The family which owns a huge estate in South Warwickshire is currently locked in a legal battle over the ownership of its £85 million ancestral home.

William Seymour, the Earl of Yarmouth, is battling to take over the 400-year-old family seat of Ragley Hall, having expected to take it over when he turned 30.

The High Court in London heard Lord Yarmouth, 32, has asked to take over the estate from his father, The Marquess of Hertford in 2023.

But the relationship between the father and son has reportedly deteriorated since the earl's marriage to Kelsey Wells in 2018.

The couple - who run the St Maur liqueur business - are locked in the legal battle with the Marquess and Marchioness of Hertford, and Lord Yarmouth's three siblings Lady Gabriella Seymour, 32, Lord Edward Seymour, 30, and Lady Antonia Seymour.

The BBC reported the judge, Master James Brightwell, was told during a hearing the earl directly asked to take over the estate in 2023, and reportedly sent "hostile and inflammatory" emails to his mother Beatriz, 64, "questioning [his father's] mental capacity".

Meanwhile Lord Yarmouth and his wife claim they were kicked out of their cottage on the Ragley Estate and the trustees of the estate had clashed with him over payments for his two children's private school fees.

According to The Times (£), Richard Dew, representing the parents and siblings, said by the time the earl was 21 he had been given more than £4 million in land and property.

But after marrying former Goldman Sachs banker Kelsey Wells, had "started to assert himself" despite reportedly showing little interest in the estates or trusts beforehand.

Paul Burton argued for the earl the trustees had misdirected the estate and "caused the family breakdown".

The family can trace their lineage back to Edward Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour - third wife to Henry VIII.

The earl's premium Elderflower liqueur business - St Maur - was said to "signal an exciting new direction" for him, as he was "driven by his vision to build not just a livelihood but a 'new legacy' to be proud of."

The company's branding includes a red-legged partridge on the bottle, a bird successfully introduced to England in the 19th century by an ancestor Francis Seymour, the 5th Marquess.

The earl said in a press release after the launch of the brand: "My family has an interesting history, in years gone by, and more recently, with characters some good and others less so.

"I want my sons though also to inherit a contemporary story that's not based on the mores of the past, but which is much more forward looking.

"I want to pass on the values of tenacity, honesty, and hard work, and reinvigorate the spirit of our family motto 'by faith and love'."

A judgement will be made at a later date.