The Marchioness of Bath, Emma Thynn, relaxed in a black floral bikini on the beach in St Tropez on Friday following her husband's court win. The 40-year-old socialite soaked up the sun at Le Club 55 in the daring string two-piece.
Emma teamed her swimwear with a matching sarong and a Givenchy beach bag. During her day out, the former Strictly star looked relaxed as she headed for a swim.
Emma dried herself off after her refreshing swim and kept cool in a navy baseball cap and big sunglasses. She appeared in high spirits as she smiled while being handed a coconut water drink on a sun lounger.
Le Club 55 is an iconic, legendary beach club and restaurant in St Tropez. Founded in 1955 by Bernard and Geneviève de Colmont, it initially served as a makeshift canteen for Brigitte Bardot and the crew of the cult film Et Dieu... créa la femme, and it remains a hotspot for stars today.
High Court ruling on family fortune
Her aristocrat husband, Ceawlin Thynn, recently won a High Court bid to allow their nine-year-old surrogate-born son, Henry Thynn, to inherit part of his £157million fortune. Ceawlin, 51, is the 8th Marquess of Bath and owner of the Longleat estate.
The Marquess, also known as Lord Bath, had his second son with Lady Bath in 2016 via a surrogate mother in America. Emma suffered from hypophysitis, a rare inflammatory condition, during her first pregnancy in 2014.
That first pregnancy came a year after Emma married her husband, who inherited his title seven years later following the death of his father from Covid at age 87. Henry is believed to be the first member of the British aristocracy to have been born by surrogacy.
Because Henry was born to a surrogate mother in America, concerns were raised about his eligibility to benefit from three family trusts due to the historical definition of a legitimate child. The nine-year-old is genetically the son of Lord and Lady Bath.
Trust terms and inheritance details
The family trusts use a pre-1970 common law definition of "children" that predates modern fertility treatments. Lord Bath asked the High Court for a "blessing" to allow Henry to potentially inherit a share of the fortune.
Mr Justice Matthews ruled that it would be "unfair on Lord Bath and on Henry" to treat the boy as though he were not his father's son. The judge added: "Henry is the son of Lord and Lady Bath. Not only is he treated by them and will be treated by the world in general as a child of Lord and Lady Bath's marriage but he is also their genetic child."
Although his older brother John, 11, will inherit before him because of primogeniture, which provides for a firstborn legitimate child to inherit their parents' estate, lawyers argued Henry could still benefit. At this stage, the trustees only wanted the power to add Henry as a beneficiary but not to exercise it yet.
Mr Justice Matthews said this delay was to "avoid any problems with US tax" because Henry was born there to an American surrogate mother. The judge added: "A decision can then be taken at a later stage, in the light of appropriate advice, whether to exercise the power to add him." A 2023 photograph of the couple was released alongside details of the legal ruling.
