Did Lady Jane Douglas Lie in High-Profile 1700s Inheritance Case?
The lawsuit took about 10 years to resolve, at a cost of around $18 million in today’s dollars, and the winner inherited the riches of a man reputed to be the wealthiest in Scotland. At issue was whether the twins claimed by Lady Jane Douglas as her own biological children, born in Paris in 1748, had in fact been purchased by herself and her husband from a poor French couple in order to get her brother’s fortune.
But the 260-year-old case, which fascinated and divided fashionable European society at the time, raised a question that has never been completely resolved, even though the House of Lords decided that the children were hers. “Now, documents discovered in the archive of the present Earl of Home suggest that Lady Jane lied, that she connived in her husband’s planned deceit, and that she regretted the falsehood ever after,” reports the London Times.
They include a highly personal and emotional document penned by Lady Jane herself, seeking forgiveness, and a diary of one of the lawyers representing the family in the case, expressing doubts about her innocence, the newspaper recounts.
One twin survived to inherit her brother’s fortune, and to continue a famous family that included British Prime Minister Alec Douglas Home.
