TALK OF THE TOWN: Joy at last for model Emma Treichi

TALK OF THE TOWN: Model Emma Treichl finds love again three years after her husband’s death in wake of fire that destroyed their home

I’m delighted to reveal there is finally some joy to report for Emma Treichl, after a series of tragic events rocked her family.

Her former home, Parnham House, was left a blackened shell after an arson attack ripped through the Elizabethan mansion in April 2017. 

Just a few weeks later, Emma, then chatelaine of the house, faced further heartache when her banker husband Michael was found drowned in Lake Geneva, not long after he had been arrested on suspicion of arson.

But it is a testament to her character that she held her family together during their ‘annus horribilis’, and I’m happy to reveal she’s found love once more with industrial designer Rufus Albemarle, the 10th Earl of Albemarle.

Emma Treichl (pictured) has found love once more with industrial designer Rufus Albemarle, the 10th Earl of Albemarle

Her former home, Parnham House, was left a blackened shell after an arson attack ripped through the Elizabethan mansion in April 2017

Her former home, Parnham House, was left a blackened shell after an arson attack ripped through the Elizabethan mansion in April 2017

‘Rufus and Emma are very attracted to each other, and who could blame them?

‘They are both gorgeous – they’ve been together a while now,’ a close friend told me.

‘Everyone remarks on what a great match they are.

‘They have many, many common interests, spending hours talking about design and fashion – subjects which they adore.’

Emma, a former Vogue model of Anglo/American descent, was first married to Italian banker Stefano Marsaglia. 

After their divorce, she married Austrian banker Michael and the couple had two children.

Pictured: Rufus Albemarle, the 10th Earl of Albemarle

Pictured: Rufus Albemarle, the 10th Earl of Albemarle

They bought the doomed 16th Century Parnham House in Dorset, in 2001, undertaking a £14 million renovation before hosting aristocrats and billionaire investors for shooting weekends.

The Earl of Albemarle is a distant cousin of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, through William Keppel, the 7th Earl. 

He grew up in Italy and England, studying at Chelsea School of Art and Central St Martins School of Art & Design before finding work in Milan and New York as an industrial and branding designer. He later founded a men’s shirt company, Albemarle of London.

He is divorced from his first wife Sally, a sculptor whom he married in Cuba where Fidel Castro reportedly allowed them to have a glitzy society wedding thanks to Rufus’s ancestor, the 3rd Earl, who had captured Havana from the Spanish in 1762.

The Earl of Albemarle is a title that has been created four times, the last of which was in 1697 when Rufus’s Dutch ancestor Arnold Joost van Keppel received it after helping to put Prince William of Orange on the English throne.

When contacted, Emma declined to comment.

Fancy walking a mile in a princess’s shoes? 

It seems some shoppers are doing just that after 37 pairs of Manolo Blahnik heels – normal price around £800 each – were dropped off at a Royal Trinity Hospice charity shop by staff from nearby Kensington Palace in West London. 

The identity of the shoes’ owners is a secret, but Kate, Meghan and Eugenie are all known to be Manolo fans.