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GRIMSTHORPE CASTLE Lady Jane
This month the Heathcote Drummond family and the team at Grimsthorpe Castle in Bourne are all preparing to remember a very special anniversary: it’s nearly 70 years since the estate’s Lady Jane served her Majesty as one of six Ladies in Waiting...
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It’s always a nice feeling to return to your family home, but having grown up in Swinstead, and having enjoyed visiting her grandfather to enjoy lunch each week at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lady Jane Heathcote Drummond Willoughby recalls returning home from her flat in London. In the city, Grimsthorpe Castle’s extensive parkland was reconfigured in 1777 by Capability Brown. she’d have lots of fun attending With plenty of history just society parties, but of course, waiting to be revealed to visitors, returning to the peace and beauty of the especially against the context of the family’s 3,000 acre country estate, located Platinum Jubilee, the Castle’s curator Emma four miles north west of Bourne held a sense Miller says she’s keen to welcome as many of excitement and joy all of its own. people to Grimsthorpe this year and has And speaking of excitement and joy, Lady Jane was also invited to take part in one of the worked with the team to create a series of exhibitions and events for visitors. defining events of the 20th century, attending HM The Queen’s Coronation in 1953 as one of the monarch’s six Ladies in waiting. Spending Summer at Grimsthorpe Castle...It’s a part of Grimsthorpe Castle’s history The Grade I listed has a programme of events to enjoy throughout summerwhich will be recognised this summer alongside national Platinum Jubilee celebrations, as well as a broader exhibition on the castle’s Sunday 22nd May - Friday 30th September, House & Garden Open: Bourne’s Grimsthorpe Willoughby de Eresby baronetcy, of which Castle and its grounds will open all summer long, five days a week from Sunday to Thursday. Lady Jane is the incumbent title holder. Sunday 22nd May - Monday 29th August, Jubilee Exhibition: Special exhibition including the dress and headdress worn by Grimsthorpe’s Lady Jane during The Queen’s 1953 coronation.The land dates back to the 13th century, and has been in the de Eresby family since 1516. Wednesday 1st June, Evening Exhibition Tour: Twilight exhibition of the castle’s Jubilee displays. The present castle was rebuilt by the Sunday 19th June, Tudor Day: Costumes and exhibitions from the Tudor dynasty. 16th Baron Robert Bertie in 1707, designed Friday 25th June, St Peter’s Singers: Secular and choral music performed in the Castle. and created by Baroque architect Sir John n For more information on any of the above events, see www.grimsthorpe.co.uk. Vanbrugh. The Queen’s Coronation The coronation of Elizabeth II took “From seventeenth-century ceremonies to theplace on 2nd June 1953 at Westminster Abbey, after a period crowning of Elizabeth II in 1953, this year’s of mourning and the first meeting of the Coronation Commission in exhibition will follow the key role of the April 1952. The Queen had Willoughby de Eresby family through 400 already been proclaimed on 6th Feb 1952. years of English coronations, by looking at traditions of splendour and spectacle, and exploring themes of power, loyalty, lineage, and memory,” says Emma. “We are thrilled to be staging this unique exhibition and revealing how these exceptional coronations became a part of the Grimsthorpe story.”
Grimsthorpe & Drummond
Grimsthorpe Castle in Bourne and Drummond Castle in Creiff are in the custodianship of a trust >> “Visitors will experience which manages their upkeep day, but came across as very royal history first-hand and and preserves them for confident beyond her years. may be surprised to find how future generations to enjoy. “We had been rehearsing the images and traditions of day-in and day-out for weeks, coronations are ingrained in our with the Duchess of Norfolk standing memories!” in for the Queen,” said Lady Rosemary to “The items on display will be brought to life Tatler in 2020. “The minute she arrived, by associated paintings, prints and photos, everyone just felt everything was going to be revealing their original context in the dazzling alright.” theatrical pageant of the ceremony.” She recalls, too, that the Duke of Edinburgh “Amongst the exceptional objects on display was ‘just wonderful;’ “He was always aware will be an exact replica of the lavish costume and said one or two helpful things to us. worn by George IV at his coronation in 1821, He was frightfully good looking, we were as well as his throne and canopy, with the all slightly in love with him.” highlight of the exhibition being the Norman “It was the most perfect sort of fairytale Hartnell dress and headdress worn by Lady Coronation with this youthful Queen and a Jane Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby as wonderfully handsome consort, made in Maid of Honour to Elizabeth II in 1953.” heaven, really.” Alongside Lady Jane was Lady Rosemary Spencer Churchill, who recalls that The Above: Grimsthorpe Castle’s Lady Jane in her Queen appeared so young and slight on the William Hartnell coronation gown in front of Terence Cuneo’s oil painting of the event. Interestingly, the ladies all went their separate ways after the ceremony and having attended a reception. Lady Anne spent the evening at the 400 Club in Leicester Square, Lady Rosemary returned to Blenheim Palace and Lady Jane to Grimsthorpe via her little flat in London. They did, however, take away two rather lovely souvenirs; a beautiful brooch with ‘EIIR’ inscribed in diamonds, and their William Hartnell dresses. But of course, no souvenir could compare to the memories they have of the day they served their monarch. “Nothing could be quite so extraordinary as being a lady in waiting at the Queen’s coronation,” said Lady Jane. n The exhibition will be held within the Castle and accessible on standard open days. Sunday to Thursday, 22 May to 29 August, 12pm-4pm (last entry 3.15pm). For more information please visit www.grimsthorpe.co.uk.
Left to Right: Lady Moyra Hamilton; Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill; Lady Anne Coke; Lady Jane HeathcoteDrummond-Willoughby; Lady Jane Van-Tempest-Stewart; Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton; and the Mistress of the Robes, The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire.
Grimsthorpe Castle’s Lady in Waiting...
Grimsthorpe Castle’s Lady Jane Heathcote Drummond Willoughby remembers 2nd June 1953 well, as she was one of the 27-year old monarch’s six ladies in waiting. Though Britain had a population of only 36m, over 27m in the UK watched the ceremony on television.
Lady Jane recalls the moment she found out she would be present with The Queen on the day: “I was at Ashridge College when my parents telephoned me to tell me the news. Maids of Honour at coronations were usually selected from Duke’s daughters first, then the daughters of Earls.”
“Those selected had to have been presented at court and be unmarried. At the time there were only three or four daughters of Dukes who fitted the bill.”
“The Willoughby de Eresby title goes back to the Norman Conquest and my father had been Lord Great Chamberlain to George VI, so I was chosen to be one of the six Maids of Honour. My father carried the Sword of King Edward at the ceremony.”
“We had a number of rehearsals in Westminster Abbey without the Queen as the ceremony was to be televised. A car collected me at 5 o’clock in the morning to take me to the Abbey.”
We were given our Norman Hartnell dresses that we wore on the day and I wore a pearl necklace which was a family heirloom.”
Over 8,250 guests attended the ceremony, at Westminster Abbey, which began at 11.15am and lasted over three hours. n
