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Napier Marten sent a heartfelt appeal to his daughter to turn herself in The aristocratic Marten family have made headlines in recent weeks after 35-year-old Constance Marten, her newborn son and her partner, a convicted rapist, became the subject of a "high-risk" missing person investigation. Napier Marten had urged his daughter Constance to get her and the girl to safety as soon as possible.
Appealing to his daughter in January, Mr Marten said: "I want you to understand that you are very loved no matter what the circumstances." We are deeply concerned for her well-being and that of her baby."
Napier Marten has appealed for his daughter to come home
Mark Gordon, 48, and Ms Marten were found in Brighton on Monday night, but the extensive search for their baby is still continuing. The couple were initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect, but have since been arrested again on suspicion of grossly negligent homicide.
The couple disappeared on January 5, when their baby is believed to be only a day or two old, leaving their car broken down on the M61 near Bolton. Most of their possessions were destroyed when the vehicle caught fire, but they had a substantial amount of cash, allowing them to live off the grid, police said.
Mark Gordon, Ms Marten's partner, was jailed in the late 1980s in Florida, USA, after raping and assaulting a woman when he was 14 years old. After serving a 20-year sentence, he was deported to the UK in 2010, it came to light on Wednesday.
The pair were seen around Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Essex and London before being last seen in Essex port of Newhaven, some 15 miles from where they were apprehended seven weeks later in Brighton.
Napier Marten, a film and music producer, is the son of Mary Anna Marten, a trustee of the British Museum whose godmother was the late Queen Mother and owner of the Crichel estate in Dorset. His father, Toby Marten, a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, had strong ties to the royal family and attended the Brownies herd at Buckingham Palace alongside Princess Margaret in his youth.
Mary Anna and Toby Marten, pictured with three of their daughters in June 1954
A noted archaeologist, Ms Marten was awarded an OBE in 1980 and was appointed Senior Sheriff of Dorset nine years later. She was also appointed a trustee of the British Museum and traveled extensively to assist her profession, making frequent trips to Iran and 30 visits to Russia.
The late couple and their family lived in the sprawling Crichel House, used as the backdrop for several period dramas, including Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow. The ownership of the house, after World War II, became the center of a notorious political scandal.
In what became known as the Crichel Down affair, part of the property was requisitioned by the government in 1938 for bombing practices by the Royal Air Force, with a purchase price of just over £12,000.
After a promise in parliament by Winston Churchill that the land would be returned to its owners after the outbreak of war, and the purchase price was greatly inflated by the government, the couple defied the government and a public inquiry was launched.
The Martens defeated the government, reclaimed their land and forced the resignation of Farm Minister Sir Thomas Dugdale over the scandal, which is still regarded as a landmark case in ministerial accountability and landlords' rights.
Mary Anna Marten, the mother of Napier Marten, was a trustee of the British Museum.
The late couple are survived by five daughters and one son, Napier Marten, who was a page to Queen Elizabeth II. In 1996 he embarked on a journey of spiritual discovery in Australia and later returned to work as an arborist near Crichel House.
In 2013, it was reported that the former 5,000-acre property would pass to his eldest son, Maximillian, when he would have turned 25 that year, following Mary Anna's death in 2010. The property was purchased by American billionaire Richard Chilton.
“For some reason, she and her partner went on the run, the consequences of their actions multiplied many times over. It would have been much better if they had been delivered earlier.
“Constance's time there at the hands of the self-styled Reverend TB Joshua was strange and extremely damaging. I'm appalled that she had to be there for five, maybe six months when there were opportunities for her to escape.
ANL/Shutterstock
Constance Marten captured on CCTV, missing with Mark Gordon, inset; her father Napier, right, says he wants the healing to begin
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