The Chateau Diaries #204 Fanny put more $ into her sagging face than her sagging château!

Summerbaby said:

I personally feel that Percy will deteriorate far sooner than Mommy Dearest - it is already rather apparent. Then Mommy will become his caregiver, which, although she may have had some experience in being so in her previous life, it is not natural to her to do unless there is plenty of money involved. Who really knows?
Thankfully, I am certain that both Isobel/Percy's families with them marrying each other at their late stage in life, ensured that both of their estates were 100% legally separated and sewn up for the benefits of their own children etc. And, why not?
Well, that is what I would have done, no doubt about it!
If that is the case, Issy would then move back to her little house in Framlington, near her sister/BIL/Gerry for occasional support and that of the NHS. As far away from the madness of the HMN as possible, methinks!
However, what does appear rather strange to me, is that Issy really doesn't seem to have any friends - have I got that wrong? Maybe not so strange in reality, as she is defo not someone I would ever wish to spend any time with personally. Whatever, her life, thankfully, not mine!

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I can't imagine ever telling my Dad he needed to make sure my inheritance was protected when he shacked up with the New Squeeze... As it happened, he sold his/mum's property, invested in his own flat/apartment, met New Squeeze, after a while she sold her property, moved in with him... (see how this is going)? After a few years he sold his flat, they moved into rental seniors complex, he died, their joint bank account automatically went to her... she died eventually, all her money went to her family.... My last straw with her was when she said, "I know your Dad and I have only been together 15 years, but when you think whilst he was married to your Mum, he was away a lot (army) and they were both working, with us both being retired all these years, I've been with him longer than he was with your Mum" :O Bitch.. 'but no struggles Vi, no kids to raise, bills to worry over, you've lived off my Mums money all these years... hey ho...

Gertrude Maud said:

Oh my god . . . what a word salad.
Edit: She sounds like she's tripping.

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Totally agree! It reminds me of a writing contest entry (I was asked to judge one year) herein a writer penned my favorite line: "A family of chills stalked the valley of my spine." I marveled and marveled over that gem. I wanted to edit to "...a dysfunctional family of chills..."

graciemckitten said:

“Time traveling “ Stephanfraudie spent approximately 50% of the past year away from her beloved Dump but tried to hide this from viewers and Patrons by screwing with the timelines in videos, utilizing portions of older footage. What a scammer!

Now in 2023, she is likely off to Dubai, Saudia Arabia ( she has already set that up thru the gift grab reveal) with trips to Italy, London, Paris, South Africa, and Spain probably already on the books.


Potts did the site and there wasn’t sufficient safety provisions put in place to protect buyers purchasing online.


I agree. Stephanfraudie is the gold standard of the chateau verse grifting to which all other chateau owners should be compared.

It makes sense now that her Auntie had the huge Christmas tree up and decorated at the barn house because Christmas was filmed earlier in the month and Auntie and family were at home in England with Anne Marie’s other brother and grandchildren enjoying Christmas at the barn house in England on Çhristmas Eve and Christmas Day and were not at the Dump.

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I wonder if anyone other than Pavlina is actually at the heap at the moment. And remember Fanny’s complaint about the log burners producing too much heat? Well, yes, if Christmas was filmed in late summer, early fall they would definitely produce too much heat!

Madame No said:

There was a comment about insurance and scams here in the US related to dental work. I don't know where that information is coming from. Unfortunately, most dental work is NOT covered by insurance. Dental insurance is very expensive and mostly just covers two cleanings a year and some fillings. Orthodontic work is usually paid out of pocket. Implants are not covered. Veneers are not covered. You may get coverage if you need dental surgery for being in an accident or something like that. Obviously, I am a huge proponent of dental care. I can't tell you how much money has been spent on my teeth over my life time and I have to have an implant next year to the tune of $8,000. It's one of my front teeth so it has to be done. If it was a back tooth, I'd probably forego it. I'm not having it done for vanity, but for health as that tooth is heavily compromised from trauma and can't be saved. If I had the money, I would donate it to dental care for underprivileged children. I'm lucky that my parents and grandparents made sure that my brothers and I had really good dental care during our childhoods.

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In my younger days, I used to religiously go to the dentist every 6 months, as I made sure my son did too. These days, only when I have an issue or, for my 4-6 monthly hygienist appointments.
In the UK, with my dental insurance coverage - there are 2 different levels.
One to reclaim the NHS periodical payments, e.g. 2 check up visits pa which is primarily the basic via the NHS, but if any resultant treatment is required, it is on a sliding scale. If you have personal insurance, you can reclaim the majority of those costs, possibly not all.
Hygienist visits are not included. Not sure about false teeth as I have personally never needed to explore that area.
The other, obviously much higher premium, 2 hygienist visits pa and "only" a % of any other work required, e.g. root canal/crowns/bridges etc
Veneers and any other cosmetic type of treatment is not covered as far as I know. But, again, have never personally had to explore that scenario either, so not entirely certain.
BUT, at the end of the day, dental treatment is not cheap wherever we live, and unfortunately, some people sacrifice that treatment in order to pay for other needs within their lives, especially in today's current climate. Added to which, most new dental practises within the UK today are not backed by the NHS, therefore, private treatment is the only route, which is obviously beyond a lot of people/families' budgets.

LadyRed said:

In their defense, the old kitchen was a bit bare bones "it will do for now" kind of situation.
I would more so question why do they need a dining room when they have the big breakfast room which they used for the B&B guests, but hey I guess the new dining room hasn't really been a big expense, just some wiring and painting (and a 40 euros table).

Didn't know about the fourth façade, I thought the entirety of it was covered by a government grant?

Speaking of the Fleuries, I snickered at the lil nugget when the Wallpaperer announced they didn't have much time to renovate the dining room because of the expensive wax launch. The idiots will make more money on these renovation videos from addsense alone than they will on their elitist candles, what were they thinking?

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What rooms are left to renovate anyway? They once mentioned to transform the attic into a generous parents apartment. Their current bedroom is kind of small.
A barn and the two longhouses? Some ruins on the plot just for fun?

I see a chateau featured on "Escape to the Chateau DIY" is on the market. The one where she does afternoon teas. He repaired some outside steps in their fake Christmas season episodes. £725k. 5 ensuite bedrooms (couple of these are family suites) one gite and planning agreed for 6 more gites in a courtyard complex. I wonder why they are selling up and where they are heading.

TorontoGWM said:

Bitter much, Kathy?

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okay this needs at least a time stamp of where to start watching.... it's after @11.00 She's bitching about people talking about themselves on here, after talking about herself, her weeks eats, her ailments... omg the ailments... for 11 minutes straight! I stopped watching her a long time ago, the way she's rubbing her nose there I'm wondering if she's been sniffing the white stuff!

This afternoon I was wondering how I got so hoodwinked by Fanny et al at the beginning, when I started watching her videos. I've just finished watching the video where MP is staying at the Chateau and cooks his lasagna. Wow, what a difference and I can fully understand why I liked them back then. I found:
Fanny was much more natural and relaxed, There was nothing forced. There was a sense of enjoyment or happiness about her interactions with MP that you don't get with Phillipa.

Mummy seemed nicer as well. She was busy in the vegetable garden with Dan and enjoying it. In the recent videos she seems to have been sidelined from the garden which is a pity. In the past I had the opinion that it was her preserve. Honestly, without that, what is there to attract her to the Chateau now? I'm not surprised that she didn't want to be there for Christmas. It appears that there are more reasons to stay away than reasons to go there.

MP was fairly charming in his interactions with Fanny and they were very natural together.

Today it is completely different. Fanny is fraught, she has lost 'It' whatever that 'It' was. Phillipa is a cancer in the heart of the Chateau and appears to me to have isolated Fanny from her former friends. I doubt that he would succeed with Kat because she'd just runover him in her rambunctious manner.

Nasty little worm-like creeps such as Phillipa can be devastatingly harmful to someone, quietly dripping poison into their target's ear. I am becoming increasingly suspicious that Phillipa could well be pretty narcissistic and a malignant one at the. The change in Fanny's demeanor could attest to this. Perhaps it is little by little robbing her of her confidence and playing negatively on her emotions. This happened to a friend of mine who got entangled with a malevolent type like Phillipa. She became alienated from her friends whom he quietly and systematically removed from her life until she was as totally dependent on him emotionally as he was on her money...

Success has just triggered in Fanny the greed, selfishness and deviousness that were there all the time, just a little better disguised. Phillipa, with it's lack of creativity, lack of social skills, lack of life experience, hubris, vanity and moral ineptitude is probably the very worst partner that Fanny could have found or, who could have found Fanny.

But the early videos were pretty entertaining, the cast of characters was good and I completely see why I enjoyed watching them.

Dan was much better at playing the Gardener under Isabelle's instruction that whatever the hell it is that he's doing now.

I’ve finally had a chance to fully watch the Christmas CD episode. I think I caught a glimpse of Tess in the background. Why does she still hang out with Stephanie and her merry band of misfits? She must be one herself, carrying around that haunted baby doll. Doesn’t seem like a Christmas Eve party that anyone but the chateau skeleton crew would like to attend.

T Rex said:

I do go out of my way for my guests, but even I draw the line at monogrammed bathrobes and Hermes blankets! I want these people (as much as I love them all) to leave eventually! When I am a guest in someone else's home, I am just happy to have a clean room to sleep in! Good food is always a plus! No no, you are a fine host!

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Monogrammed bathrobes are for impressing rubes at four star (not five star) hotels. Ladies and gentlemen bring their own dressing gowns. Hotels -- that's where those boys -- like Dean and Borja -- get their decorating and hospitality aesthetic.
I like real eccentric dashing decorators -- I even like Lulu Lytle, the one BoJo got kicked out of office for hiring. I like her a lot. Hotels should look like an eccentric person/thoughtful host with really good taste -- not Ivanka Trump -- decorated them.


Good bedside lamps and reading lamps, both ambient and spot lighting, which people like Ivanka and Shrek Jr. and Fanny never understand. A surface for every seated/prone person to set a cup or a glass on. Etc.

Lochness Monster said:

You are forgetting….she bought crowns because the ones in the crackers are not blingy enough.
How many sets did she buy…. No expense spared. Where are the big sacks of presents? She was careful not to film them.
In fact the effort to not film things is exhausting her.

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44 POUNDS FOR 4!!!! That's just stupid... I did wonder why she wouldn't have put them at the table and let people make their own before the meal... I guess she doesn't need an ice-breaker... their all half cut by then anyways..

Jules100 said:

I’ve finally had a chance to fully watch the Christmas CD episode. I think I caught a glimpse of Tess in the background. Why does she still hang out with Stephanie and her merry band of misfits? She must be one herself, carrying around that haunted baby doll. Doesn’t seem like a Christmas Eve party that anyone but the chateau skeleton crew would like to attend.

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Beats sitting with family in the Ukraine I guess

Imperious Me said:

Beats sitting with family in the Ukraine I guess

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I thought Tess was American?

Jules100 said:

I thought Tess was American?

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I was talking about Pavlov still being there

Imperious Me said:

okay this needs at least a time stamp of where to start watching.... it's after @11.00 She's bitching about people talking about themselves on here, after talking about herself, her weeks eats, her ailments... omg the ailments... for 11 minutes straight! I stopped watching her a long time ago, the way she's rubbing her nose there I'm wondering if she's been sniffing the white stuff!

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She'd be a hell of a lot thinner if she was.

Kickintheass said:

I see a chateau featured on "Escape to the Chateau DIY" is on the market. The one where she does afternoon teas. He repaired some outside steps in their fake Christmas season episodes. £725k. 5 ensuite bedrooms (couple of these are family suites) one gite and planning agreed for 6 more gites in a courtyard complex. I wonder why they are selling up and where they are heading.

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Is that the Scottish couple?

Jules100 said:

A lot of us have grown a bit bored and weary about CD and Stephanie Jarvis’s. What about making this Chateau Diaries forum into a chateauverse forum? Would it be a good or bad thing for Stephanie? …and us?

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We might as well, we have a pop at quite a few of the other members of the Chateauverse, good and bad.

Jules100 said:

I thought Tess was American?

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She's a yankee.

Imperious Me said:

okay this needs at least a time stamp of where to start watching.... it's after @11.00 She's bitching about people talking about themselves on here, after talking about herself, her weeks eats, her ailments... omg the ailments... for 11 minutes straight! I stopped watching her a long time ago, the way she's rubbing her nose there I'm wondering if she's been sniffing the white stuff!

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Near the end, the arthritic wannabe painter says she is not going to read Tattle anymore.

I love Kathy

Summerbaby said:

Dubai would be one of the last places on this earth that I would ever wish to visit.
My son's last girlfriend was brought up there by her ex-pat parents - she left as soon as she was old enough to come to the UK.
When he visited a couple of years ago, he absolutely hated it and felt so uncomfortable due to their insane laws and hypocrisy let alone, the huge division in distribution of wealth.
His gf's father even offered him a job, which he immediately turned down without a second thought. I was extremely proud of him.

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Was Arabia ever a French colony or how did Marie Antoinette made it to Dubai?