The heiress of luxury hotelier Sir Rocco Forte’s £300million hotel empire has been fined just £146 for driving her Mercedes too close to a cyclist near her £4.5million mansion.
Lydia Forte, 37, who is the Group Director of Food & Beverage at Rocco Forte Hotels, claimed she had to swerve to avoid an oncoming motorcyclist on Chelsea Embankment.
She did not appear at Bexley Magistrates’ Court, where she was fined £146, with £110 costs, plus a £58 victim surcharge and given three penalty points on her licence.
The magistrates had no financial information on Lydia, an executive within her celebrated hotelier family who have an estimated wealth of over £300m.
She admitted driving her blue two-litre Mercedes without reasonable consideration for other road users on January 31, last year on Chelsea Embankment, near her £4.5million home.
Mother-of-two Lydia was reported to the police by the unnamed cyclist who was recording other road users and captured footage of her poor driving.
Prosecutor Alison Larkin told the court Lydia only admitted to the offence after her lawyers examined the video footage.
‘She overtook a cyclist without leaving 1.5 metres between her vehicle and the cyclist and then moved near the kerb while the cyclist was still present.
Lydia Forte, 37, who is the Group Director of Food & Beverage at Rocco Forte Hotels, claimed she had to swerve to avoid an oncoming motorcyclist on Chelsea Embankment
Lydia Forte is the daughter of Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte (pictured) and the heir to his £300million Forte hotel empire
Lydia Forte pictured with her mother, Lady Aliai Forte, and father in London in June 2019
‘There is no evidence of any contact or injuries.’
The video footage was not played in court.
In a letter read to the magistrates Forte’s lawyers confirmed they viewed the video evidence and after a case conference the offence was admitted.
However, they stressed Forte only drove her Mercedes to the left due to an oncoming motorcyclist approaching her on the wrong side of the road.
Announcing their fine, based on an estimate of Forte’s means, the Chairman Mehmet Tahsin announced: ‘The bench feel that is commensurate with what we have heard.’
Lydia Forte is the daughter of Sir Rocco Giovanni Forte and Lady Aliai Forte. She has one sister, Irene Forte, and one brother, Charles Forte.
Their grandfather is Lord Charles Forte, who started his business with a single diner in London’s Regent Street in 1935, before building an empire of 1,000 restaurants and 800 hotels. He died in 2007.
After a hostile takeover in 1995, Lydia’s father Rocco, now 80, went on to start up Rocco Forte Hotels — a portfolio of 12 luxury hotels across Europe and Russia with plans to open three more in Sardina, Milan and Naples in the works.
There are two Rocco Forte hotels in the UK – Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair, London, and The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland (pictured)
Lady Aliai Forte pictured after receiving her driving ban at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court in September 2024
Lydia (right) pictured with her sister Irene Forte at The Victoria and Albert Museum Summer Party in 2017
There are two Rocco Forte hotels in the UK – Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair, London, and The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Lydia’s driving fine comes just six months after her mother was given a driving ban.
The 59-year-old mother-of-three was caught on camera driving her black four-litre Audi A6 at 50mph in a 40mph zone.
She received three penalty points, which when added to the nine points already on her driving licence triggered an automatic statutory ban.
Italian-born Lady Forte, who married Sir Rocco in 1986, appeared at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on September 17, 2024.
She admitted speeding along the A3 Kingston Road, near Tibbet’s Corner roundabout, Putney at 9.20am on January 9, 2024.
The court heard Lady Forte has convictions for speeding on March 8, 2022 and January 29, 2024, and also for using her mobile phone while driving on December 21, 2023.
The one-time fashion designer also received a six-month driving disqualification in 2020.