EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Goldfinger’s son quits his marital dwelling for brand spanking new love

Stepping out of the shadow of a brilliant, charismatic father can be a daunting challenge for any son, especially if the father in question glories in ‘making millions’, as did the late, great – and controversial – Ian ‘Goldfinger’ Posgate.

But now, seven years after the death of his father, who was the star underwriter of Lloyd’s insurance market for more than 30 years, Richard Posgate is generating shrieks and squawks whenever his name is mentioned – particularly in Notting Hill, the expensive west London enclave where he and wife Rebecca, 64, have lived for more than 20 years.

Their £12million house is evidence of Posgate junior’s own success in the magnificently grubby world of insurance, which also enabled him to acquire what friends cheerfully describe as ‘a castle’ in Co Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, the country of his mother’s birth.

But his commercial triumphs aren’t the cause of current excitement – and howls of female outrage.

These are, instead, inspired by an abrupt reconfiguration of his domestic circumstances.

Educated at £52,164-a-year Catholic public school Downside, Posgate, 65, who’s a grandfather, has left the marital home to start life afresh with a new love, albeit one he has, I’m told, been friends with for many years.

‘He’s with a Korean girl. She’s about 20 years younger than him,’ a Notting Hill local tells me, adding that the newly entwined couple haven’t headed to Ireland or continental Europe.

It seems, instead, that it’s a case of Australia’s Gold Coast for Goldfinger’s boy. ‘He’s gone off to live in Brisbane. All the women round here – especially those of a certain age – are appalled.’

Posgate declines to comment, as does his now estranged wife.

‘It’s obviously very, very sad,’ observes another local, while others murmur about ‘the Osborne Effect’.

It’s a back-handed reference to former Chancellor George Osborne who ditched his first wife, Frances, moving in with his lover, Thea Rogers… whom he married the following year and now lives a stone’s throw from Posgate’s house.

Sophie’s new magic trick 

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is in demand on New Year’s Eve.

The Murder On The Dancefloor singer presents her two-hour Kitchen Disco Ultimate Party Hits For New Year’s! show at midday on Radio 2.

At midnight, she will ‘boogie into the New Year’ on BBC One. But her night is not over – for Ellis-Bextor, 45, pictured, will also sing in 2025 live from New York on an ABC special presented by Ryan Seacrest.

Has the star reinvented Concorde? A friend says: ‘The BBC One show will feel like a live New Year’s Eve party but it’s actually being recorded in Hammersmith this week.’

The magic of TV!

Will Jagger’s pool plans be felled again?

Sir Mick Jagger will be swapping his microphone for an axe as he plans to cut back magnolia trees at his historic £10million west London home.

The Rolling Stones singer, 81, wanted to chop them down completely to make way for a subterranean pool at his Grade I-listed, 17th-century property. 

But he was forced to move the 28×12 ft pool when neighbours objected to the felling. 

Now he wants to lop them back by 3 ft and has applied to Kensington and Chelsea Council for permission.

Jagger needs consent to carry out the works as the greenery lies in a designated conservation area but is not protected by a Tree Preservation Order. A decision is expected in the New Year.

Logan’s determination to present Match Of The Day 

She’s one of three presenters expected to replace Match Of The Day stalwart Gary Lineker.

And Gabby Logan is keen to prove her determination to carry out the role, judging by this family anecdote.

‘My Dad was quite a polemic[ist],’ says the daughter of former football player and manager Terry Yorath. ‘We had an argument in a restaurant in Spain about me wanting a pair of shoes. He said, “I’ll buy you these shoes if you eat all the mustard in that jar on the table.”

‘I decanted it, started eating it and my Mum said, “Nope”, because I was obviously going green.’

Logan adds: ‘My brother and sister looked on horrified that I was prepared to do this for these shoes.’

Christie’s record disappointment 

Christie’s thought it had broken a record – for the most expensive 18th-century work of art ever sold in France – when Jean Simeon Chardin’s 1760 painting Cut Melon went under the hammer for more than £20million in June.

There is, however, a hitch: the buyer, Nanni Bassani Antivari, 39, son of luxury yacht mogul Luca, has failed to pay up. Now, the British-owned auction house is suing him in France, where the sale took place.

The agreed price was more than double the painting’s almost £10million estimate. Chardin’s painting, showing a melon placed above other fruits on a table, had belonged to the Rothschild family collection since 1876.