Sir Benjamin Slade Finds Heir

Earlier on this blog, I reported how Sir Benjamin Slade, a wealthy Englishman, who owns an estate in England worth approximately $13 million was seeking an heir for his estate in the United States.  His estate includes a 13th-century manor house in Somerset.  Applicants needed to meet the following requirements:

• Cannot be a drug addict.
• Must have enough funds to pay $140,000 per year to upkeep the manor.
• Must be willing to invest $1 million to fix the stables.
• Must fix the driveway for an estimated $70,000.
• Cannot be a Communist.
• Must be heterosexual.

Sir Slade planned to run an Apprentice-style reality television show in which potential heirs spend time in the Manor and endure various challenges.  Sir Slade would then eject the losers with the phrase, “You’re disinherited.”  See Sarah Lyall, Seeking a Willing Heir, an Aristocrat Turns to America, NY Times, March 7, 2006.

I’m Really a Royal ran on the Discovery Channel in 2006.  After reviewing approximately 15,000 applicants, Sir Slade found an actual blood relative who turns out to be famous on his own — rock singer Isaac Slade of The Fray.

According to Casey Schwartz, He Wants to Be a Millionaire, ABC News, June 1, 2007:

The meeting between Sir Benjamin Slade and Isaac Slade apparently went well. “He is a very successful, clever young man,” said Sir Benjamin. “He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t take drugs. They’re all Christians in that band.”

And that’s not all he has going for him.

“I showed him all the cows, and he was very handy with the animals, actually,” Sir Benjamin said. “His grandfather was a cowpoke.”

Perhaps Isaac Slade is fated to inherit Maunsel House. According to Sir Benjamin, Isaac “looks like some of the portraits of the ancestors.” Nevertheless, the competition isn’t over yet.

“I’m going to see all these relatives in America, have a bit of fun first,” Sir Benjamin said. “There’s a party for 150 Slades in Maryland on the Fourth of July. I’m determined to go.”

Special thanks to Prof. Joel C. Dobris of the University of California — Davis for pointing out this development.