 Facing steep death duties and high maintenance costs as well as the unstable state of finances left by his predecessors, he auctioned his family's 700-year archive for £164,000, and sold Necker Island to Richard Branson for $120,000.The hall was converted into a conference venue, although it also remained the family home.He was a member of the Conservative Party, but shyness prevented him from taking the seat in the House of Lords that his hereditary peerage entitled him to.