A Great Time Was Had By All
“Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.”
Blenheim Palace
I know I speak for the four of us when I say, “Wow”! We chose to visit Blenheim Palace largely because it was on the way between our cottage and Heathrow Airport. It ended up being the perfect way to spend our final day with Debbie and Nathan. It was an awe-inspiring moment as we walked into the courtyard and saw the spectacular palace entrance for the first time.
Blenheim Palace is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture.
Perched atop the entrance to the palace is Britannia, the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield.
Just a brief bit of context—Blenheim Palace is the result of one of histories earliest “power couples.” Each formidable in their own right, the 1677 marriage between the great general John Churchill and Sarah Jennings changed the course of history on many fronts.
Sarah’s father was close with King James II and she developed a very influential (and possibly intimate & romantic) relationship with his successor, Queen Anne. Sarah unwittingly introduced her first cousin Abigail Hill to the Queen, and Abigail eventually replaced Sarah in the Queen's affections (depicted the movie The Favourite).
John Churchill commanded an alliance of nations in the War of the Spanish Succession against the French and Bavarian armies, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. Through a combination of deception and skilled administration designed to conceal his true intentions from friend and foe alike—Churchill met on the banks of the Danube (present day Germany) in and around the small village of Blindheim, from which the English "Blenheim" is derived. His victory at Blenheim in 1704 altered the course of the war. Subsequent victories at Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709) ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals.
Queen Anne reined from 1702-1714, during which time she granted honors to her favored subjects—amongst them John and Sarah Churchill, who became the 1st Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. In recognition of John Churchill’s victory at the Battle of Blenheim, he was given the Royal Manor of Woodstock, with its 2,000+ acres, and also £240,000 with which to build his palace.
Winston Churchill is a direct descendant of John and Sarah Churchill. Winston closely studied the strategies employed by his forbearer during the Battle of Blenheim and used them to inform his strategic response to the Nazis—the greatest parallels being the massive deceptions successfully enacted by John Churchill at Blenheim and by Winston Churchill on D-Day.
Princess Diana and Winston Churchill were also distant cousins. The house of Spencer is a long-lasting British dynasty, reaching back to Henry Spencer in 1620. To this day, some members of the family still style their last name as Spencer-Churchill. The Windsors (the current family on the throne), on the other hand, are of German descent, having adopted their current name only in 1917. Which is to say, Charles married up when he married Diana.
Diana’s fourth-great-aunt was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806), depicted in the film The Duchess. Princess Diana’s namesake was Lady Diana Spencer (1710-1735). George Washington, Audrey Hepburn, Glenn Close, and the actor Oliver Platt also have distant connections to the Spencer name.
Upon entering the Great Hall, you are treated to this amazing painted ceiling depicting the Duke of Marlborough kneeling to Britannia, proffering a plan of the Battle of Blenheim. The allegorical painting is by Sir James Thornhill, who also painted the dome at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
The entrance door is the original, made in 1715, reputedly of oak from the Park. The defensive lock (it only locks on one side) was fitted by the 6th Duke in the 1840s and is said to be copied from a lock on the city gates of Warsaw. The key, known as the Coronet Key, weighs 3.5 pounds.
Queen Anne's throne and stool, for her coronation 1702. A giltwood throne chair, the back, arm pads and seats covered in early crimson fringed cut-velvet, the top rail carved with the supporters of England amongst foliage centred by a cartouche and flanked by sceptres, with the cypher of Queen Anne surmounted by a crown.
At the beginning of November 1874, Lord and Lady Randolph received an invitation for the St Andrew's Ball at Blenheim Palace. Lady Randolph was pregnant with their first child having married only 7 months before in Paris. The Churchills gratefully accepted and packed for a long weekend of riding, shooting, and of course the party on the night of 28th in the Palace Library.
Their first son, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, made an unexpected arrival in the above room at Blenheim Palace on November 30, 1874.
Before his cousin the 9th Duke had a son, Winston was, until his early 20s, in line to inherit the title and the Palace. History might have been very different if Winston Churchill had become the 10th Duke of Marlborough.
The Palace is filled with State Rooms that seem intent on battling one another in their grander.
These dresses on display in The Green Writing Room were used in the Bridgerton Netflix series.
The Triumph of the Duke of Marlborough ceiling painting in the Grand Salon.
Interpretation of Queen Victoria's Coronation Robes from the Victoria TV series.
Interpretations of Elizabeth Il's coronation dress, anointing gown, and supertunica—all created by award winning costume designer Michele Clapton and worn by Claire Foy in the Netflix series The Crown.
The amazing detail of the coronation dress.
Just one portion of the ornate ceiling of the Long Library.
Queen Amanda (Amanda Regina).
This is a replica coronation chair, of course. The original is one of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world. It has been the centerpiece of coronations for over 700 years, during which time it is placed in the center of Westminster Abbey, in front of the High Altar.
The Gothic-style armchair, known historically as St Edward's Chair or King Edward's Chair, once contained the coronation Stone of Destiny (or Stone of Scone). The Stone of Scone's removal from Westminster Abbey and return to Scotland is the subject of the 2008 film Stone of Destiny. The Stone has been relocated to the Perth (Scotland) City Hall; however, it is currently at Westminster Abbey for the upcoming coronation of Charles III.
Likewise, the original chair is normally in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, however, it is currently in Westminster Abbey awaiting the coronation of Charles III on May 6. We’re pretty sure that while on the triforium tour of Westminster Abbey, Debbie spotted the true coronation chair sitting in the triforium on the opposite side of Abbey.
The Crown Jewels were likewise removed when we toured the Tower of London.
Queen Deborah (Deborah Regina)
King Stephen in his Burger King crown (Stephen Rex)…who was a real king of England BTW…just sayin’!
At the far end of the Long Library sits an ornate organ below a grand ceiling.
Winston entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and became a cavalry officer in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars but almost from the beginning his mind was set on following his father into politics. To do this he needed fame and fortune.
Upon graduating and keen for action, he used his mother's influence to get himself posted to as many dangerous places as possible and then wrote about his experiences. He was shot at in Cuba in the War of Independence, fought on the Afghan border, survived a cavalry charge in the Sudan, and became a POW in South Africa. His vivid accounts of his capture and escape from the Boers were dramatized in the British press and when he arrived back a war hero, his status and reputation were cemented.
A diamond encrusted green malachtite cigar case with a presentation plaque to “Winston Churchill from the People of the Belgian Congo” on the interior together with four cigars presented to Winston by the King of Yugoslavia.
Winston Churchill's Despatch Box (that’s how they spell it)
“Two Churchills, two centuries apart, the architects of two great victories.”
As mentioned, there are interesting parallels between the Battle of Blenheim and the Second World War. Winston acknowledged he learned a great deal from studying the successes of his ancestor, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Winston was fond of expressions such as, “The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward,” and “Study history, study history.”
At the Battle of Blenheim the First Duke was fighting against Louis XIV's desire to spread French Roman Catholic authority. And so the War of the Spanish Succession was seen as the Battle for Europe.
In the Second World War Winston Churchill was fighting against Hitler's Anti-Semitism and his belief in Aryan supremacy. As such, the Second World War was seen as the Battle for the World.
Winston’s study provided him the strong belief that political alliances were necessary, and they were stronger when between friends.
He also placed strong value in the importance of gathering and sharing information between allies. Think of the code-breakers at Bletchley Park and Alan Turing and his Bombe machine, which broke the Nazi Enigma code.
Winston also believed there was a strategic advantage in equipment. The First Duke invented the Malbrouck cart which facilitated the transport of supplies and provisions. Winston believed in the importance of developing an air force and of building tanks. This was achieved during WWI, but significantly improved for WWII—and was key to Allied success.
The Winston breakfast table.
As Debbie pointed out, the chapel at the Palace is completely devoid of Christian iconography. Given the shameless self-adoration repeated throughout the Palace, is it truly surprising that the family lacks the humility necessary to recognize an authority greater than themselves?
The 2,000+ acre estate was designed by none other than Capability Brown, so the outside is every bit as spectacular as the Palace’s interior.
Sir Winston Churchill once said, "My most brilliant achievement was to persuade my wife to marry me..." and he did that here in the Temple of Diana on August 11, 1908.
During a visit to his cousin the 9th Duke, Winston and his beloved, Clementine Hozier, were caught in a downpour while out for a walk in the gardens and took shelter in this temple, where he asked for Clementine's hand in marriage. They were married little more than a month later, on September 12, 1908, at St Margaret's Church in Westminster.
Nathan took this great shot of the Grand Cascade.
The Grand Bridge was built by renowned architect and playwright Sir John Vanbrugh in 1708.
According to its building records, the bridge was originally designed to be a “habitable viaduct.” Below the bridge are 33 chambers and passageways, some containing original plasterwork and stairways. Although there is no evidence it was ever lived in, it includes a bathing place and a boat house, and some rooms have fireplaces and chimneys, and there are possible cooking ranges. There is even one large windowless chamber has been plastered and fitted with an arch as though for a theatre.
Sir John Vanbrugh had designed it to be “the finest bridge in Europe,” but it appeared out of context, as it spanned only a marshy brook—making it the butt of jokes by the popular 18th-century poet and satirist, Alexander Pope.
The famous landscape architect Capability Brown, who designed more than 170 gardens and parks during the 18th century, transformed Blenheim's grounds in the 1760s, making it one of the finest examples of the landscape garden movement. Brown recognized that Vanbrugh’s grandiose design needed to be more natural. Brown built two dams, which created a huge 40-acre lake and also which flooded the lower rooms of the bridge. Only during the recent droughts has the lake dropped low enough to expose many of the previously unexplored rooms.
Blenheim Palace's beautiful grounds were perfect for the scene showing Snape's worst memory from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The tree featured in J.K. Rowling's book was a beech tree, but in the film this magnificent Cedar of Lebanon played the part, where Harry accesses Snape's memory and sees a teenage Severus with Lilly being humiliated by Harry's father James.
St Martin's Church
A very short drive from Blenheim Palace is the village of Bladon, and St Martin’s Church, where Winston and Clementine Churchill are buried.
Surveying his resting place, Amanda and I were both struck with a profound sense of revery. Having long known of the man and his famous words, visiting the Churchill War Rooms in London seemed to simply reinforce his status as the right man for the time.
However, the exhibit in Blenheim Palace managed to instill in us a deeper respect for his singular uniqueness. His words were undoubtedly powerful and inspirational, but Winston Churchill had something more deep in his marrow. The strength of his mother, his military service, his sense of place in a powerful family, and his diligent attention to the military success of his distant grandfather—made him utterly unique.
He strategically formed alliances, actively harnessed the power of information, and recognized not only the threat Hilter posed but also that only a deception and an invasion on the scale of D-Day would be successful. Without discounting the millions of essential contributions made by so many, Winston Churchill was the only person capable to meeting Adolf Hitler head-on and our world would look very different today had not Winston Churchill been England’s Prime Minster in our darkest hour.
After Blenheim, we drove an hour south to Windsor Castle. The Castle is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so we couldn’t visit, but we had dinner at the Duchess of Cambridge pub just outside the castle walls.
After dinner we were walking to take a picture in front of the Castle when Amanda spotted a single dime on the ground. Keith was wishing Debbie and Nathan congratulations on a successful visit and a safe flight home.
In front of the Henry VIII gate.
At least they were able to say they saw Windsor Castle.
Debbie and Nathan spent the night at a hotel near the airport, so they had easy access to Heathrow for their flight in the morning. Back at our cottage in Bourton-on-the-Water, we watched their Airbus A350 depart Heathrow on Thursday morning.
As we post this at 8 pm in England, Debbie and Nathan are nearing the end of their long journey home.
