Divorced from his first wife Mel, the Old Harrovian smoothie thought he had found lasting love with glamorous Vogue stylist Pippa Holt, granddaughter of former Australian prime minister Harold Holt, whose premiership dramatically ended when he disappeared while swimming off the coast of Victoria 40 years ago.
But just over a month ago, Pippa abruptly called off their three-year relationship and on the rebound, I can reveal, multimillionaire Metcalfe, 47, a father-of-two, has struck up a romance with alluring New York society author Brooke de Ocampo.
Says a friend of Pippa: “She is 32 so there was quite a big age difference. She wanted a family and he’s already been there and done that and didn’t want to have any more. So basically they wanted very different things out of the relationship.”
Julian and Pippa were introduced by a mutual friend and rapidly fell in love. But their relationship was doomed because of Pippa’s determination to become a mother as well as a wife.
Adds the friend: “She is a feisty Aussie girl who is very determined and certain about what she wants out of life. They parted amicably enough, but in reality Pippa ended it when she realised that Julian was adamant about not wanting any more children.”