An eccentric TV aristocrat, who once advertised for a helicopter-flying "castle-trained" spouse to bear him an heir, has lost a £1.2m High Court battle against his ex-wife.Sir Benjamin Slade, 7th Baronet of Maunsell, famously appeared on ITV's This Morning in 2018 in his hunt for a wife, stipulating that she couldn’t hail from a country beginning with an "I" or with green in its flag, and must be neither Scots, Scorpio, nor lesbian.The 79-year-old baronet, a descendant of one of the Duke of Wellington's generals and also recently seen on C4 reality gameshow Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing, was married to Lady Pauline Slade for 12 years before divorcing in 1994. He later described himself as having become frustrated with her 17 cats.As part of their divorce settlement, Lady Slade was handed a £1.2m trust fund, comprising an "income fund" now worth around £651,000 and a £585,000 house in rural Somerset.The dispute ignited after Lady Slade moved out of the property in 2023, demanding the house be sold by trustees to pay her debts and boost her income. This sparked a complex legal battle over the future of the house, where Sir Benjamin is currently living.Sir Benjamin insisted his ex had no right to the sale proceeds of the house – Old Farm, in Lower Rydon, West Newton – arguing she only ever had a right to live there rent-free for life, or to acquire a replacement property.Maunsell House is the family seat of Sir Benjamin Slade (Champion News)The complex disagreement ultimately reached London’s High Court as the trustees for Lady Slade’s divorce fund asked a judge to decide whether she has the right to ask them to sell the house and invest the profits for her benefit.Master Julia Clark has now ruled against Sir Benjamin, having found that one of the main purposes of the divorce trust was to provide her with income “during her lifetime”.“There is in my judgment no basis for concluding that if Lady Slade does not direct the purchase of a replacement property that the overall purpose of the trust comes to an end, or that Lady Slade's interest in the net proceeds of sale ends and reverts to Sir Benjamin,” the judge said.The baronet is a direct descendant of one of the Duke of Wellington’s generals – General Sir John Slade, the first baronet – who was once criticised by the Iron Duke for his inept handling of cavalry and for “galloping at everything”.The blue-blooded baronet's family seat is a sprawling 13-bedroom red-brick manor - Maunsell House in Somerset - which has origins stretching back to the 11th century and is said to be where Geoffrey Chaucer wrote some of his works.The house includes a blocked-off secret passage (Supplied by Champion News)The house boasts a blocked-off secret passage, which was once linked to the local parish church, while a well-stocked bar has a display cabinet with 81 guns on display, including a heavy machine gun.Sir Benjamin carved out a fortune in the shipping industry, but has generated headlines for a variety of reasons, including going on TV to advertise for a suitable wife and most recently quitting Jonathan Ross’s reality gameshow Handcuffed: Last Pair Standing after just hours spent manacled to a fellow contestant.The aristocrat, who was paired with a prison guard for his partner at Maunsell House, lasted some 12 hours and demanded to be set free with bolt cutters after calling for the return of his phone in breach of the show’s protocols.“It’s my house, I want my f***ing phone thanks – I need to check what’s happening in the world,” he was recorded as saying in an expletive-laced rant at producers before setting off to find a pair of boltcutters to separate him and his partner-in-cuffs.Sir Benjamin's first wife, Pauline Myburgh, 79, was the daughter of Devon county cricketer and British Army officer Major Claude Myburgh.Sir Benjamin Slade outside the High Court (Champion News)When they divorced in 1994, he settled a trust to provide her with an income, while transferring The Old Farm into it for her to use as a home.But the baronet's barrister, Robert Deacon, told the court that Lady Slade moved out in 2022 or 2023, later penning a letter in August 2024 “confirming that she had no intention of living in the property again”.In her letter, Lady Slade explained that: “I have wanted to sell Lower Rydon for years. I have no intention of living at The Old Farm again and no wish to buy a further property.“I give my full consent to the trustees to sell the house, land and outbuildings and for the money to be invested, to enhance my income, and all debts to be paid from the proceeds.“Lady Slade’s wish to sell up prompted a complex legal dispute over her rights, involving Sir Benjamin, the “neutral” trustees, and Lady Slade herself, who played no part in the case beyond stating that she “wanted the property to be sold”.Sir Benjamin argued that his ex has no right to any money from the house, since it was only ever transferred to provide her with a home.A judge has ruled in favour of Lady Pauline (Supplied by Champion News)He claimed that The Old Farm was never intended to be an “income producing asset” as her income was meant to flow from a dedicated cash fund, which is now worth around £651,000.The property was gifted only to provide “lifetime rent-free accommodation”, he said, insisting that if Lady Slade rejected the option of a replacement property she would have no right to benefit from the sale of The Old Farm.But ruling against him, the judge concluded: “I do not accept the submissions. [The purpose of the trust] is to provide Lady Slade with income during her lifetime from the ‘trust fund’, and the trust fund includes the property.“In my judgment, these provisions render the submission that the trust's purpose did not include providing income from the property to Lady Slade unsustainable.“The judge concluded that the terms of the trust “provides for the income from the entirety of the trust fund, including the property, to be held for Lady Slade”.Master Clark ruled that Lady Slade or the trustees can direct the sale of the Old Farm, with the profits either used to buy her a replacement property, or invested and the income paid out to her.