The Duke Comes Home

Author’s Note

Author’s NoteThe ancestral homes in England thrill every tourist because so many of them are still lived in by their owners. Only by opening them to the public can they pay the rates, taxes, upkeep and repairs, which rise astronomically every year.

But what a joy and delight it is to see a house complete with its treasures collected over the centuries and know that it is still a home. In France the Châteaux are empty and in other parts of Europe only museums.

In England the Duke of Marlborough, descendant of the Great Duke, still lives at Blenheim Palace. The Earl Spencer, father of Diana, Princess of Wales, is the ninth Earl to live at Althorp and he and his wife, who is my daughter, are nearly always there at weekends to welcome the sightseers.

At Longleat, the attractive Marquis of Bath and his family show their visitors round and so does the Marquis of Tavistock who follows the example set by his father, the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey.

The National Trust owns and preserves more than two hundred historic buildings and they are visited annually by nearly five million people.

The Nizam of Hyderabad, at one time reputed to be the richest man in the world, owned the most fabulous jewels. The diamonds came from his own mines, among them the famous Koh-i-Noor, which is now incorporated in the Crown of England.