Captain Tom Moore’s ‘financially obsessed’ family ‘talked about who would play them in movie’
The family of Captain Tom were reportedly “financially obsessed” and talked about who would play them in a movie, according to an employee who dealt with them.
Captain Sir Tom Moore – affectionately known as Captain Tom – became the hero Britain rallied around during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. He scored song and book deals after he walked 100 lengths of his garden for NHS Charities at the age of 99.
But in the years that followed Captain Tom’s death in 2021, the antics of his daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore have cast a shadow over his legacy. A 2024 report from the Charity Commission found she personally benefitted in her position as director of the Captain Tom Foundation, alongside her husband Colin.
Among serious criticisms made by a Government watchdog were the £150,000 salary she initially wanted to become the CEO of the foundation as well as the £18,000 she got for judging the Virgin Media Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards in 2021 when £2,000 was paid to her dad’s charity. Her and her husband also built a £200,000 luxury spa in the garden of their £2million home, which they argued was for the foundation’s benefit. But their dealings were not a surprise to one employee who dealt with them.
“They were always coming up with some way to make cash,” one unnamed public relations employee told MailOnline. “It was definitely all about how they could use this to set themselves up. That was their mindset. They were financially obsessed. They talked about a Captain Tom movie and who would play them. They really thought they were the pride of Britain.
“I remember going on holiday and getting a text from Ingram-Moore asking, ‘Why aren’t we at the James Bond premiere?’ Maybe a movie will be made one day – but about what a cock-up this all was.”
Ingram-Moore appeared on Good Morning Britain to promote her new book on grief when host Judge Rinder asked whether she felt any shame about the way she had handled things. She replied: “When I look back at the last five years, we know that we own the truth and what I can’t do is sit here and persuade everyone to believe our reality.”
Speaking to the BBC, she apologised for setting up the charity with her father’s name, saying it was her “deepest regret” from the ordeal. She said: “It didn’t need to be set up as a charity, we could have continued that legacy without it, because what it’s done is all but completely derailed our lives. It was set up with my father’s name and that is our deepest regret.”
But she insisted there was “nothing dishonest” about hers and her husband’s actions, saying she was sorry the general public feels “misled”. She told BBC Three Counties Radio: “There is nothing dishonest about what happened. The book said it would support the launch [of the foundation] and it did. There was never a specific amount of money required.
“I’m sorry [the public] feel misled, I genuinely am, but there was never any intent to mislead. If there was any misleading it wasn’t our doing.” Mrs Ingram-Moore also disputed the report, suggesting the commission’s findings were “not true”. She and her husband “gracefully bowed out” after finding it would cost too much to challenge, she added.
Her neighbours rejoiced as the “eyesore” spa was torn down in January with Ingram-Moore looking glum as the sink was taken out. It was seen as a humiliation for the family.
Ingram-Moore has disputed the report and suggested the commission’s findings were “not true.” The Mirror recently revealed that Ingram-Moore put her house up for sale once again, with the Grade II-listed Old Rectory listed for £2million.
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