Having separated from his second wife only last year, Zac Goldsmith might be expected to take things rather slowly when it comes to romance.
His latest girlfriend has, however, left the former Tory minister so shaken and stirred that he has already popped the question.
The Daily Mail can disclose that Lord Goldsmith, 49, has got engaged to Hum Fleming, 34, whose great-uncle was James Bond author Ian Fleming.
‘They are engaged,’ a friend confirmed last night.
‘Hum was wearing a big sparkler on a night out in Mayfair this week and said she and Zac were to be married.’
Hum Fleming (left) poses with Zac Goldsmith. Hum’s great uncle was Bond author Ian Fleming
Zac Goldsmith with his first wife Sheherazade, daughter of actress Viviane Ventura and financier John Bentley. The pair have three children together
Hum, a public relations executive in the fashion and lifestyle sector, is a member of the Fleming private-banking dynasty, once run by her father, Roddie.
She has spoken publicly about the epilepsy she has suffered since her teenage years, with bouts of seizures – both convulsive ones when she fits, and absent seizures that leave her unable to move or speak.
In March last year, the Mail disclosed that Lord Goldsmith had split from his second wife, Alice Rothschild, 41, who he married in 2013.
Their spokesman said at the time: ‘Alice and Zac have made the difficult decision to separate. They do so amicably and are committed to jointly raising their three children in a happy and healthy environment.’
Friends of the couple insisted that no one else was involved. But before they were married, their relationship was the subject of a tabloid exposé – because Sheherazade Bentley was still Lord Goldsmith’s wife.
Lord Goldsmith was also said to be linked to pop singer Ellie Goulding.
He and his first wife Sheherazade, 50, daughter of actress Viviane Ventura and financier John Bentley, have three children.
The announcement of their divorce came four months after Lord Goldsmith, an aspiring MP at the time, was reportedly told by senior Tories to ‘resolve any conflict in his love life’.
Zac Goldsmith with his second wife Alice Rothschild. They were married in 2013
Lord Goldsmith (right) was said to be linked to pop singer Ellie Goulding (left)
His relationship with Alice, the daughter of financier Amschel Rothschild, started in 2006. Friends insisted he had ‘agonised’ over leaving his wife.
Lord Goldsmith is the son of billionaire tycoon Sir James, who memorably commented: ‘When a man marries his mistress, he creates a vacancy.’
Aged 20, Jimmy Goldsmith eloped with 18-year-old Maria Isabel Patino, heiress to a tin mining fortune, in January 1954. But she tragically died that May in pregnancy. The couple’s child, also Isabel, survived.
He married second wife, secretary Ginette Lery, in 1963, and they had a son and daughter. But they divorced and he married Lady Annabel Birley in 1978. With her, he had daughter Jemima and sons, Zac and Ben.