Allison AJ Langer of Baywatch divorces Earl of Devon, admitting she ‘underestimated’ life as an aristocrat

I fell in love with her as Ray Anne on My So Called Life. That was was really interesting and a little sad.

Oh and I'd never seen a photo of the husband. Hotter than I expected

I'm glad they're down with the gays, at least

Team Rayanne. She was such a good bad girl.

Imagine marrying a hippie surfer dude, then his dad dies and he suddenly turns into Lord Stuffybottom on you. Run away, Rayanne!

People who were born rich, always revert back to type.

No matter how open-minded they may seem.

I hope she gets back into acting. I never saw her anything in MSCL, but she was a real natural.

Props to her for balancing honesty with diplomacy.

But where do the kids land?

The kids will be fine. I'd be so pissed if my husband went rwnj. I bet he was fucking some lady too. Or Lady.

She’s tender to the touch

R9, I meant do they stay with their mother or Lord Uppetytwit.

Reading another article, it’s partly homesick—she thought they would be able to spend more time in California (where they apparently lived during Covid, hmmm) —- but he sounds very rigid about The Castle That’s Been in The Family Since The Norman Conquest and Nothing Must Be Changed.

A few years ago I read a book by a Canadian woman who impulsively married a British guy with a castle, not a lord or anything I don’t think, but the castle had been in his family for a couple hundred years and the *pressure*. It was such a burden on him. Like, she come across a chest of drawers on the back stairs landing and it was just crammed with stuff, old papers, broken bits, old toys. She’d want to clear it out and he’d freak. Because every single item had to be sorted and evaluated and placed in historical/family context. The place had rooms full of crap that nobody had touched in decades. It was overwhelming and he was paralyzed, not knowing where to start. Yes it was a hoarding problem and not of his creation but he could not throw any of it out. Anyway after a couple years, she bounced (no kids) and left him there, shuffling papers. Very sad.

She was good in The People Under The Stairs.

Stupid bitch.

[quote] She was good in The People Under The Stairs.

One of my favorite movies!!!

I didn't know that was her.

She sounds like ONE DUMB AND DELUDED bitch if she didn't figure out who she was marrying and who he would be when he got the title and the property. I realized after my two long relationships broke up they broke up for incompatibilities which were there from the get go and overlooked. So I was the same dumb and deluded bitch myself. But I didn't put children in the mix.

It sounds like what happened to Louise Robey, a Canadian actress/singer/model who married some guy who was in line to become a duke of some sort. Everything was fine, then later, after she had their kid, he decided she wasn't quite fitting into his aristocratic circle. He screwed her out of everything, including visitation with her son.

She was in Friday the 13th, the Series, which I thought was good fun, and ended far too soon.

Don't marry for a damn castle.

R17- Was he the

Duke 🫅 Of EARL?

Robey!! I bought her album in the mid-1980s. It was okay. Had covers of "One Night in Bangkok" and "The Power of Love," IIRC. Saw her in the Friday 13th series, which was not great. I'm glad she married well, if only for a time.

Why, who would have expected barrister Courtenay aka the Earl of Devon of Powderham, to be all proper English and stuff

Had they never discussed this before it happened?

[quote] Why, who would have expected barrister Courtenay aka the Earl of Devon of Powderham, to be all proper English and stuff

[quote] Had they never discussed this before it happened?

Can't you dumbasses read???

She said he was COMPLETELY DIFFERENT when they got married and while they lived in California.

Then he CHANGED once he inherited the property and moved back to the UK.

My relocation is an anthropological investigation. Where did my hippy feminist husband go. Ugh.

Right R22? Strange posters on this thread.

She actually comes across very honest and forthcoming about her mistakes. She doesn't blame anyone. Has an even keeled perspective on things. Cool woman, it seems.

Mary Berry filmed an episode at Powderham for her Country House Secrets.

Her husband has a rat like vibe to his eyes.

What a stupid woman. I hope she isn’t allowed to cart those poor children back to California.

////

I wonder if this will also happen to Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke of Sugar Grove, Illinois when her husband inherits the title Earl of Sandwich.

One hesitates to say not of our class, dear, but if the implants fit....

R222. I do know how to read. You don’t know how to think.

He knew from childhood he would imherot this title. It’s not like winning the lottery She never acknowledged. that they dyscussed what he would do about it. Did she think he would give up the family estate and remain in California?

You are really too stupid to live

[quote] R222 You are really too stupid to live

Oh, the irony.

Oh, the misuse of the term irony.

Get a room.

Managing that estate has got to be all-encompassing for him. Yes, I'm sure he has a staff and a number of people on payroll who do much more than he, but that pile of bricks? The work is endless. The maintenance... the tenants... the small businesses created to keep people visiting and paying... exhausting.

And unless there's a change in the future, it's what his two children face when the current Earl of Devon dies in a few decades. On and on and on.

Link below is for an award, but it lists the kind of work that goes on all the time for the estate.

Imagine marrying someone you think is Keanu Reeves and he turns into Kendall Roy.

It's an almost ugly house. How is its park?

This is just more evidence of what I've been saying for many years about the aristocracy (including the Royal Family) in Great Britain. It's all a big act. The second one of them gains any sort of "position" where they'll be front and center for the world to see they start putting on the grand act trying to make everyone think that's the way they've been their whole lives. Prince William and Katherine are the top tier of this sort at the moment. I don't care how lofty a position they attain, as an old friend of mine used to say "their shit does not automatically start coming out in plastic bags".

And yes, it's somewhat the same everywhere. Even here in the states we've all seen instances of someone who grew up of more meager means & suddenly coming into money (lottery, etc), start acting as if they were of the manor born.

R38! What is your point? William and Catherine are future heads of state. How are they supposed to act? All they are doing is their jobs.

They can act like they're normal human beings and not give off the false impression that they're without fail or fault and are so much better than the lowly commoners. They can still be Royal without putting on a grand act.

How do they pretend to be without fault? I assume you have many examples?

The British public generally prefer the trappings and tradition of the monarchy and a head of state who is somewhat remote. It’s precisely the fact that monarchs are just human like the rest of us that makes this a good policy. I know a certain section of America likes being really familiar and falsely friendly with strangers. You have to realize that not all non-Americans find that endearing.

The US constitutional system is also not widely admired at the moment. The suggestion that the rest of the world should further Americanize may not be entirely welcome. Most of the world is not really in awe of American heads of state and prefer their own, much as that may surprise you

Not that you need or want approval, r41, but I'm an American and I agree with every word you wrote.

Would anyone here want to live in that old dusty castle? Her cute little boy is now at the age when he'll be shipped off to Eton. She has no say in that and he will turn into a very different person. Wonder what their custody arrangement is? California is a much better clime for fibro sufferers than England. Also, he's the one who filed for divorce. Good luck to her.

The son is 16 so he's probably been at Eton for years.

I imagine she will have a place in England or use of a London flat when she wants to visit the children. The children would both be off at boarding school by this age as would be customary and expected. They can bounce back and forth to LA or NYC wherever AJ sets up her US residence. I would have stuck it out and put up with his patriarchal ways. Who cares? Some of the happiest couples I know have totally different ideologies. Perhaps there is more to the story.

Her accent has morphed into British.

They always do.

Wow he is a real cutie. Most non English people wouldn’t like being married to a man in his situation. There are very few cultures that are similar and there are many background traditions that most don’t consider, it’s very unfortunate that she caused such a fuss. I have a few Canadian friends that married guys in similar situations, one ended up divorced, still living in England. The other one is still married.

She gave the marriage 18 years, gave the castle six and gave up her career. Give her a break. Now she can do Masterpiece Theater.

"“There was a past history of blatantly covering up our gay ancestors here, and we’ve had the gift of being able to take off the label of ‘flamboyant’. We have some gay relatives at Powderham that were amazing characters with really interesting stories."

WHAT the LIVING FUCK? Fucking British fop and his cunt wife.

The Ninth Earl was exiled and they treat him with pride and respect.

This is a tale as old as time. He married her when he could afford to play the "enlightened, liberal rich boy with a conscience" game thanks to daddy's money. However, when the old man kicked the bucket and he had to assume the responsibility of managing his estate, he turned into his father because he knows where the money comes from (centuries of exploitation and predatory capitalism), and he is very much aware of the fact that if he wants to preserve or increase the family fortune, he cannot waste time pretending to be what he is not: he must cozy up to power and make sure that the status quo is preserved at all costs.

It is admirable to see that she has chosen to remain true to herself, instead of turning into a frivolous Dollar Princess wannabe, or a hardcore pro-monarchist, anti-working class demon. Her pseudo-intellectual approach to explaining how difficult it was to adapt to her new social context is a stupid and pedantic (anthropological study of the culture? Honey, do get over yourself!), but she does seem to be an honest person underneath her own particular brand of pretentiousness. Moreover, I doubt that she will end up living in poverty - she'll get a nice chunk of money and will be able to use the title as a courtesy, until either her husband or herself remarry. This isn't a bad prospect at all for a working actress.

However, I must take exception to the incredibly tacky name that they've given their daughter. Joscelyn Skye? REALLY?!?!?!!! That is just embarrassingly vulgar.

By the way, he's still cute even if he is a presumptuous, entitled toff through and through.

Like a lot of you, I loved Rayanne. I never knew the actress was on Baywatch.

R22 watch your pressure, dear. It was a joke. Perhaps they have a book of them someplace at your lunatic asylum.

I have never understood the obsession with British country houses. There are some beautiful ones, but they are for the most part quite ugly, clumsy, stony-looking affairs, inferior to their continental counterparts. Compare Castle Howard to Foscari Malcontenta and tell me that the English have superior taste.

If over-the-top excess is your bag, San Simeon has better views and weather. And the toilets probably work.

R38/R40 nailed it, and nailed the British aristocracy!!!

Then right on cue, that cunting British royal ass kisser came into this thread and started stinking it up with his royal ass kissing defense!!

I'm guessing it's that disgusting royal-wannabe creature Mr. Colin Campbell.

[QUOTE]By the way, he's still cute even if he is a presumptuous, entitled toff through and through.

Is there any chance as he ages he finds himself increasingly a traditionalist, with a respect for history and a sense of duty? I only ask because you're so certain, R52.

I love the "sense of duty" shit the Brits pull about this.

Sense of duty to what?

His family's bank account?

That grotesque pile of rock?

More info I uncovered from various British tabloids:

Langer is Jewish and the kids are being raised in the faith

Both of them are currently in L.A. which is their usual routine when the Manor is closed to the public, it opens November 27th.

Langer said in interviews that she was surprised by the amount of drinking. She had to hold on to one glass all evening but not drink out of it because someone would fill it back up right away. If she refused a drink people got mad. She said the British were very humorous and a lot of the humor was about women's 'subjugation'. (Did this woman know nothing about the English aristocracy?)

Langer said her introduction the the aristocracy was through the F*cking Fulford (Lord Francis Fulford, foul mouthed T.V. personality).

His father, the homophobic Earl of Devon, was alarmed upon meeting Langer because she had 'moles on her face'. However, both of his parents seemed to accept her eventually and often came to visit their house in Topanga Canyon.

R56. Nailed what? By providing an uninformed childish cliche he admitted he had no facts to support?

The point of my reply was not to exalt the British monarchy. The pint was to criticize the simple-minded provincialism and arrogance he displayed. The American way isn’t the only way and not everyone is in awe of how Americans prefer to do things

I'm guessing he cheated and got caught.

“She said the British were very humorous and a lot of the humor was about women's 'subjugation'.”

Wasn’t she on fake tit Baywatch?

Yeah. And hopefully she ca return to the US where women are treated with full equality and respect and where sexism is virtually unknown. Hopefully the UK will some day match the US’s levels of elected heads of government, legislators, heads of business, etc.

I’m sure if the kids are still in school, the husband wants them in UK. They’ll learn the accent and the mores of the landed gentry at school in the UK. I’m sure he doesn’t want American accented kids running around his castle, calling people bruh, drinking Budweiser, throwing frisbees at the deer.

One thing that drives the empire crazy is the word “mom.” Englishwomen have said they’d rather die than be called mom. Maybe he’ll remarry and his kids can call the second wife “mum”

Mum in the castle, mom on the surfboard.

The children are in English boarding schools. They will not have American accents.

Englishmen hate having American-sounding-and-looking kids, so they usually send them off to boarding school in UK ASAP. The parents live in sunny California, but the kids must conform to the standard upper-middle class UK presentation.

R52. She was more than happy to live the lifestyle that historic “exploitation” provide so long as she could do so in California. She objects to the superficial aspects of her current situation, not the inequality of her position. It’s a lifestyle preference, not a heroic stand for justice. And, as you say, we will see if she turns down a divorce settlement derived from “exploitation”

We can hope that a return to America, where the tax system is much more progressive than in England, where the social safety network is more extensive, where social inequality is almost non-existent, and where there is no history of “exploitation” of the poor and minorities, will allow her to return to a more respectable and virtuous life.

We also hope that she can avoid becoming rabidly pro-monarchy, which is truly one of the great evils of our time, and which is inextricably linked with having a title and an estate (even in countries that have titles and estates without a monarchy).

So, thanks very much for the American perspective, which, as is often the case, is untainted by provincialism, hypocrisy, and chauvinism. We can only hope that the world will become more like America, where it is possible to be virtuous while living off inherited wealth, so that the world’s ills can be remedied.

R68, I have never pretended that the United States is an egalitarian paradise where the social ills brought about by heartless capitalism, corruption and classism are inexistent. The US is the cradle of neoliberal monetarism and a ravenous empire that has economically subjugated most of the world, not to mention that it has attempted to strangle the economies of any countries that opposed American imperialism. Also, everybody knows that the United States is an extremely unequal society in which the poor are literally abandoned by the institutions, tax revenue is syphoned into the pockets of corporations by corrupt politicians and many people's lives are destroyed by the predatory private healthcare system that is the norm there.

What I have meant is that in spite of everything, she has decided to leave a situation that makes her unhappy, even though it would have been extremely easy for her to remain married to an Earl and profit off his wealth and many privileges. I am saying that she does come across as an honest person, not that she is an angelic Marxist being who is turning against the extractive elites and sacrificing the luxuries and comforts that surround her for the common good. Moreover, I am sure that she was very much aware of the fact that he was an aristocrat when she married him and that, in spite of her pedantic protestations of cultural shocks and anthropological analyses, she was extremely happy to be a nobleman's wife and share in his many privileges. Still, she hasn't turned into an arrogant, blue-blood purist who is clamouring for the return of feudalism, as would be the case with many others.

I hope that this clarifies my previous participation's intended meaning.

R52. I don’t think many, if any, title holders in Britain are advocating for a return to feudalism. These titles can be more burden than pleasure. Maintaining ancestral estates is an enormous burden, partly because of the progressive tax regime. It’s a responsibility they inherit.

She’s like Meghan Markle and Princess Diana. She turns her personal disappointments into an institutional or social critique to justify hitching in public about the kind of marital and personal disappointments most of humanity experience.

And, because she’s the wife of an Earl after all, and, weird and despicable as she assures us that title is, we should pay attention to her because of it makes her a very special kind of person.

No, she's someone whose marriage didn't work out and didn't want to kiss off her career and spend the rest of her life pouring cash into a money pit. No need to beat up on her.

A J Langer: Hi, I’d like to set up an interview to discuss the collapse of my marriage.

Reporter: Oh. I’m sorry to hear that, but unfortunately that’s not such an uncommon occurrence. I’m not sure that’s really newsworthy.

A J Langer: Well, I should mention I’m the wife of an Earl.

Reporter: Ah, okay. We might be interested. Can you briefly explain what happened?

A J Langer: Well, my husband was a really chill guy but he recently inherited this archaic and irrelevant title (hit me like a ton of bricks). He’s starting to take it really seriously and I’m finding it really hard to…I mean, you are going to cover this, aren’t you????!!!!!

R72 It’s not beating up on her to pont out that, if she finds inherited titles so unjustifiable and objectionable, perhaps she shouldn’t use the platform the title affords her to bitch about her humdrum marital disagreements and life disappointments. It’s tedious to hear anyone bitch publicly about common human sufferings, but all the more so when that person is enormously privileged and when the bitching is dressed up in a simple-minded social critique

Clearly, she craves attention—-you don’t discuss something as private as divorce on a global platform unless you do—-and just as clearly the only thing that allows her to discuss it publicly is her title—-she’s not important as an actor.

It’s quite possible her husband and in-laws found her to be no picnic either, and could have written an anti -American diatribe based on her traits —-her provincial astonishment that some countries have different customs from America , her simple-minded and self-serving social justice pretensions, and her fanewhorishnrss——but they haven’t.

Inherited wealth is either objectionable or it is not. I personally don’t find the fact that inherited wealth in the UK is in some rare cases associated with inherited titles and ancestral homes while in the US it isn’t really makes much of a moral or social difference.

No one is denying her right to leave and pursue a life more to her liking. We all wish her the best in her non-aristocratic future and the obscurity that will attend it.

Her marriage, like millions of others, didn't work out. I suspect ultimately their deep cultural mores and values caused them to slowly drift apart until they realized they couldn't see each other anymore. He just happened to be an aristocrat so that was an easy thing to blame it on. It would have happened anyway.

[quote]Still, she hasn't turned into an arrogant, blue-blood purist who is clamouring for the return of feudalism, as would be the case with many others.

You need to watch less PBS.

He's nice looking 😻

R72. What is her career?

The hideous home must absolutely be demolished and a charming McMansion erected in its place.

R59- The English drink JUST AS MUCH as the Irish.

One thing I’ve learned from years around expat communities is that if you’re in a ‘mixed nationality’ marriage, the person who is is the ‘foreigner’, even if naturalised, almost always gets the short of the stick in legal matters. This is especially true when children are involved. Where MM is really smart versus this woman is knowing the advantage of home turf.

Meghan’s not smarter than Langer. Her husband is just vastly less stupid than prince Harry. The Earl of Devon is a partner n a law firm. His connections may have helped him get there, but it’s doubtful he’s an idiot

R82- Yes.

Prince Harry is and always was STUPID and AVERAGE.

He's also coarse and ill mannered like Princess Margaret.

She should have married Jordan Catalano

I would have done anything to keep him!

Hint: you can ignore one person on this thread and 15 posts will disappear, many of them long, contentious and insulting.

R86. Thank you for your service!

I hinted because I did not want to engage with the loquacious offender. I still don't/

R98 Good move!

Lol R87.

R90. Lol!

he's a charming man, I'm watching now on Mary Berry: Country House Secrets, this must be Episode 3 - it's features Powderham Castle in Devon, Courtenay is giving the tour, AJ is featured.

R14 = Prince William

Boredom, perhaps much more than patriarchal rumblings of her titled aristo husband, seems at the center of this.

Boredom can happen anywhere.

Face it - very, very few people actually want to live in a mouldy old castle 24/7. Holidays and long weekends only.

This has happened to a couple girlfriends of mine. Husbands went from lovable stoners/non political to paranoid Trumpmongers in a year or less. One of them spent 20 grand getting the house outfitted with some special ionizing water filter bullshit for their house which was of course total snake oil. A bunch of other money was unaccounted for too.

R96. Nothing remotely like that happened with her husband.

[quote]Face it - very, very few people actually want to live in a mouldy old castle 24/7. Holidays and long weekends only.

It's not a choice for very many people, is it? The castle has a tower and a bit of the main block from the very late 15thC or 16thC; the rest is 18thC and neo-gothic from the late 19thC. It's neither primitive architecture nor primitive conditions nor moldy. Running water. Electricity. The whole works. Outside of steep maintenance, utilities, and tax costs, I'd say it's more confortable than many much more modern and more modest houses from the last 10, 20, 50, 100 years.

Face it, very few people, given a choice, want to live in shoddily constructed drafty modern houses, just like every other on the street, on the block, in the development, and yet they do - and have problems with mold and damp.

She's an idiot. The Mary Berry show was enjoyable, surprising that she has had this extreme reaction. He's a cutie. He'll find another wife (or .... ) and life will continue.

R98 it’s a lifestyle thing. Your life and identity revolves around managing that huge pile. I hated downsizing my parents’ home of almost 40 years. It was an architect designed one off built in the 1960s. It was large, breezy and full of light.

Keeping it functional - roofing, plumbing, gardening, general maintenance -was almost a full time job . And they were doctors. They could afford to renovate, but worked such long hours they barely had time to sneeze.

When my father had a terminal illness and was nurses at home for 6 years, all that fell by the wayside. So when my mother downsized, I had to pick up the slack and help her get it into a saleable state. It was the most miserable 6 months of my life, even worse than seeing my father suffer. My mother has retired to a city flat in a cultured neighboured within 6 minutes walking distance to markets, bookstores, a cinema, multiple parks and a swimming pool complex. She thought she would miss her garden, but she grows herbs on her balcony. She is happier than she has been in years

Managing a huge estate, raising funds for it, dealing with the politics, the history, the visitors, the council, the staff as well as the trappings and pretensions of aristocracy - it sounds like a circle of hell. Even AJ’s husband had to assume a persona, or revert to one, in order to keep it going.

Hes not hot hot, he's British hot.

He’s takes an interest in reminding the world of the gay history of his family and his desire for equality of succession rights for females. Most of what is posted here is nonsense.

No one's really saying negative things about him. He has a keen sense of duty. She lost hers. Both are allowed to do that.

I agree with you but this thread is full of criticism for him.

[quote] Compare Castle Howard to Foscari Malcontenta and tell me that the English have superior taste.

Principessa [italic]Mary![/italic]

What a bitch, nothing's good enough for her. I would die to have traded places with her and I would have gone all Marjory Frobisher!

I bet she gets a nice chunk of change out of it, and as long as she doesn't remarry, she can retain the title of "Countess of Devon" for her entire life. Not a bad deal.

Why "countess" - "earless" has a nice ring to it.

R108, cuz reasons (I know that Earl was the English equivalent of the continental title "Count")

I mean, the others all follow a pattern - dukess, marquesses, viscountess, baroness, why countess?

Actually, it's duchess, marchioness, viscounches and baronches. Why not countchess?

Or earlchess?

R110, Google is your friend:

An earl was originally another title, but later came to be equivalent to count:

An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke (hertig/hertug). In later medieval Britain, it became the equivalent of the continental count (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to duke; in Scotland it assimilated the concept of mormaer). ...

The Norman-derived equivalent "count" was not introduced following the Norman Conquest of England though "countess" was and is used for the female title. As Geoffrey Hughes writes, "It is a likely speculation that the Norman French title 'Count' was abandoned in England in favour of the Germanic 'Earl' […] precisely because of the uncomfortable phonetic proximity to cunt".

[quote] I agree with you but this thread is full of criticism for him.

Welcome to Datalounge, Camilla.

Did she ever thank Patty for saving her life?

Liberal women are so easily impressed by royalty and castles.

Conservatives don't care for that crap.

It's so un-American.

Serves her right.

[quote] Courtenay aka the Earl of Devon of Powderham

It sounds so made up.

Baywatch motherfucker? That's Rayanne from My So-called life

" I may have underestimated the realities for myself. It was the same for my husband, who had been my hippie, feminist husband in California for 10 years,” she said.

I was like, ‘where did my hippie, feminist husband go?’"

Maybe the dingo at your baby!

^^ ate

[quote]Baywatch motherfucker? That's Rayanne from My So-called life

That was my reaction!