"Prix D'amour - Putting Mosman Park on the Map!" Mosman Park by Gwynneth

Mosman Park Travel Guide: 2 reviews and 12 photos

Perth's Real Life Soap Opera Zone

Forget Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives... Perth has Ms Rose Hancock-Porteous!

Here are just a few events that keep Perth tuned in and wondering what will happen next in the bizarre scenarios at Mosman Park.

My travelogue I will have a profile on this fabulously colourful woman and her rise from housemaid to millionaire celebrity!

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Rose Porteous denied she cheated charities and said she had nothing to fear from a government investigation. But she warned MP John Hyde to be cautious.

"What is this guy trying to do? I am not worried, let them investigate but this Mr Hyde should be careful, my solicitors will be on to him," she said after calling reporters and camera crews to her Mosman Park home known as Prix D’Amour.

She said she did not donate money to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation because the organisation refused to help her promote the sale of tickets for the fashion event.

A later even had raised $22,000 for Fremantle Hospital.

And she had repaid the Rose Porteous Foundation the money spent on expenses for the fashion show.

Mrs Porteous said the accounts presented to Parliament were a rough draft and her accountant was in the process of finalising them.

Mrs Porteous confirmed money had been spent cleaning two chandeliers in the foyer of the house before the fashion parade. She said they were cleaned again before the open day a few weeks later.

"Do you know what it is like to clean these chandeliers? I cannot do it myself, it takes three days for this girl trained by Waterford."

Asked about the bill for the punch she said: "It was a sangria, do you know what is in sangria?" She said the ingredients included brandy, vodka, champagne and wine.

She said a cheque drawn on the charity for a video had been a mistake. "I could not find my own personal cheque book so I wrote it on the Rose Porteus Foundation cheque book."

Mrs Porteous explained the Rose Porteus Foundation board was short of six members because some had been too busy to attend meetings. "Eventually we will have to get some more people. I have never had any board member resign because of complaints there was something fishy."

Court hears Hancock mansion searched for drugs

If only the walls could speak.

A coronial inquest into the death of West Australian mining magnate Lang Hancock has heard police searched his Mosman Park mansion for drugs on the day he died.

The court is investigating the death of Mr Hancock in March 1992.

Trevor Blair Watkins, the first of 63 witnesses to give evidence at the inquest, says on the day Mr Hancock died police searched the staff kitchen and confiscated a blue bag from a cupboard.

Mr Watkins was a gardener and driver at the Hancock's mansion Prix D'Amour.

Mr Watkins says he does not know what was in the bag.

However, lawyer for Gina Rinehart, Ron Davies QC, says he believes Mr Watkins knew it contained what police believe was heroin.

Mr Davies said police sniffer dogs also turned up to search for narcotics.

The inquest continues.

Oily diet allegedly fed to Hancock

Ms Rose Hancok-Porteous

Ms Rose Porteous ordered the late Mr Lang Hancock's cook to prepare oily food for her ailing 82-year-old husband in the weeks before he died, a court was told yesterday.

Ms Carmen Elpa told the West Australian Coroner's Court she cooked for the mining magnate during his last weeks in a mini-hospital set up in the grounds of his Perth mansion, Prix d'Amour.

The former maid to the then Mrs Hancock told the inquest into Mr Hancock's death in 1992 that she had been ordered to feed the sick man oily food, including roast pork and bacon.

Ms Elpa also told the court Mrs Hancock had ordered her to hide in her room one night because Mrs Hancock had asked the doctor to stay the night, telling him she was all alone.

Ms Elpa also told the coroner, Mr Alastair Hope, she had seen Mrs Hancock altering temperatures in the couple's bedroom to make the room hotter in summer and colder in winter.

She said Mr Hancock was often in the room when the temperatures were changed and had not complained.

Ms Elpa denied she was a spy for Mr Hancock's daughter, Mrs Gina Rinehart.

She said knew nothing about a statement by Mrs Rinehart that, a week before Mr Hancock died, the police were to raid the Mosman Park mansion and plant listening devices in Rose Hancock's bedroom.

Ms Elpa gave evidence that she felt Mrs Hancock (now Mrs Porteous) had deprived her of a house in Mosman Park and $200,000 in cash which Mr Hancock had promised to leave her.

She did not hate Mrs Porteous but she certainly did not like her.

Ms Elpa worked for the Hancocks from 1985 until Mrs Porteous sacked her in April 1992 - a week after Mr Hancock died. About two or three weeks later, she became a housemaid for Mrs Rinehart and had worked for her since.

Mrs Rinehart has alleged that Mrs Porteous's behaviour caused Mr Hancock such stress that it hastened his death.

Ms Elpa told the inquest that Mrs Porteous asked her repeatedly "How is he? Is he dead yet?" and that three days before he did die, Mrs Porteous asked her to stitch lace to a black dress so she would look good for the funeral.

The inquest continues today.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Rose's life is extaordinary
Cons:There isn't any... its all fabulously sensational!
In a nutshell:More than a Mansion with a View!

Last visit to Mosman Park: Aug 2003
Intro Updated Jul 23, 2005
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Reviews (2)

Muzz Buzz - Mosman Park - Underconstruction - Mosman Park

Drive Thru Coffee!! Now you're talkin'! Restaurants (2)

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Japanese made perfect Restaurants (2)

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Travelogues (1)

Written Aug 19, 2003

7 photos

Chandeliers, Politics and Drama Queens

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Comments (6)

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dijkhuyzen Jul 2, 2007 at 2:18 AM

BRAVO ROSE,we love you from The netherlands.
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cnango Apr 3, 2006 at 8:14 PM

Muzz Buzz Drive Thru Coffee looks COOL ! Cheers for adding me to UR friends list, I look forward to checking out all UR Aussie pages real Soon : ) Nancy
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piksutter Mar 5, 2006 at 5:48 PM

Hey Gwynneth, Any further news about Trevor Watkins as I used to go out with him in Brisbane and did visit him while he was still working for Rose.
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aussiedoug Mar 2, 2004 at 6:39 PM

Just must have you & Anna show me around next time I'm in Perth (hopefully during the footie season this year). BTW haven't heard back from my last email 2 you!! To be or not to be?
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shelnlin Nov 21, 2003 at 7:41 AM

What a fantastic write up, we could do our soap opera on this woman! Mmmmm now there's a thought.
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omran Sep 18, 2003 at 9:42 AM

NICE PAGE AND AMAZING PHOTOS :o)