Rhodri Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids

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Rhodri Colwyn Philipps, 4th Viscount St Davids, born 16 September 1966, is a British hereditary peer and businessman. He is the eldest son of Colwyn Philipps, 3rd Viscount St Davids, and Augusta Correay Larraín. He inherited the viscountcy in 2009 when his father died, along with other ancient titles and the Picton Castle baronetcy. He is married to interior decorator Sarah Louise Butcher, Lady St Davids; his younger brother Roland is the heir presumptive. He was educated at Downside School and spent a short time at the University of Chicago.

Philipps’s business and legal troubles have been public since the early 2000s. He has been bankrupt three times (2002, March 2011, February 2016). In 2008–2009 he spent more than a year in a German prison after a court found mismanagement of funds connected to his construction company Hans Brochier; he received a two-year suspended sentence. In 2011 his wife was sued for unpaid debts, and in 2012 he unsuccessfully sued offshore advisors in Mauritius for £110 million.

In 2017 he faced UK criminal charges over online messages described as racist abuse. He was arrested in January 2017, charged in March, and found guilty on two counts on 11 July 2017, after defending himself. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. He was released on bail pending an appeal, which he abandoned on 25 August 2017, and he then served the remainder of his sentence.