Nous sommes tous VALERIE
TL; DR
Errors and omissions excepted
Thread title in honour of the very brave tattler, Valerie, who tackled the breach of Covid regulations at Lalande in a "Lord of the Flies"style battle on Facebook (about as ferile as it gets in 2021).
Christmas/Covid:
Many people were very upset with the large gathering at Lalande for Christmas, especially as it contravened French government safety recommendations and disrespected the loneliness and isolation suffered by many in lockdown. Numerous posts back and forth led to a general consensus that it was insensitive and risky. A brave exchange on FB led the DB to share a link to tattle on her Facebook group, encouraging her flying gibbons to attack both the brave Valerie and tattlers generally. Well, it backfired...
Brenda's Own Goal:
DB scored an own goal by directing members of her FB group to tattle during a tirade where she threatened doxxing. DB didn't realise that her rant would have consequences, and
@MojoDublin "handed her her arse on a plate" with an outstanding post that revealed her shady tax and insurance status, not to mention highlighting her irresponsible travel escapades during the pandemic.
Hope that isn't the Revenue Commissioners knocking, Brenda...
New Information & Old Romances:
New member, directed by DB, Clara Bennett, caused something of a stir when she revealed sordid goings-on at Lalande and how good friends of hers, a young Dutch gay couple, had invested 3 years of their lives into helping SJ to maintain the chateau and begin her B&B business. They had a considerable number of very positive reviews on Workaway, identifing them by name, and not SJ. Workaway removed SJ from their site in Autumn 2020 - probably for breach of conditions (speculation as to whether this was as a resulf of exploitation of/or sleeping with volunteers could not be established).
The couple left Lalande in 2017 after a terrible betrayal, where Mummy had allowed them to be abused by a homophobe. Later, when pointing out SJ's hypocrisy on a social media post, they were bullied and abused by Michael Potts and Nic Larkin. They now live in a little "Hansel & Gretel" type house but have not been without their trials and tribulations in the French countryside, having been royally shafted by their French next door neighbour. Not only has their lovely garden been compromised by a concrete monstrosity next door, but the neighbour enlisted the help and support of relatives to circumvent any possible legal solution. They have a wonderful blog and instagram account.
Clara continued to share many juicy details about the goings on at Lalande, it appears SJ quite enjoys intrigue and playing with people's emotions. Apparently, her favourite movie is
Dangerous Liaisons, and not just because of the costumes. Her favourite character would appear to be the particularly nasty Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (the irony that the psychopath in the movie is named Isabelle is not lost on any of us...). What exactly she has been up to has yet to be revealed... (some more victims/friends might just show up on tattle any time now).
It is also revealed that Ruth was something of a swinger at the chateau when her unfortunate and unsuspecting boyfriend was at home in London. This was before she hooked up with Potty, who had a decade long "open" relationship with SJ. Speculation about parties at Lalande being anything other than innocent fun was simmering in parts of the thread but the details stopped there... (Come on agents!)
The title of this thread alludes to an event where the chateau almost burnt down in 2017. SJ refused to return to deal with the emergency as she was in Venice and wished to show off her newly purchased crown which had cost GBP300 (see Instagram). Clara also pointed out that the fire was (surprise, surprise) a result of negligence. SJ went on to rent out that part of the chateau to an American with two small children, knowing that the fire risk was ever present. She also rented out the accommodation when the American woman was on holidays. The usual integrity we have come to expect from she who shouts from the balcony...
We also discovered that SJ had a Weirdo boyfriend from Norway who unceremoniously dumped her and went home. She also had been heartlessly dumped by Mason (yes,
that Mason) per email whilst his family were on holiday at the chateau (ouch). Mason has made the weirdest men in America list, and having seen some of his oeuvre, I am not surprised. One wonders why she went on holidays with him afterwards, because it was free prehaps?
Clara also revealed that SJ had dated Edmund Fokker van Crayenstein, the less said about him the better. Her husband, Greg Clark, seemed to actually be a nice guy who swam for charity and met the Princess Royal... I think he might be one of the few really decent men in her life (except Nic?). It took a decade to divorce him, although the marriage only lasted two years, Clara confirmed that financial advantage was probably one of the main reasons the divorce took so long.
All in all, it has transpired that the chateau had been financed by SJ's exes, Mummy, and pocket money from her friends, up until her YT and Patreon account took off. She also had rental income from her flat in London and used to swap the chateau with other large property owners as a way to fund luxurious holidays. Stephanie is also asset rich in that she wil inherit Mummy's properties in SA (beach house) and the UK (Framlingham, Suffolk).
Finally, it turns out that our very own Heathcliffe is a bit of a player (oh, you dark horse!) and woudn't mind paying SJ a visit... ahem.
Some think she is hot, some not. Have I forgotten anything? Probably! Forgive me if I have (age is not on my side)... and finally... where will it all end?
Will she end up an outcast like the Marquise de Merteuil?
Or will she have a change of heart and give something back to society?
Or should she just keep fooling the fools?
All of this will probably be debated, and more... on the one, the only, tattle.
Thanks to Viva la loca for her summary template!