David Sox
A Snake In The Grass
Rev H. David Sox was a part-time clergyman, author of books on the Shroud of Turin.
In the 1990s, in the shadow of being snubbed for unprofessional antics by his former colleagues in the Shroud Community, Sox took a job as a visitor guide at Highclere Castle (the backdrop to TV's "Downton Abbey").
During his long association with Shroud history Sox was charged with deceit, of underhand methods of research and leaking secret data to the press. He scored a big success with one of his books on the authenticity of the Shroud by including classified information that was not to be published.
Sox was the ultimate snake in the grass. Always waiting, but ready to pounce.
He very soon had his feet under the dining room table sitting pretty like King Charles I on his horse.
Highclere clearly knew nothing about Sox's chequered past.
Before too long Sox saw an opportunity to write a biography of Almina, 5th Countess of Carnarvon, the Earl’s beloved ‘granny’ – the widow of the 5th Earl of Old King Tut fame.
The idea of Sox’s biography received the green light. He was given unfettered access to Highclere Archives, and although Almina had died aged 93, in 1969, there were many people still alive who knew her and numerous sources to tap into about her extraordinary life and times.
Sox's research went ahead and he interviewed many of Almina's family, friends and deadly enemies.
Almina had many skeletons in the closet.
The material supplied to Sox by Almina's godson, the late Tony Leadbetter, was highly controversial, laced with details of Almina's colourful life that Highclere could never let enter the public domain.
To dwarf that, several people told Sox of the rumours around one issue that was the most damning and damaging - that Almina's only son was illegitimate.
Sox claimed he'd found in Highclere Archives details of this a scandal relating to the paternity of the 6th Earl of Carnarvon.
The Rev. H. David Sox had his big headline grab for a book and knew it was a money spinner.
But Sox was the " The Man Who Knew Too Much"
Did Sox - an expert on forgery and fakers- really find anything incriminating in Highclere Archives?
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