THE Duke of Devonshire is facing claims of a possible conflict of interest after Sotheby’s, the auction house where he is deputy chairman, agreed to pay £100,000 to use his family home for a sale.

The grounds of Chatsworth, the 35,000-acre ducal residence in Derbyshire, will be the setting for a sale of modern sculptures later this year.

Although Devonshire will not gain personally — the money will go to the family trust that owns the estate — the proceeds will help maintain the property, which has been in his family, the Cavendishes, since the 16th century.

This weekend Sotheby’s confirmed it had not considered any other British venue. “We have a connection with the duke [as deputy chairman] and so simply went to Chatsworth,” said a company spokesman.

Interviewed in next month’s Sotheby’s Preview magazine, the 12th Duke, who succeeded his father Andrew two years ago, said: “The garden will look marvellous at that time of year and we’re really excited to introduce a new audience to Chatsworth as well as something new for Chatsworth’s traditional audience.”

David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw, the monthly art magazine, said: “This arrangement for a selling exhibition between Chatsworth and Sotheby’s seems a bit smelly to me. If I were Sotheby’s I’d put on such a show, particularly of such big and presumably pricey sculptures, somewhere much nearer London. That’s where their potential clients will be. Not up there. And not exactly many of Chatsworth’s usual visitors will be able to afford to buy.”

The trust denied any conflict of interest, although it confirmed there would be an undisclosed payment.

However, the website of The Art Newspaper this weekend said the figure would be £100,000, after checking filings made by Sotheby’s to the American Securities and Exchange Commission.

A spokesman for the Chatsworth House Trust said: “The duke has no reason to be embarrassed by this. The duke sits on the board of the trust, as do other members of the family. But the board is not remunerated. Whatever comes from Sotheby’s is an agreement between a business and a charity.”

Devonshire, 62, was last year ranked joint 104th on The Sunday Times Rich List with a fortune put at £480m. The duke, who joined the board of Sotheby’s in 1994 and has been deputy chairman for the past decade, was last year paid £65,000 for his non-executive duties. His Sotheby’s shares are today worth about £600,000.

Chatsworth, one of Britain’s most visited stately homes, has its own collection of art, accumulated over the centuries. Andrew, the 11th Duke, built up its holdings of modern art and was a close friend of Lucian Freud, the painter, about 20 of whose works are in the house. Modern sculptors whose works are in the garden include Angela Conner, Elizabeth Frink, Barry Flanagan, Richard Long and Allen Jones.

Chatsworth is better known to most of the public for its 18th and 19th-century statues — a fact underlined by the latest film version of Pride and Prejudice, which starred Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet prancing between some of the artworks.

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