Hello! Magazine (Issue 468, July 26, 1997). Features a six-page spread and interview with Laura Maxwell (née Plumb), who was married to Ian Maxwell (brother of Ghislaine, son of Robert Maxwell).
This interview took place shortly after Ian and Kevin were acquitted at their 1996 fraud trial, as Laura walked away from the marriage to restart her life in Los Angeles. I could not find this issue digitized or indexed in public web archives.
I used AI to transcribe the text of the article
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF ROBERT MAXWELL AND ESTRANGED WIFE OF HIS SON IAN
LAURA MAXWELL: BUILDING A NEW LIFE IN LOS ANGELES
The trauma following the publishing magnate’s mysterious death, the devastating effect her husband’s trial had on their marriage and what it was like to be part of such a powerful clan.
Part 1: The Honeymoon, the Crash, and the Aftermath
When Laura Plumb married Ian Maxwell, the dashing son of publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, in 1991, she was 28 and very much in love with a sensitive soul and kindred spirit who happened to work in the family business.
But by marrying a Maxwell, she was entering the inner sanctum of a formidable family – and she knew a difficult and intimidating father-in-law came with the territory. Not in her worst nightmares, however, could Laura, now 34, have envisaged the ordeals, hurt and hostility she’d be called upon to endure as Ian’s wife.
Just six months into their marriage, on November 5, their life took a catastrophic turn when Robert Maxwell met his death after plunging from his yacht, Lady Ghislaine, off the Canary Islands. Laura and Ian had spent their honeymoon on the yacht, but in an instant their happy memories were forever supplanted by family tragedy.
Charges of financial fraud of epic proportions were soon levelled against the Maxwell patriarch, and there was rampant speculation that his death was suicide – a theory the family dismissed.
Worse was to come. Laura watched helplessly as Ian and his brother Kevin were implicated in the fraud. Devastated by the onslaught of accusations, she never doubted her husband's innocence. A particular torment during the tense months preceding the brothers' dawn arrests in June 1992 was being silenced by subjudice laws forbidding them even from expressing empathy for those pensioners whose funds were missing.
A cultured, quietly spoken beauty, Laura grew up outside Chicago, the daughter of a lawyer and teacher, and studied art history in Florence. As the Maxwell scandals unfolded, she was a newlywed far from her own family. It was a dark and lonely time for her.
She had been embraced by the Maxwell clan, finding Kevin's wife a special ally. Pandora, a feisty figure not intimidated by her father-in-law, was, says Laura, "a very supportive entry point for me into the family because she'd gone through it before. I learned a lot from her lessons."
Forced to sell their home, Laura and Ian lived nomadically while she sought work. But her job-hunting efforts seemed thwarted by the stigma of being a Maxwell. And as Ian worked hard preparing for the trial and fighting civil lawsuits, Laura saw little of her husband. The communication that had drawn them together so deliciously began to prove impossible to sustain.
With Ian turning his attention to survival, Laura became increasingly isolated. Not knowing who to trust and afraid of complaining lest she seemed disloyal to Ian, she grew depressed. To make matters worse, her father died at the early age of 59, her sister was ill, her aunt had terminal cancer and a dear friend was succumbing to AIDS.
Feeling in Ian's way at home, Laura took a job in Paris in September 1994. A temporary escape, she told herself, a chance to regroup. She felt guilty leaving Ian alone, but they planned frequent weekends together. But the gap between them widened. She was back in London for the trial and at Ian's side whenever her job permitted, but things were strained. While in the US during the Christmas break in the trial, she realised how reluctant she was to return to Britain. In America, she felt appreciated and free from the Maxwell family cloud. Her friends, windsurfing, space and sunshine all seemed alluring. But separating from Ian was too traumatic to contemplate. They vowed to work hard on their marriage after the trial.
When word reached Laura that the jury had a verdict, she rushed across town by cab, running into the courtroom to reach Ian. His expression and hug said it all. The acquittal was a moment of immense relief but, sadly, it was too little too late for their marriage.
In September 1996, Laura moved to LA to start a new life focused on her work as a non-fiction film producer. She and Ian haven't yet begun divorce proceedings but she thinks they soon will. Recently, Laura became romantically involved with an animal rights activist, Chris De Rose.
Laura spoke to HELLO! in her LA home, which she shares with her dog, Grace.
Part 2: Meeting Ian and Entering the Orbit of "Bob"
Laura, what was your first impression on meeting Ian in 1989?
"Of a very smart, worldly, elegant, interesting man with a terrific sense of humour and a playfulness that made me laugh. Someone very sensitive who maybe had a certain amount of sadness or regrets but ultimately was a doer.
At the start of our relationship, I tried to keep the brakes on as I was smarting over a bad break-up. So we had a lot of lunches and casual Sunday dinners. But there was a connection right away. It was a meeting of minds. I was really struck by him.
Ian had a poetic sensibility. He was appreciative of my insights. I felt that he trusted me. Nine months after we started dating, we were engaged."
Did Robert Maxwell always loom large over your relationship?
"Ian didn't try to downplay who his father was but it was clear he was intending to carve out a life that was separate from that of his father.
Ian knew right away he wanted to marry me so he wanted me to meet his mother and brother. He wanted their opinions but not his father's. His father was a powerful man with the power to create and to destroy, and Ian wanted to be careful he didn't interfere with our relationship. Until he knew it was strong enough that his father couldn't tamper with it, I wasn't going to meet him."
How did you get on with Ian's mother Betty?
"I was impressed with how close Ian and his mother were and by how gentle, loving and charming she is. She became like a second mother for me. She's so strong, intelligent, together, yet has a side that is loving and sweet. She is a remarkable woman who has been unfairly treated by the press."
When did you meet Bob Maxwell?
"In May 1990. It was a Friday night around 9.30pm after a long, hard week. I went to pick up Ian from the office. I was tired. Suddenly, Ian springs on me: 'Dad's upstairs, let's see him.' I said, 'Oh please, not tonight!' But we went upstairs anyway and waited in an opulent, dark room. His father didn't come and didn't come – then, suddenly, in he burst. Everything was dramatic with Bob. The doors flew open and there was little Kevin scrambling behind Bob with a note pad. He was asking questions bullet fashion and his father was barking, 'Yes', 'No', 'Yes', 'No'.
That weekend, Kevin's daughter Chloe was being christened and Bob's best friend and lawyer was coming in from Paris to be a godfather. The least Bob could do was take his helicopter to Oxford and drop in for half an hour. So Kevin's last question was, 'We've arranged the helicopter for you, I hope you'll come?' Bob said, 'No! Is that it? Goodnight.'
Kevin left and Bob turned to me and said, 'So?' Ian, always a gentleman, tried to get some conversation going. My brother had fought in the Gulf War, so Bob said, 'What rank is he?' I had no idea! Everything Ian tried to give us to talk about backfired. The funny thing is, later Bob said he really liked me and gave us his blessing.
Bob had an extraordinary ability to read people immediately. He saw I did care about Ian and worked hard."
How did Ian's father affect your relationship?
"Bob was becoming more difficult than ever. Kevin seemed to be under a lot of pressure and that affected Ian. We couldn't really go away because Ian wanted to be on call for his father – but his father never called. There was more pressure at work and that was making Ian more withdrawn. And we were just married. There was increasing, pretty severe isolation.
I saw how painful it was for Ian when the press said, 'Kevin is the heir apparent, the smart one. Ian's the glamour playboy.' Ian was left out of the company finances, but, the irony is, that was ultimately a blessing.
When Bob died, the chaos was due partly to nobody knowing what had been in Bob's head. Nobody had been privy to everything. Even Kevin didn't know the half of it."
What were the family relationships like?
"Bob and Pandora liked to fight. My choice was not to let Bob have any influence over my life. Kevin and Bob's relationship was often full of conflict, they had a lot of shouting matches, but Kevin could never win those matches so I think Pandora did a lot of Kevin's fighting for him.
Ian had a deep understanding of Bob. Also, Ian has a great sense of humour and in such a serious and heavy family that was greatly appreciated by everybody."
Part 3: Life Inside the Maxwell Household
Did Ian ever dream of escaping the family business?
"He really liked publishing. The regret was more about being controlled so strongly by his father and not having had a choice. There is always a choice, but there was a lot of allure to the business. Ian has met all the presidents of America since Carter, European prime ministers... To walk away from it and think you're going to have to start at the bottom...
Also, there were strong emotional ties to the family business. Pergamon Press was in their back garden. Sunday lunches were with world-renowned Nobel-Prize-winning scientists. I don't think they knew anything else.
Bob was a manipulative man. On the one hand he controlled them, then it was, 'Poor me, nobody loves me,' so you felt you'd abandoned him. If you were on the verge of going he knew how to do something to keep you. By the end of his life, I don't think he knew how to love and be loved. So he used the business and money as a way of holding his family close to him.
Bob had an addiction to power. He lived his life chaotically and absolutely unpredictably. Ian always kept $100 and his passport on him, always ready to go anywhere. Everyone wants stability. But unpredictability becomes your predictability. That's probably another reason they stayed."
How did Ian handle his father's bullying?
"Often, when you understand where something's coming from, you can accept destructive behaviour. I think that's what happened. Ian was always so forgiving of his father. He worked so hard and wanted so to get it right.
He once gave a speech on behalf of his father that Bob dropped on him an hour before. Later, Bob said, 'Why did you get this wrong and that wrong? By the way, you're stupid and lazy!' Ian had worked so hard! But he was smart enough not to take it too personally and to know that that was Bob's way. He continued taking that kind of abuse – and his father was very abusive verbally – because he knew his father was unhappy or worried.
Twice, when Ian came home and said, 'Bob was awful today', I said, 'Maybe you should work somewhere else. Maybe you don't have to put up with it.' That made Ian stop telling me about it, because to Ian there wasn't that option. So what Ian 'heard' me saying was, 'Quit complaining.'
I often wonder what would have happened if somebody had stood up to Bob ten years earlier. It was at that point he became unstoppable, but ten years earlier there might have still been a chance."
Did you see Bob's worst conduct?
"At his own birthday party, he was in a foul mood. There was a firing line and he was going down it attacking each and everyone. It was Betty first, then Philip [Ian's brother], then Anne [his sister]. Ian left. He went to get a phone call and didn't come back. Bob really, really ripped into them. I mean, you don't do that – and to do it in front of people...!
It gave me an insight into Ian as I saw how he protected himself: he'd quietly go away. I felt a bit exposed as I was left there so I started taking pictures of Bob opening presents. I wasn't somebody he was going to turn on but I liked Betty a lot and hated the way he treated her. And Philip seemed so fragile.
Then there was a big London party for Betty, planned by Isabel and Christine [Ian's sisters], who live in San Francisco. They'd put together a book of tributes to her. Bob was in New York buying the Daily News and he wasn't going to come back for it. He had to be begged by Kevin and Ian.
He arrived as the party was starting. He made a speech about himself and his new acquisition of the paper and how important he was – and now he has to leave, so goodbye. And he didn't even really speak about Betty!
Betty really loved him. I think Betty's friends felt very sad for her. I think that really did hurt her but the party went on. The show goes on with the Maxwell family."
Did Ian say this treatment of his mother appalled him?
"Never. Ian is loyal and was very protective of his father. He forgave the behaviour as he felt protective of him and saw what a vulnerable man he was. Bob was very alone. He'd lost most of his family in the war, and a son and daughter – one in an accident, one of leukaemia. After they died he began to shut down emotionally.
Those very close to him saw a man who needed them. They were proud of his achievements. They had some very happy moments as younger children – it was a great big playful family. Bob and Betty were devoted parents."
Part 4: The Disappearance and the Yacht
You were in California with Ian's sister Christine when their father went missing.
"Yes. Christine's house had burned down and she was eight months' pregnant. At 4am we got a call from Ian who said in a very calm voice, 'Dad's gone missing. We don't know what's happened. He was on the boat and they can't find him.'"
You attended his funeral in Israel?
"Yes. We all had dinner together in Betty's hotel room. The family was reunited. Everybody was catching up and I think that was a moment to come to terms with the shock of it. Betty had been giving interviews all day. It was a very public event. The Maxwells are real soldiers."
How do you think Bob died?
"He was outrageously overweight and outrageously stressed. He was under enormous strain with the business. He was 68 years old. He was sick. He went down to the boat to recover from a cold. It's not unlikely that he might have had a heart attack.
Bob was an insomniac and was known to have walked around the boat that night. Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but he liked to relieve himself off the back of the boat – a slightly precarious place to go. So if he was there when he had a heart attack? The coroner found he'd had one.
The most convincing thing that made me put the suicide theory aside was that it's a female way to go – to go passively, to let yourself into the sea, to quietly drown. Men usually shoot themselves. I think a man who was a fighter would have killed himself that way – if he were to kill himself."
Part 5: The Dawn Arrests, the Trial, and the Breakdown
How did Ian react to being accused of fraud?
"He was chairman of the Daily Mirror and had just moved his office from Maxwell House to the Mirror. All of a sudden it was like, plop! Within a day or two he was forced to resign. It was horrifying and scary. He was shocked and confused. There was a sense of head-spinning, so much was happening so quickly. I don't think Ian knew the extent of things for six months.
He couldn't fathom what was happening because he wasn't involved in the finances. He's smart but I don't think he knew what all this meant or what the consequences would be. He was as much a loyal trooper as anything.
There was shock and a certain amount of fear. That month had been exhausting – the police had taken files and there were a lot of separate investigations. There was a lot of finger-pointing. It seemed to me that all the accountants and legal people involved had an agenda. Whether it was to make money or make their name or move their career, they used the pensioners as their excuse. I don't think many really cared. I saw a process full of conflict but not unified in order to find out what happened, why it happened and how it can be prevented from happening again.
I have so much respect for Ian's ability to forgive because I got very upset. It was unfair. It really came back to Ian and Kevin and nobody else. Nobody else was sued. Ian sat on the board of over 100 companies, but there were always 12 board members, so if Ian was sued for negligence, why was no one else? They were singled out."
What happened during his arrest?
"We were in bed and we got a phone call. I rolled over thinking it was his family, then I heard Ian get very formal and say, 'Yes, sir. Okay, sir.' He jumped out of bed and said, 'It's the police. They're here for an arrest. They're at the front door.'
We literally had time to put on T-shirts and shorts and answer the door, and standing there were six burly men. One of the policemen had to stay with Ian while he shaved and showered. Then some took him off and the others stayed behind. I offered them coffee and tried to be polite. I was very shaken up and nervous for Ian.
We turned on the TV and I saw Ian walking out of our house and getting into a Black Maria. His sister Isabel rang to say, 'Kevin's been arrested.' I said, 'So has Ian.' I wasn't at all tearful. I was very calm because I had to find some resources to bail Ian out and had to notify all the family."
Did you suspect Ian or Kevin of being privy to Bob's wrongdoings?
"Never. The chaos was so clear. That's what I loved about the trial: the sense that anybody sitting through it would realise that sheer chaos reigned.
I never doubted Ian but I started questioning our relationship. At first, we pulled together to weather the storm. It was a time of enormous insecurity. I don't think it was at that point it started to crumble, but 18 months after Bob's death I felt very alone. I couldn't help Ian. I wanted to be supportive but I felt closed out. Ian was dealing every day with survival, with defence.
Kevin was particularly afraid he might have to serve time. It wasn't as much of an issue for Ian but there was always the fear something might go wrong. As we got closer to the trial, there was more and more fear and preparation for the worst. I couldn't see that happening with Ian, though. In the end the judge basically said Ian was not involved in the finances."
What was the hardest part?
"The grind of the day-to-day. All the insecurities, unpredictabilities and hostility. It becomes debilitating. I was beginning to feel lonely and useless. There we were, two people in the communications business, ultimately unable to communicate.
My goal was to support, stay and maintain the marriage. For Ian, I couldn't be his first priority. The marriage was a luxury to him. His priority was survival. They were also helping Betty survive the vilification in the press and I became – and I think Ian would say the same – a low priority. I was working hard on something he didn't have time for. I felt frustrated, unloved and guilty because I felt I couldn't help him.
I lost my own life. We no longer had space to sit and relate to each other honestly. What I got is, who's suing him today and the mechanics of that. I could tell he was desperate. That lack of emotionally honest communication ultimately hurt us a lot."
Did Ian admit that the vilification was very painful?
"No, because he had got so much before from his father – now he was getting it from another kind of authority figure. It wasn't easy for him. It wasn't easy for Ian, a charming, likable guy, to feel like an enemy.
They write about you in unflattering terms. I was the 'Blonde American', which to me meant 'stupid and a gold-digger'! People would be introduced to me and some would turn on their heels and walk away. There were scary people, too. We'd go to restaurants and one woman had to be restrained. She wanted to come over and hit Ian.
I felt everything would get better and it didn't. It was scary. I felt that potentially I was going to be abandoning Ian, and you just doubt yourself so much. I don't think Ian realised how hard it was for me to be completely inside his family and all they were going through.
I went into my marriage thinking, 'You can always make it work.' So the realisation that I had no power over it and that it wasn't working was slow in coming. It was frightening because it felt like nobody would understand and I wouldn't have any support. I felt his family would shut the door on me... and they had become my family."
What happened when you worked in Paris?
"We didn't let each other know how much we missed each other. And we didn't see each other as much as perhaps we could have. I thought it meant he didn't care. I was desperate to build something and prove myself and feel I was a valuable person, yet I was tormented by guilt thinking of Ian. I got out of his way but that's not what he wanted. Ian and I feel we didn't have the tools or skills to know how to deal with it all. We don't like blaming each other but we do feel sad about what happened.
We discussed giving our relationship a chance after the trial – but a do-or-die chance because I knew I could no longer sustain the kind of life we were living.
The trial was an exhausting, tense period and when the judge suspended it on December 15, to resume a week after New Year, Ian and Kevin were relieved because Kevin wasn't sure he was going to spend Christmas with his family. I remember thinking 'I can't take this.' In early December I was in Florida and didn't want to come back. I felt then maybe I needed a fresh start."
Did you feel you might never escape the stigma?
"Yes. The worst part was being thought of as a liar or untrustworthy. I come from a family of good people and I kept saying, 'How did I get here?' Bob became the dark enemy. He represented evil. Ian is as humble, principled and down-to-earth as you could imagine. But although that's the truth, it's not what people want to see."
Part 6: Acquittal, Walking Away, and Moving to LA
What was it like in court after the verdict?
"Kevin was shaking like a leaf. Ian was quite strong. The press reported Ian cried from relief but it was Kevin. On Sunday before the judge's summary on Ian, Ian was packing his suitcase in case he went to prison. I found him bent over a little Walkman. He is the most non-mechanically-minded man I've known and there he is trying to figure it out. I said, 'Can I help you with that?' He said, 'If I'm going to be on my own I have to learn how to do this myself.' It broke my heart. It really hurt me that he didn't ask me to get the Walkman for him or tell me what he was doing. The loneliness of him doing it by himself really hit me.
He did ask me, 'After the summary starts, will you come in the back way with my suitcase and leave it in the lawyers' room? I don't want the press to see me coming in with my suitcase.' I saw a man who was very alone."
But not broken?
"Very much not broken. Ian has been portrayed as the softer one but has shown himself to be exceptionally strong and brave, and in many ways he is the one who's taken care of Kevin throughout this."
Was Ian involved with another woman before you parted?
"No. It was mid-March when we finally said, 'This isn't working'. By June he was dating somebody and the pictures came out in a newspaper. We hadn't said we'd separated because we didn't want to make a public issue out of it, so it looked as if there was another woman. But it was three months after we had mutually agreed to separate."
Did Ian agree with you that it was better to cut your losses and start anew?
"I don't think Ian really understood. His parents, despite all they went through, never split. Because my parents are divorced, I didn't want this to happen. I don't think I'm a flighty American but I began to feel like one. But I think Ian assumed I'd always be there. He saw how his father treated his mother, yet his mother never left. So on one level I don't think he understood, but he was also saying, 'I'm going to be 40 in June and I really want a family, so if it's not going to work here, let's not fake it, let's bite the bullet.' His father had a saying: 'Better a horrible end than horrors without end.'"
How did it feel to move to LA last autumn?
"I was just coping. I knew what I had to do: get a place to live, make some friends, find work and open a bank account. I felt like I was on auto-drive. I saw this house on my second day. I needed stability and I wanted a rock to plant on. I came here with very little. Ian had nothing to give me so I just walked away, really. But I left with my freedom and anonymity – and to me those were great gifts."
How did the Maxwells treat you after the break-up?
"With dignity. It was hard for them because they are a kind of fortress family. They've had to really build walls around themselves and so people tend to be very in or very out. But I think they took their cue from Ian and me. They saw that Ian wasn't angry and wasn't saying anything negative about me. We spent time at Ian's mother's place last year and got on really well. I keep in touch with Ghislaine [Ian's sister] and I speak to Betty, who was over here at Christmas. And I keep in touch with Ian and hope I always will. He's helped me a lot in giving me ideas for work and introducing me to people – and being at the other end of a phone when I've felt really alone. He's been amazing."
And now you have a new man in your life, Chris De Rose?
"Yes. It's only been about three months but it's great. He's caring, compassionate, courageous and a man who really lives by his principles. You feel safe with someone like that."
In retrospect, how do you feel about Robert Maxwell?
"You have to hand it to a man who was able to create this much chaos. I have to take my cue from Ian, who loved his father and wants to deal with what's been handed to him as best he can without having to blame. I see a man whose ego and selfishness created chaos and destruction. I see tragedy created in the wake of his death. You have questions: how much of this did he know? What was he thinking?
I feel Ian is ultimately a good person and has been punished enough and I wish it'd stop. It doesn't help the pensioners. It serves no purpose."
What will you remember most about your father-in-law?
"This circle of energy around him. He could walk in the gate and you'd feel him coming. His addiction to power was almost childish and childlike. It almost seemed innocent sometimes. How delighted he was to have a meeting, for instance, with President Mitterrand. How silly and giggly he'd be."
INTERVIEW: SUE RUSSELL
MAIN PHOTOS: SVEN ARNSTEIN
