things he considers not to be up for negotiation.

Should you wish to wed a 79-year-old aristocrat then these are the strict rules of entry:

• You must have a shotgun licence
• You must have a driving licence
• You must have a coat of arms
• You 'must be able to breed two sons' (he doesn't mind if you've already got children, how generous)
• You must not be a Guardian reader
• You must not be Scottish
• You cannot be from a country beginning with 'I' with green in their flag (So nobody from Iran, India, Ireland, Italy or the Ivory Coast)
• You must be at least 20 years younger (given that he's 79 and hopes she'll give him two children he presumably wants someone younger than that)
• You do not take drugs
• You are not an alcoholic
• You are not a Scorpio
• You cannot be from a country where they 'don't wear overcoats in the winter'
• You must be taller than 5'6
• You must play bridge, backgammon and do crosswords
• You must be physically active and able to swim
• You must live for seven years so he can leave you his assets without paying tax on them

Not asking for much then.

He added: "I can have two sons, three would be better, but if I get two sons that saves the situation.

"You always have a lady of the house, women run houses. People think that it is sexist. Jane Austen said if you got a big house you need a wife.

"The ladies run the house. They run the staff they have an eye for it."

He does already have a child, but he has never met his daughter (SWNS)

He already has a child

He's made previous searches for a partner and does have a child, though two weddings with the mother were called off by Sir Benjamin and the couple's child ended up being a girl.

Sahara Sunday Spain accused him of being 'utterly shameful' and claimed he had 'no interest in meeting' his daughter, telling the Daily Mail that she got pregnant via IVF using sperm Slade had frozen 20 years ago, but they never married and he never met his daughter.

She said: "I know Ben wanted a boy, but he didn't know the sex of the baby when he cancelled our second wedding. Would he have had a change of heart if I'd have had a son? Only Ben knows that. But he has no interest in meeting Violet. His behaviour is devastating."

However, she said that she 'doesn't hate' him and laughed off accusations that she had been trying to marry him for his money, saying he 'doesn't have any money' as he's 'land rich and cash poor'.

The two of them met in 2020 through an agency for people seeking a co-parent to have a child with, Sahara had been 28 at the time while Slade was in his 70s.