0:00:02 > 0:00:04- NEWSREEL:- Queen Elizabeth drives to her Coronation.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06At the Queen's Coronation in 1953,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09the aristocracy of the kingdom assembled
0:00:09 > 0:00:12and at the top of the pile were the dukes.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Excluding the royal dukes,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19titles given to the immediate family of monarchs,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22there were then 28 non-royal dukes.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26At the sacred moment that the Queen was crowned,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30they also were entitled to don their coronets.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34God save the Queen.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37God save the Queen. God save the Queen.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40And the trumpets sound.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43TRUMPET FANFARE
0:00:45 > 0:00:50Dukedoms are created by the monarch for reasons ranging from a grateful
0:00:50 > 0:00:54nation rewarding a major war leader to a king acknowledging
0:00:54 > 0:00:56his illegitimate son.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00The title then passing down the generations.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I'm Duke of Atholl, Marquis of Tullibardine,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Earl of Strathtay and Strathardle...
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Viscount Balquhidder, Balvenie and Gask.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Um, Lord Murray.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Um, Thane of Glentilt
0:01:15 > 0:01:18and...
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I think I've missed one out, but there are a lot them.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25This is the list of my titles.
0:01:25 > 0:01:31Duke of Montrose, Marquess of Montrose, Marquess of Graham...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33and Baron Graham of Belford.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36- You're all those?- Yeah.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40So, I'm the Duchess of Rutland, the 11th Duchess of Rutland
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and this is my home, Belvoir Castle.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47If I'd been born a boy, I would have been my father's heir
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and the 12th Duke of Leeds.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55- But you weren't?- But I wasn't.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02The last Dukedom to be created was by Queen Victoria in 1889
0:02:02 > 0:02:06and it is inconceivable that there will ever be any more.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08So, as they gradually become extinct,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12there are now only 24 non-royal dukes,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15what will become of those that remain?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Do they still have power and wealth?
0:02:19 > 0:02:23What is it to be a duke in the 21st Century?
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Dukedoms still own in excess of one million acres of Britain today.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43The classic image of a duke's stately pile is Blenheim Palace,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46home to the Dukes of Marlborough for over 300 years.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53The Dukedom was created in 1702 for John Churchill,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54a wily statesman and soldier,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57who won a series of battles against the French.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01His greatest was the Battle of Blenheim.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Until the Second World War,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Blenheim Palace continued to run pretty much unchanged.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Driving in today is someone who actually lived that
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Downton Abbey life.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19She was born Lady Rosemary Spencer-Churchill,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the daughter of the tenth Duke of Marlborough.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26No distant car park for her.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30When her father succeeded to the title,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Lady Rosemary was a lively five-year-old.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Right, shall we go along here?
0:03:35 > 0:03:38There were no pesky red ropes in those days.
0:03:38 > 0:03:43Yes, this I recollect very well because there used to be
0:03:43 > 0:03:47a piano here
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and we had to practice the piano.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55And there was a dagger under this picture of my grandfather,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58my grandmother and my father.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02The dagger was there so that, if there was a fire,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05the pictures could be cut out of their frames very quickly
0:04:05 > 0:04:07and thrown out of the window.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Of course, this was fascinating for a child.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Instead of playing the piano, I used to play with the dagger.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Oh, I think it's still there behind the chair.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I don't know if we're allowed to do this, but I think...
0:04:25 > 0:04:27There it is, you see.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29It's a huge knife.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It was just home, you know.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35You just happened to live here
0:04:35 > 0:04:38and you didn't think it was really very extraordinary.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43When you were a child, how many servants were there?
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Indoors there were 36, I think.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48All the footmen were very tall.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51My mother liked them to be six-foot tall.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55As the average height of a male in those days was about
0:04:55 > 0:04:595'3", they were quite difficult to come by,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02but they were all about six foot.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Why did she like them so tall?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Well, I mean, in a house like this you didn't want
0:05:06 > 0:05:09a lot of midgets walking about, did you?
0:05:09 > 0:05:13You know, they didn't sort of look right.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Everything's on a slant. I hate furniture on a slant.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21I don't know why people have to put it on the slant.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- Would you rearrange it?- Yes, I would.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26I just hate things on a slant.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Oh, these are the invitations to the Coronation.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35'In early 1953,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39'Lady Rosemary was selected to become a Maid of Honour to the Queen.'
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Presumably, your qualifications, Lady Rosemary, were
0:05:42 > 0:05:46not only beauty and height, but being the daughter of a duke?
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Yes, yes, I had a head start
0:05:48 > 0:05:52cos there weren't any other duke's daughters.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53There was a marquess.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58There was Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02but otherwise they were mostly earls, I think.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Way below you?- Way below, yes.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09I believe one or two people were rather cross
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and Cook told me, who shall be nameless,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17somebody was rather cross that her daughter hadn't been asked.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- NEWSREEL:- From the roaring of the multitude
0:06:19 > 0:06:23into the quiet solemnity of the great Abbey steps Her Majesty.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Ah, yes, there we are all going into the Abbey.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30I'm at the back on the right-hand side.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I've never seen this before.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36There I am on the left.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41There's the dukes.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45My father would have been there but I don't know quite where.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48- Did you not discuss it with your parents?- No, not at all.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- Did they say they saw you?- No.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59They obviously did because they would have been fairly up the top of
0:06:59 > 0:07:06pile, so to speak, but, no, I don't think we discussed it really at all.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Do you find that odd?
0:07:12 > 0:07:14No, I don't think one did find it odd.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17You didn't find it odd in those days cos you had
0:07:17 > 0:07:22lots of sort of very grand things that happened all the time.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26I never remember discussing it with my parents at all.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Here we are on the balcony. It was amazing.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35The others, I think, all went out around London afterwards,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38but I had to get home
0:07:38 > 0:07:43because my mother was roasting an ox in the park for Woodstock.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46There's my mother carving the ox.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I'm there, cutting up the meat.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03That world has, in some ways, disappeared.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Lady Rosemary's brother was duke for 42 years.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10His son succeeded to the title last year.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14But how are the other dukedoms faring?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Blair Castle is at the centre of a vast ducal estate
0:08:25 > 0:08:28of over 140,000 acres in the Scottish Highlands.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Assembling today is the only private army in Europe.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The Duke of Atholl was given the right to possess such a thing
0:08:46 > 0:08:49by Queen Victoria in 1844,
0:08:49 > 0:08:54and today the Atholl Highlanders regiment consists of around 100 men
0:08:54 > 0:08:58made up of locals associated in some way with the ducal estates.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Its commanding officer lives 6,000 miles away.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07My father actually had no intention
0:09:07 > 0:09:09of accepting the role at all.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11He was going to be a...
0:09:11 > 0:09:16He actually made official enquiries as to how he could get out of it
0:09:16 > 0:09:19and the person that he consulted at the Lord Lions said you can
0:09:19 > 0:09:22either commit a schedule one offence, or felony,
0:09:22 > 0:09:27and go to jail for the rest of your life, or die.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29You can't abdicate being a duke.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35- This is the archive. - Wow, so what is here?
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Well, this part at the top has the earliest documents.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42There's 40 trunks of land charters
0:09:42 > 0:09:45giving the duke title to his estate
0:09:45 > 0:09:48but the very oldest is in here.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52This one dates from 1180.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55The next one is from 1199.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58The main thing was to prove that you owned a bit of land
0:09:58 > 0:10:02so, without a charter from the Crown, you had no proof.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05- These are the originals?- Absolutely.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Of course.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Family history matters.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14When the ninth duke died,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16there was a very convoluted route to his successor,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20a young man who was his fourth cousin twice removed.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24We have a very simplified family tree here.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28So you come down straight from the third duke, fourth, five,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, but they have no male heirs,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35so you have to find the next male heir working your way back,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37so this was a brother of the fourth duke.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40You come down to this line of Georges
0:10:40 > 0:10:44until you get to the tenth duke here.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48The tenth duke had the perfect ducal image, as if from Central Casting.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52He was nearly six-and-a-half feet tall, talked in clipped sentences,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57ending each with that Victorian aristocratic tick, "What, what?"
0:10:57 > 0:11:00A bachelor, he died in 1996,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and the whole process of finding the next heir started again.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07And then to get to the present line of dukes, you don't
0:11:07 > 0:11:09have to go quite so far back.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Just to the great-grandfather of the tenth duke
0:11:12 > 0:11:16and his brother again, and through the male line to the present duke.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Your Grace, the Atholl Highlanders are formed up
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and ready for your inspection, sir.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Bruce Murray runs a little sign-making shop that he set up
0:11:25 > 0:11:29many years ago in an obscure provincial town in South Africa.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38In 2012, Bruce and his second wife Charmaine found themselves becoming
0:11:38 > 0:11:43the Duke and Duchess of Atholl, along with 12 subsidiary titles.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53Being the Duke, he is automatically the Colonel in Chief
0:11:53 > 0:11:55of the Atholl Highlanders.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57It's quite a responsibility.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02It's a very, very moving experience for me to parade for them.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06I said to Charmaine, the duchess, the other day that I'm
0:12:06 > 0:12:08so glad that I'm on my own there
0:12:08 > 0:12:12because if I had to turn around and actually have to talk to
0:12:12 > 0:12:14anybody else I wouldn't be capable of doing it.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17I've got a constant lump in my throat when I'm on parade.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23You know, I'm here because of an accident of birth and I didn't
0:12:23 > 0:12:27actually do anything to deserve this huge privilege that I have.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32All of this that happened is done for me, basically,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36and it's just a very, very overwhelming sensation
0:12:36 > 0:12:38that I get to feel that.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I haven't done anything to deserve it.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48The duke and duchess only see the family seat
0:12:48 > 0:12:52on their brief trip over from South Africa once a year.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55This is the entrance hall and it's a collection of firearms
0:12:55 > 0:12:57and weapons that the dukes have collected.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Just this morning we were wondering how many of these weapons
0:13:00 > 0:13:02have actually been used,
0:13:02 > 0:13:07and it's quite sinister, but it's a wonderful collection.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10The trouble with grand estates is that, if not well managed,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12they can run out of money.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16In the 1930s, the elderly and childless brothers,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20the eighth and the ninth dukes were facing ruin.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23But, luckily, their distant cousin, the heir to the title,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26was about to marry a woman with a very rich grandmother.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Her grandmother, old Lady Cowdray,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35realised that the estate was in financial problems
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and the whole thing would probably be sold, so old Lady Cowdray stepped
0:13:39 > 0:13:43in, paid off the bank debt, turned the whole thing into a company.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46She had the controlling shares. The deal was signed.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50She went to Paris for the weekend for a rest and dropped dead.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52My great-grandmother effectively bought the estate
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and her condition of buying it was that the duke
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and everybody continued to live here, but her advisors ran it
0:13:58 > 0:14:01and they took a more business-like approach
0:14:01 > 0:14:05and one aspect of that was opening the castle to visitors.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10So, by bringing in capital and a commercial approach,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14the rich old lady had ensured for her granddaughter that there
0:14:14 > 0:14:17would be a suitable estate along with the title.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20The title stays with the male line,
0:14:20 > 0:14:25but the tenth duke's half-sister Sarah is the trustee and she and
0:14:25 > 0:14:29her mother and her grandmother were the ones with the actual control.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34So the hereditary system does not mean that the males get the control.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38They might get the title, but, unless you're very bothered
0:14:38 > 0:14:42about the title, it's running the estate that's more important.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46'Sarah Troughton, the Head Trustee,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50'is the half-sister of the tenth Duke.'
0:14:50 > 0:14:54What do you think about the title only going through the male line?
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Um...huge relief.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02I don't want to be a duchess.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04- Really?- Yes.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06I don't.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09I think it's a nice ceremonial thing these days,
0:15:09 > 0:15:10but it's not something...
0:15:10 > 0:15:13I prefer to get on with the business side of things.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17Had you inherited the title in the past, you'd have lived in the castle.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Do you ever think about that?
0:15:20 > 0:15:23When I do think about that, the prospect of managing
0:15:23 > 0:15:26an enterprise like this absolutely appals me.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27So, actually,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30the way that it is now, I'm probably one of the luckiest dukes because I
0:15:30 > 0:15:34have this massive enterprise that's there to allow me to be a duke.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41Well, this is a picture staircase showing a lot of my ancestors.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It's lovely to have this family tree.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I can know more or less what they looked like.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- Do you know who any of them are?- No.
0:15:48 > 0:15:54If I look carefully I might see John, the first Marquess of Atholl,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57the chap in the very peculiar outfit.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02And this would be James, the second Duke of Atholl.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Do you see any resemblance when you look in the mirror?
0:16:06 > 0:16:09No, there's obviously a little bit of DNA in there somewhere,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12but I don't think I look like him.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16The Duke's sons, the Marquess of Tullibardine
0:16:16 > 0:16:20and Lord David Murray, are officers in the Atholl Highlanders.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24We are soldiers though in a real army, so in theory,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29we could gather the men and go to war if we wanted to.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32- Maybe not in this day and age. - I don't know how effective wed be!
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Do you regret you're not in a position to live here?
0:16:37 > 0:16:40It's a very difficult one to answer because obviously I'm African
0:16:40 > 0:16:43and always will be but, honestly, no.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46I think it's quite special that we can have the African
0:16:46 > 0:16:50side as well as the Scottish side, so we have the best of both worlds.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01The duke and his family play a symbolic role in all the rituals.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04The heir and the spare pull down their socks
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and get stuck in with the local fun.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09It's a bayonet.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16No longer a strictly military occasion,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19the duchess accompanies her husband.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28But, even at full speed, suitable respect is shown to the duke.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Back home, she's simply Charmaine,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42but here she's the duchess and does what duchesses do.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Is it fun handing out the prizes like that?
0:17:48 > 0:17:50It is fun and it's nice to know everybody.
0:17:50 > 0:17:51Are you able to enjoy it?
0:17:51 > 0:17:53We do. We love it.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55That's why we come here very year.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Yeah, we love it.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01I mean, I'm one of 24 people out of seven billion on the planet
0:18:01 > 0:18:05with this responsibility to be a duke
0:18:05 > 0:18:07and it's honourous.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09You can't be trained for it in my situation.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Obviously, if you're born and bred into it, it's different,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16but nobody can teach you how to be a duke.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22This new South African line of long-distant Dukes of Atholl
0:18:22 > 0:18:26came about because the dukedom can only go through male heirs.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32But when all male heirs run out, that is the end of the line.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41There are some books, a couple of books in here.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44So where does that leave Camilla Osborne,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49whose father was the Duke of Leeds, a dukedom now extinct?
0:18:49 > 0:18:55The other rather grander book, which has got the title on the cover,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and I don't know which one it was for.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01And that's the family book plate.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03There's the coronet.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08She lives in a new-build close in south-west London,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12but she still gets odd glimpses of the precedence at some dinner tables
0:19:12 > 0:19:15that her status, as daughter of a duke, can give her.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19If I went to a lunch at Christie's, for example,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24they are extremely aware because the spend their days looking up dukes
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and viscounts and everything else,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32so you will be put on the right of the Christie's Director.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I went to a lunch at Christie's and I was on the right
0:19:35 > 0:19:37and there was a woman who was on the left,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42who was visibly irritated because she was older, better looking,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46better dressed, more jewels than me,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49but she was on the left...
0:19:49 > 0:19:51And she was irritated.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54Did that ever so slightly please you?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Yes, of course it did.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Here, these pictures were taken by my father's father,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02who was the tenth duke.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06The bathroom pays homage to the boyhood of her father.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09There he is sitting in a sort of rather charmingly battered
0:20:09 > 0:20:13straw hat looking winsome and sad.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17And that is one with his mother.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20The Duchess had struggled to provide an heir.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24After four girls, finally she produced a boy.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27The arrival was celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30His title at birth was the Marquess of Carmarthen.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35The story of him being on a bus and the bus stopped
0:20:35 > 0:20:39and he apparently said, "Nanny, Nanny, why aren't we moving?"
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And she said, "Because there's a lot of traffic on the road,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46"you see, and we can't move, the bus can't move."
0:20:46 > 0:20:48And he went, "Well, they wouldn't do this
0:20:48 > 0:20:51"if they knew the little marquess was on board!"
0:20:53 > 0:20:58And I suppose he was known as the little marquess.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03The family seat was Hornby Castle in Yorkshire.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Within a couple of years of succeeding to the title in 1927,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11the new young duke put the castle up for sale.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14With cash in the bank, he drifted round Europe,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17ending up on the French Riviera.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21This is a picture of his wedding to the Serbian ballet dancer.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23He got married in Nice.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26There is the bride, who's looking pretty satisfied.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30My father, who's looking understandably apprehensive
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and nervous because there is his mother, who appears to be
0:21:33 > 0:21:36wearing her gardening clothes and certainly a gardening hat.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40She is looking as if she can not really believe her only son
0:21:40 > 0:21:44and heir is marrying the Serbian ballet dancer.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47The marriage to the Serbian ballerina ended
0:21:47 > 0:21:50when she went off with an American millionaire.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54The Duke remarried and they had a daughter, Camilla.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58To avoid heavy English taxes, they moved to Jersey.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01He was probably bored, bad-tempered,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03miserable at being made to live there.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06My mother was much younger and she met and fell in love with
0:22:06 > 0:22:09a young, good looking guards officer
0:22:09 > 0:22:11who was in the Coldstream Guards
0:22:11 > 0:22:14with the result that she left me and my father.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18My stepfather had to leave the army and apparently his commanding
0:22:18 > 0:22:23officer said, "Well, Lawrence, this is jolly sad, isn't it?
0:22:23 > 0:22:28"Chorus girls are one thing, but I'm afraid duchesses are quite another."
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Within minutes,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35a young woman had got her tabs on the newly-available duke.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36She was terribly tall.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40She was nearly six foot, so she was bloody frightening as well.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Why do you think she married your father?
0:22:42 > 0:22:44- Do you think the title?- Oh, yes.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47I think it had an enormous amount to do with it,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51but, looking back, she wanted to be a duchess.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53What do you think about your resemblance to him?
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Oh, I love looking like him. I do, yes.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Well, it's such a link, isn't it?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03My stepmother, in her less-than-generous moments,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06said it was a great shame that I looked so like him.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10I was 12 when he died.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13I was at boarding school and they summoned me back,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16but I wasn't allowed to say goodbye to him.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18I didn't see him before he died.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21There was a funeral, which I wasn't taken to
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and she knew, under the terms of the trust, that she
0:23:24 > 0:23:31couldn't inherit anything other than his personal possessions
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and she was obsessive about money.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36But I remember her going on and on to her friend
0:23:36 > 0:23:37and this friend saying,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39"Oh, Caroline, I do think perhaps you could stop now
0:23:39 > 0:23:43"because it's really not very nice for Camilla to listen to all this."
0:23:43 > 0:23:47"Oh, well, SHE'LL be all right because SHE'S got the money!"
0:23:47 > 0:23:50And I was, what, 13 or something at the time?
0:23:52 > 0:23:57On her father's death, the title went to a distant cousin living in Rome -
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Sir D'Arcy Osborne, a former British ambassador to the Vatican.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04He was in his 70s and a bachelor and,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07when he died just six months later,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09the Dukedom of Leeds became extinct.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14My father, if he'd still had the place in Yorkshire,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18he'd have been like Bedford or Devonshire,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21or those that have got a purpose, which is what I'm trying to say.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23I think it gives you a purpose
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and I think maybe that's why he wasn't a happy man
0:24:27 > 0:24:31because he had absolutely no purpose in his life...
0:24:33 > 0:24:37..except getting through the day
0:24:37 > 0:24:41by going to the cinema or going to the tailor,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45or having the third Pernod.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47That was his life actually.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54When Hornby was sold, the Coronation robes were under a bed,
0:24:54 > 0:24:56so they were sold,
0:24:56 > 0:25:00but what remains are the three coronets.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07The Ducal Coronet, the Dutchess' Coronet and Marquess' Coronet.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09And that, you see, there was,
0:25:09 > 0:25:15apparently you kept your sandwiches in there during the coronation.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18You know, you were there for hours and hours and hours,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20so you would just have that on your, on your head.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Actually, that feels quite comfortable.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Rather suits you, I have to say!
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I appreciate, enormously, what I've got.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36But I think maybe, like my father, if I hadn't had it I would have had a happier life,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38or a more fulfilled one.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42I mean, I've...when you read death announcements,
0:25:42 > 0:25:44don't you, you read them and it says,
0:25:44 > 0:25:51"After a life well lived" or "after a fulfilled life" and sometimes in my more gloomy moments I think,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53"Yes, I wouldn't say that."
0:25:53 > 0:25:56- Really?- Not that I've been unhappy,
0:25:56 > 0:25:57but I just feel I've had
0:25:57 > 0:26:01sort of the same slightly aimless life as my father did...
0:26:01 > 0:26:03for different reasons.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16The Dukedom of Leeds had been created for a crafty Yorkshire politician,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20who had helped bring William and Mary to the throne in 1689.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26The Dukedom of St Albans was created for less elevated reasons.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Simply, for the bastard son of King Charles II
0:26:30 > 0:26:32and a celebrated actress, Nell Gwyn.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40The family seat for many years was Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire,
0:26:40 > 0:26:41but that is long gone.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46The 14th Duke of St Albans and his duchess live in a terraced house
0:26:46 > 0:26:49in a quiet street in central London.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Um...well here's the tenth Duke
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and he's the same chap as that.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And he's the good duke, the tenth Duke.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Was the last person to make a speech in the House Of Lords until I did.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- Oh, really?- 127 years later.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12And that is our coronet.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15- Do you still have the coronet? - Yes, male and female.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17And the robes, we have the coronation robes.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20- Oh, really, where are they? - Up in the attic.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23We'll talk about those later!
0:27:23 > 0:27:25LAUGHTER
0:27:25 > 0:27:29The coronets, aren't they in your study?
0:27:29 > 0:27:31- Are they?- Yes.- Oh, well.- Yeah.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36- That'll be, that'll be, that'll be your one.- I think that is, actually
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It's the red one because it's the original box
0:27:39 > 0:27:41and it's very, very fragile.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44Ah, now this is Murray's one.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46I think they are rather lovely.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48That's Murray's. You hold yours, Murray,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51and I'll just get out my one...
0:27:51 > 0:27:54which I think is just so pretty!
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Those are the original pins, which would be, say, 1680?
0:27:58 > 0:28:02So you see those? That's what's so brilliantly clever.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Those are the pins you would put in on in your hair,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09and that would keep - which the Queen obviously does.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12So what I'd do is, I'd do that.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13Second...
0:28:13 > 0:28:17And I'm pressing it into my skull.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And I do that and then...
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I'm pressing it in like that and, of course, that is amazing
0:28:23 > 0:28:26because that's it. Look.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30- We have had no reason...- Never. - ..never, ever to wear it
0:28:30 > 0:28:34any more than we have had any reason to wear the robes.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36And actually, in fact, the...
0:28:36 > 0:28:41- I wore the robes for the portrait. - For the portrait, right.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43And how should one address you?
0:28:43 > 0:28:47- Well, there... That's quite... - Your Grace.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49It should be Your Grace. Quite a, a few people do,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52quite a few of the restaurants call me Your Grace,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54quite a few.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58But then, on the other hand, you also get people that, that don't.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03And so that's... We're very, totally relaxed, actually.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06But do you quite like it?
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Well I, I, to be honest with you, I do actually like formality,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14but I've always liked formality regardless.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17I don't like Christian names, for instance, terribly.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21So it wouldn't suit me to be... I don't like being called Gillian,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24actually, particularly by people I don't know.
0:29:24 > 0:29:25Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29- But that's only just me, really! - So what should I call you?
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Well, you can call me Gillian if you like!
0:29:32 > 0:29:33LAUGHTER
0:29:33 > 0:29:36- That's very generous!- No, not at all!
0:29:36 > 0:29:38But if, on my first meeting you, what should I have called you?
0:29:38 > 0:29:41What did I call you? I think I avoided it.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44I think you avoided it, which I think is a very sensible thing to do.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48I think I often avoid things I don't want to get involved with
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and then I don't hurt anybody's feelings or, or,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54be on any, any problems about it.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56So I think I would have done the same.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59So, for example, when you're booking an aeroplane ticket...
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Oh, that's an issue. As they say, they can't put in Duke Of, Duchess Of, because it won't fit in
0:30:03 > 0:30:06to their computers, which is what we're always being told,
0:30:06 > 0:30:11so we go under Mr and Mrs St Albans.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Fine, we don't mind. Because actually,
0:30:14 > 0:30:19we're not the kind that would want to necessarily
0:30:19 > 0:30:23throw in a title just because we want a better seat or whatever.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25You know, some people do that, but we don't.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28But anyway, there you go. Terribly pretty, isn't it?
0:30:28 > 0:30:32- Very, very.- Yeah.- Now, I'm afraid, having mentioned your robes,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34we have to see the robes.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Where are they? Are they next door?
0:30:36 > 0:30:38- Oh, well.- In the attic. - In the attic?
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- That really is an ordeal.- Is it? - Well, I'll take, no, no, no,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43you're not going into the attic.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48That's banned because that's where everything but the kitchen sink is.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51- For health and safety, too. - For health and safety.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53- Luth?- Hi.- We need you, Luth.- OK.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56If you would like to come up with me, Luth.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58- (I'm doing ironing.) - I know. Well, don't worry.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02We can just put the ironing board to the side, Luth, for a second.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04- Sorry!- No, that doesn't matter.
0:31:04 > 0:31:05No, no, don't worry.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07We'll just take that down for a minute.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10This would be easier in here, actually.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14- Can we let Luth through? Yeah.- Yeah. - Ah, that's easier, yeah.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18It really is because Murray's is...
0:31:19 > 0:31:24..terribly heavy and in his, well, look, you see?
0:31:24 > 0:31:28In his case, very, very frail.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32- Thatch.- It seems to be moulting a little bit.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34It is, it's moulted tremendously.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37As long as the moths haven't got in it.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42The ermine is looking very unhappy.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47- It is rather, isn't it? - Fortunately this is OK, this one.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50It's so, it is beautifully made.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53- That's lace from...- 16-whatever.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55So this is the original.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- Look.- Shall I take it now? - Yeah, why don't you?
0:31:58 > 0:32:01You take it, Michael, and you can...
0:32:03 > 0:32:08Look, I think that is... That is what is really lovely, I think.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Was there a bit of ermine shawl under that...?
0:32:11 > 0:32:12That, yes, that.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15This, it's a spare.
0:32:15 > 0:32:21It's... No, it isn't, it clips on... to here, actually. Look, Murray.
0:32:21 > 0:32:22In fact...
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Well done, you, for spotting that.
0:32:26 > 0:32:27- We'll have it like that... - That's nice.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30..because I think that's the ideal thing to do.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Look at it, it's simply beautiful.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36How did you meet Murray and what was your attitude to his title?
0:32:36 > 0:32:41Oh, well, first of all, I met Murray at a dinner party.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44As far as his title went,
0:32:44 > 0:32:48I think it's a charming title, actually. I think it's a particularly pretty one.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52But actually, my daughter's godfather
0:32:52 > 0:32:55was the Duke Of Manchester
0:32:55 > 0:32:58and I have known quite a few, so it wasn't as if
0:32:58 > 0:33:00it really was at all, a sort of,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03anything out of the ordinary, as it were.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08You're definitely out of the ordinary, you're very, very special,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11but not the title, particularly.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12What have we got here?
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Well, we have me here, in my coronation robes,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17and a falcon.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21- Cor, a live falcon? - No, stuffed, I'm afraid.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24I'm the hereditary Grand Falconer of England.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Hereditary Grant Falconer? What does that mean?
0:33:26 > 0:33:29It means nothing now, it used to have a salary of £1,000 a year.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32- Really?- Yes, at one time. Up to a few years ago,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36one used to get a quarter of a dear twice a year...
0:33:36 > 0:33:42from Richmond Park, but that was stopped by Tony Blair.
0:33:43 > 0:33:44On the grounds of economy.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48- What did you think of that? - It was a pretty poor show.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52The Archbishop of Canterbury used to get it as well, and one or two other people.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Murray, did your ancestors leave you a vast,
0:33:55 > 0:33:57stately mansion and huge wealth?
0:33:57 > 0:33:59No...
0:33:59 > 0:34:00They didn't...
0:34:00 > 0:34:02Unfortunately!
0:34:04 > 0:34:09- So can I ask, what you...? Have you worked for a living?- Yes, I have.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- Doing what? - I am a chartered accountant.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16This has got a...
0:34:16 > 0:34:19'The Duke's son and heir is Charles Beauclerk,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22'who used to use his courtesy title of the Earl of Burford,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24'but now chooses not to.'
0:34:24 > 0:34:26That is one of the Dukes.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28He is a teacher and part-time historian,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32and takes rather more interest than his dad in the family's history.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38That's the ninth as a boy, so obviously the father of the tenth.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41I mean, do you feel a connection to these ancestors?
0:34:43 > 0:34:46- Not particularly, really. I don't. - Really?
0:34:46 > 0:34:48But I'm probably exceptional in that.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52- I think Charles does more, don't you? - I'm sure he does.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57To some of them, yes. Obviously some are obscure and just pictures
0:34:57 > 0:34:59and so on, and they don't really come alive in your mind.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02Um, others do, and I think...
0:35:02 > 0:35:07obviously we're fortunate in being aware of the story of our family
0:35:07 > 0:35:09in a way that a lot of people aren't,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14and therefore I think you can choose the way in which you become part of that story.
0:35:14 > 0:35:15We are all actors in it.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20One day Charles will be the Duke of St Albans.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24It is often thought that any man in possession of a grand title
0:35:24 > 0:35:27must not be in want of a large stately,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30but that is no longer the case for this Dukedom.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Charles, though, is fascinated by Bestwood Lodge,
0:35:34 > 0:35:37the pile that in other circumstances he might have inherited.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It is now a Best Western hotel.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Yes, this is Bestwood Lodge,
0:35:44 > 0:35:49which was built between 1862 and 1865 by the 10th Duke of St Albans.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54There is a lot of fancy to it. You have the figures of Robin Hood and his Merry Men over the porch there.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It was described at the time as "acrobatic gothic",
0:35:57 > 0:35:59which I think is a pretty good description.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Charles and his girlfriend Sarah are hoping to put on plays here...
0:36:06 > 0:36:10..and have been delving into its traumatic family history.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12The 10th Duke, a talented entrepreneur,
0:36:12 > 0:36:19made a fortune and with three sons he thought he'd set up the family for generations to come.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21But within months of his death,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23it all started to unravel.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28His son and heir, Burford, as he was called,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30three months after he succeeded,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34he was certified, confined to an asylum is Sussex, and that's where
0:36:34 > 0:36:37he spent the last 36 years of his life.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41Then the youngest brother, Lord William Beauclerk,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44also proved mad and, just after leaving Eton,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46he was sent to the priory, Roehampton.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51He was there for 52 years, completely forgotten by everyone.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53And the middle brother, Obbie, who became the 12th Duke,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57was a restless soul who wandered round the world
0:36:57 > 0:36:59and I think he became quite an embittered man.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02And that's what fascinates me.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Why, what created this mental illness? Was it partly societal?
0:37:06 > 0:37:10Were they sensitive souls who couldn't
0:37:10 > 0:37:13harness themselves to the whole imperial design?
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Or was it something more personal, something in the way they'd been brought up?
0:37:17 > 0:37:21It's like a kind of haunting, passed down from generation to generation,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25so I think the key is to become conscious of them
0:37:25 > 0:37:29and then that demon is purged for future generations.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33One of the reasons I gave up the title in the first place is because
0:37:33 > 0:37:38people's perceptions of you can actually create a sort of straight jacket.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41It often attracts people who just want to know you because they are
0:37:41 > 0:37:45snobs and therefore you can fall into the wrong company very easily.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I think much better just to be Mr Beauclerk,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51go about your business and...
0:37:51 > 0:37:54But yes, if I felt I could use it in a...
0:37:54 > 0:37:58a powerful and creative fashion then I would.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03If Charles doesn't take up the title,
0:38:03 > 0:38:06this might be the last practical incarnation of it.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22The Dukedom of Rutland was created as the result of a very pushy mother
0:38:22 > 0:38:28who demanded of Queen Anne that her late husband's military heroism be rewarded,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30making her son-in-law a Duke.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34This tradition of strong women has continued.
0:38:41 > 0:38:47I remember very well the feeling of driving up here to Belvoir Castle
0:38:47 > 0:38:50in my rather beaten up old Fiat,
0:38:50 > 0:38:54and having to stop and take my breath back for a moment,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57and seeing this extraordinary castle
0:38:57 > 0:39:01and thinking, "Phew, I'm going to stay there!"
0:39:02 > 0:39:06The building itself is so imposing it takes people's breath away.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Emma Watkins was a farmer's daughter from Wales
0:39:15 > 0:39:17when she met the then Marquess of Granby,
0:39:17 > 0:39:22heir to Duke of Rutland, owner of Belvoir Castle, at a dinner party.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28Within a couple of years they married and she became the marchioness.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33When her father-in-law died her title changed.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36The upgrade to Duchess, how much of a difference did that make?
0:39:36 > 0:39:40To me? Um, well, it makes a difference to others
0:39:40 > 0:39:44because they perceive you as a duchess and, suddenly,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48you know... To many people, bearing in mind there are so few of us in the country,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51it is all quite... "Oh, a duchess!"
0:39:51 > 0:39:55You know, she might be sitting up in an ivory tower with
0:39:55 > 0:39:59a sort of crown on, and quite old and quite scary.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05We are in our private rooms here and these are the rooms that
0:40:05 > 0:40:08are not open to the public 24-7,
0:40:08 > 0:40:13and so they are areas where we can have some space.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16And out here is our private terrace.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23It is, I suppose it is our back garden in a sense.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26And as you can see, we've got our swings
0:40:26 > 0:40:29and our dog kennel, our five dogs.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33In marrying Emma, the Duke found someone with whom to start a family,
0:40:33 > 0:40:38who also turned out to be a determined and energetic estate manager.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42But three years ago the marriage ran into difficulties.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45With over 300 rooms at their disposal,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48they came up with a relatively simple solution.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53He lives in one tower and delves into the family archives,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57she lives in another tower and, as chief executive,
0:40:57 > 0:40:58runs the place.
0:40:58 > 0:40:59Morning!
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Morning, everyone.
0:41:01 > 0:41:057:30am, and the senior staff assemble for Her Grace's weekly meeting.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07- Debbie?- Good morning, Your Grace.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11We've got...four sign-ups in the next two weeks.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14It's a bit like when the King dies, long live the King.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17When the Duke dies, long live the Duke.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21And there was an amazing moment that will remain with me forever,
0:41:21 > 0:41:26when my mother-in-law, there was a large, black tin of keys,
0:41:26 > 0:41:28enormous great keys,
0:41:28 > 0:41:31and she handed me the box and said, "Good luck."
0:41:31 > 0:41:34But, actually, what we've got to do is address where it fell down.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38'And so I spent the week and there wasn't one room'
0:41:38 > 0:41:40that I hadn't managed to get into,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45so...you have to kind of know what it is that you're taking over.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49I'm now going up on to the roof.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52I'm meeting our architect.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57And, in a moment, you're going to see why it's called Belvoir.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Beautiful castle. Beautiful view.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04They were Norman-French, the Manners family,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07and they couldn't really pronounce "Beaver,"
0:42:07 > 0:42:11so they called it Belvoir because of the beautiful view.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Let's go and see what my architect has done here.
0:42:16 > 0:42:17Peter?
0:42:19 > 0:42:20Oh!
0:42:22 > 0:42:23I'm on a different roof to you!
0:42:23 > 0:42:27So how do I get out to that one?
0:42:27 > 0:42:29- You come up the spiral stair, obviously...- Yeah.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31..across and through, middle king's room.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33Middle king's room. I'll be with you in two minutes.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Pop down here and find the right roof!
0:42:40 > 0:42:41Hi, Peter!
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- Where it bubbles...- That's right.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46That's all the corrosion building up underneath.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49So what problems does that create underneath?
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- It just makes the lead thin.- Right.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55- How old is this lead?- It's as old as the building,
0:42:55 > 0:42:56getting on for 200 years.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00There's a little mark here, 1883?
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- Wow.- You can see what it is, a little man riding a penny farthing. - Yeah.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09So what sort of price are we talking about to have this re-leaded?
0:43:09 > 0:43:11It would use up an entire year's budget.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13So about 100,000.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19And that's just one section of the two acres of roof.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27Looking after the future extends beyond mere buildings, of course.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30The duchess took her duties seriously and,
0:43:30 > 0:43:34after three daughters, produced two sons.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Well, obviously it's very important that you have a boy
0:43:38 > 0:43:40because boys carry the title.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43And everything is entailed here at Belvoir,
0:43:43 > 0:43:45so everything goes with the title.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50There is definitely a feeling that I better have this boy!
0:43:50 > 0:43:54The one that struggled most probably was darling Hugo,
0:43:54 > 0:43:56who, at four and a half, said,
0:43:56 > 0:43:59"Mum, when Charles dies, do I become the Duke?"
0:43:59 > 0:44:03I said, "Charles isn't going to die and you will never be the Duke."
0:44:03 > 0:44:05But he sort of gets it now.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10I think, as long as you're very, very clear with children
0:44:10 > 0:44:13from the outset about how it works,
0:44:13 > 0:44:14there's no confusion.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18In the magnificent Elizabeth Saloon,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21there's a photoshoot for Country And Townhouse magazine.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24Because it's black, you won't notice...
0:44:24 > 0:44:26The bulges.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30The 21st century duchess is conscious of the need to market the place.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32And with its Midlands location,
0:44:32 > 0:44:37she especially targets the lucrative Asian wedding business.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41There is, after all, a certain Bollywood, over-the-top quality to the decor.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Look across, out the window.
0:44:43 > 0:44:48Today, selling it as a family home, are all the female members.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49You look gorgeous!
0:44:49 > 0:44:54As daughters of the Duke, they take the courtesy title of Lady, along with the family name.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Lady Violet,
0:44:56 > 0:44:57Lady Alice
0:44:57 > 0:45:00and Lady Eliza Manners.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04Do you ever think, as the oldest, about not being able to inherit?
0:45:04 > 0:45:07I wouldn't want to break tradition, actually.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09I think, for me, personally...
0:45:09 > 0:45:12I think in years to come, I think it will be welcomed, and I think
0:45:12 > 0:45:16it should happen, that the eldest should be allowed to inherit.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18But I'm quite happy that it hasn't changed, for me.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20My brother, I think, he's got broad shoulders
0:45:20 > 0:45:22and he'll be able to carry the weight properly, I think.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24So, genuinely, no tinge of...?
0:45:24 > 0:45:27No tinge, not at all. I mean, I really...
0:45:27 > 0:45:29I have been asked a lot and I just...
0:45:29 > 0:45:33I really, really am just so lucky to have been able to enjoy it.
0:45:33 > 0:45:34THEY TALK
0:45:35 > 0:45:39Did you play in this room when you were a kid?
0:45:39 > 0:45:41- Yeah, definitely. This was our... - Yeah.- This was our...
0:45:41 > 0:45:44The Halloween party special, this room was for.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46Yeah, Halloween parties. We...
0:45:46 > 0:45:49And we came up with the most amazing game called Runner.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52So it was literally... There was no structure to it, you would just
0:45:52 > 0:45:54chase each other around until you caught each other
0:45:54 > 0:45:56- or found each other... - THEY LAUGH
0:45:56 > 0:45:58..or someone got really lost.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00For inheritance tax reasons,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03the castle has to be open for a certain number of days.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06We renegotiated with the Government,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10we looked at reducing our days that we're open to the public.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15I took the business right back to its roots, really.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19The duchess got the open visitor days down to around 30 a year
0:46:19 > 0:46:23and replaced them with high income, upmarket shooting parties.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26I looked at bringing people in to come and shoot here
0:46:26 > 0:46:29from all over the world, to come and stay in the castle,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31to be waited on and looked after,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34as they had been 200 years ago.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37In the 15 years since she took over,
0:46:37 > 0:46:41the duchess has transformed the 16,000-acre estate.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45She got rid of large numbers of employees and reordered priorities.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51I think, Nick, your family have been here for how many generations?
0:46:51 > 0:46:52Hundreds of years.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55I mean, it's the best part of 50 years I've been on this estate,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58on and off, and I've just seen a total change.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00What happened to it?
0:47:00 > 0:47:02- Well...- I made them all redundant! - SHE LAUGHS
0:47:02 > 0:47:03Well, I don't know about that.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08Well, I did. It wasn't that anyone was wrong, it was just,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11for me, it was just that people became accustomed
0:47:11 > 0:47:15to it the way it was and...
0:47:15 > 0:47:16So what did you do?
0:47:16 > 0:47:19So I made a lot of people redundant.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23It's brought this place back to being a properly run estate.
0:47:23 > 0:47:24I bet it was controversial.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Yeah, it was controversial. Yeah, definitely.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28But change is going to be controversial.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46The old seat of power for the aristocracy was the House of Lords.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51Tony Blair's government managed to abolish all but 92 hereditary peers.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54Amongst them, there are only three dukes.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58The Duke of Montrose is a former Conservative Shadow Minister
0:47:58 > 0:48:00for Scotland in the Lords.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07I'm going down the corridor towards the House of Commons,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10where the pictures are all to do with the time of the Civil War
0:48:10 > 0:48:16and this picture here is a picture of my ancestor's execution,
0:48:16 > 0:48:18which took place in 1650.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23The Duke's most famous ancestor, the first Marquess of Montrose,
0:48:23 > 0:48:25led the army for Scotland
0:48:25 > 0:48:29and then switched allegiance to the English throne.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34But he was finally defeated and captured and taken to Edinburgh,
0:48:34 > 0:48:38where he was hung for three hours off a gibbet
0:48:38 > 0:48:42and then cut down and dismembered, and his limbs sent and hung
0:48:42 > 0:48:45on the gates of all the main cities of Scotland.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51I mean, our family has been involved in most of the events that have
0:48:51 > 0:48:55defined Scotland and its battles with England, one way or another.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58We then go on to the fourth marquess,
0:48:58 > 0:49:03who, as president of the Council, he supervised the signing
0:49:03 > 0:49:07of the Act of Union and that's his picture there.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11As he had been instrumental in getting Scotland to join with England
0:49:11 > 0:49:16in the Act of Union, a grateful king created for him a dukedom
0:49:16 > 0:49:20and the fourth marquess became the first Duke of Montrose.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24And then you get my grandfather...
0:49:25 > 0:49:27..who's the sixth duke.
0:49:27 > 0:49:33He joined in in the early stages of the Scottish National Party,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37when what they were looking for is pretty much what we've got now,
0:49:37 > 0:49:41which is a devolved assembly within Scotland.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44As well as his duties in the House of Lords,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47the duke is a working hill farmer.
0:49:48 > 0:49:49What have you seen?
0:49:49 > 0:49:51- A sheep on its back. - SHEEP BLEAT
0:49:51 > 0:49:52I hope it's not dead.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55It's still heavy in lamb.
0:49:55 > 0:49:56SHEEP BLEAT
0:50:00 > 0:50:02HE PANTS
0:50:07 > 0:50:09Well, that was well-caught.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12She'll be better off that way round.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Do you sometimes get the sort of sycophancy?
0:50:16 > 0:50:19It would be very rare, I would say.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Erm, it might be different in some areas...
0:50:24 > 0:50:28..where there are still people who can afford to be very grand,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32but I think sycophancy mainly comes to people who are very rich.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38When they were very rich, their stately pile was
0:50:38 > 0:50:42built in the Victorian era by his great-great-grandfather.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47They had the idea that life would go on in a very grand style,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49but, of course, it belonged to a lifestyle,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53which was about to just vanish away.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56Today, Montrose lives in a more modest 1930s house,
0:50:56 > 0:51:00stuffed with mementos of the family's thousand-year history.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05These are the socks and the hat he wore at his execution.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09And then this cloth here was supposed to be
0:51:09 > 0:51:11where his heart was wrapped.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16'As with so many bits of history, one is charged with'
0:51:16 > 0:51:18keeping something alive
0:51:18 > 0:51:21for other people to appreciate and understand.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26BIG BEN TOLLS
0:51:31 > 0:51:34- So it's... - Do you want me to be your valet?
0:51:34 > 0:51:36- Er...it's... - HE LAUGHS
0:51:36 > 0:51:39These are my robes for the opening ceremony of Parliament.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Dukes are allowed to have four bands of ermine
0:51:44 > 0:51:49that go right around the body, like that.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52If I was an earl, I would have three bars
0:51:52 > 0:51:56and, if I were just a baron, I would have two bars.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- Yeah.- At some point, there will be a new monarch. Will you attend?
0:51:59 > 0:52:02One would have to wait to be invited. I don't know that...
0:52:03 > 0:52:05..what the protocol will be
0:52:05 > 0:52:09by the time there is a successor to the Queen.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13We may find that dukes are no longer in the House of Lords at all
0:52:13 > 0:52:16by that time and probably not considered to be
0:52:16 > 0:52:18very important people.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26As the last vestiges of their constitutional power fade,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29how will dukedoms with a real sense of grandeur
0:52:29 > 0:52:31survive in the centuries to come?
0:52:37 > 0:52:42This year, Blenheim Palace will have 700,000 paying visitors
0:52:42 > 0:52:45tramping through its very grand doors.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49James, formerly the Marquess of Blandford,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53only recently became the 12th Duke of Marlborough.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56He had a sticky time in his early life.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58A publicly documented drug addiction
0:52:58 > 0:53:01and a passion for fast cars hardly prepared him
0:53:01 > 0:53:05for the now professional business of running such a vast estate.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08Today, he will open a vintage car event.
0:53:08 > 0:53:09THEY TALK
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Hey, Caspar, come on!
0:53:11 > 0:53:14- How are you?- That's Andrew, do you know what he does?
0:53:14 > 0:53:16He organises the whole event.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Which one would you drive?
0:53:18 > 0:53:21- Your daddy drove that about a month ago...- Yeah!
0:53:21 > 0:53:22..all the way around the palace grounds.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25- Well done.- Sir, it's a pleasure, you allowing us into your home,
0:53:25 > 0:53:26- it really is.- Don't be silly!
0:53:26 > 0:53:30It's an honour having you here, it really is.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33The Duke's sister is Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill.
0:53:33 > 0:53:34- Hello.- Ah, hello.
0:53:34 > 0:53:35Their father was the last duke
0:53:35 > 0:53:37to live full-time in the private quarters.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41So this is the butler's pantry. This is, again, on the private side.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43You'll get your bearings in a minute,
0:53:43 > 0:53:45but, if you went through that door,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48you would end up on the public side.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50So what's here? What are we looking at?
0:53:50 > 0:53:52This is our bar.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55You know, when we have guests, this is where either they
0:53:55 > 0:53:59help themselves to drink or the butler helps them to drinks.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Erm...faux books. In here, there's a...
0:54:02 > 0:54:04behind-the-scenes.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08The cupboards. And then this, this is a sort of service staircase,
0:54:08 > 0:54:09which goes all the way up.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11- Can we just have a peek? - You definitely can. You can.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Not very interesting, but... Erm...
0:54:16 > 0:54:20So that goes down to the basement level and the lower ground,
0:54:20 > 0:54:22and then, actually, if you go all the way up,
0:54:22 > 0:54:24you can get into one of the towers.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Which, of course, is where we spent a lot of time as children,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30because it was much more fun going to all the places
0:54:30 > 0:54:31you weren't supposed to be.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Well, this is the family dining room.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37As you see at the moment, the table is set for eight people.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39If it's just en famille,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42we actually have a round table or just a small table
0:54:42 > 0:54:44in the bow part of the window here.
0:54:46 > 0:54:47The family sitting room.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50So it's really our telly room, too.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52It's actually, as you can see, very cosy,
0:54:52 > 0:54:56although probably fairly large proportions.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58As early as the late 19th century,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02the financing of an estate like this became a huge issue.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06In the case of Marlborough, there was then a relatively simple solution.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10The ninth duke was very much told
0:55:10 > 0:55:12- he had to... - SHE LAUGHS
0:55:12 > 0:55:13..marry an American heiress.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15It was, as you know, very much an arranged marriage
0:55:15 > 0:55:18between Consuelo Vanderbilt, who came with a large dowry,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21and it's really thanks to her and the Vanderbilt money
0:55:21 > 0:55:25that the house is in such good shape today.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28He sort of, I think, bit the bullet and said, "Right, I've got to...
0:55:28 > 0:55:31"not necessarily marry for love, but for the love of Blenheim."
0:55:31 > 0:55:33And they duly got married, produced the heir and the spare,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36as she always referred to her two sons
0:55:36 > 0:55:39and, you know, it wasn't a particularly happy marriage.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42In a funny way, it's probably easier today to make it work
0:55:42 > 0:55:43than it would have been in the past.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46- Why?- Because it's run like a business,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48so we have a lot more opportunities, you know, to...
0:55:50 > 0:55:54..make money in order to keep the upkeep of the house.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58Whereas before, you were perhaps relying just on
0:55:58 > 0:56:01farming or, you know, investments.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03- Now, it's actually... - Or American millionairesses?
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Or American... Exactly, yes.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Well, we might have another one of those, you never know.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11It might be China or somewhere next time.
0:56:11 > 0:56:12James has slotted into the role.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15Things are, really, carrying on just as normal.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19My lords, ladies and gentlemen, it's my very great pleasure,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23on behalf of my wife and my family, to welcome you all here today
0:56:23 > 0:56:27for this inaugural event at Blenheim.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30The Duke presents the public face of Blenheim,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33now owned by a trust and run by a professional team.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37Well, I was very fortunate to be appointed,
0:56:37 > 0:56:39in early 2003, as the first Chief Executive of Blenheim.
0:56:39 > 0:56:40And that was, really,
0:56:40 > 0:56:44the duke at the time and the trustees deciding that this
0:56:44 > 0:56:46was the time to really commercialise the business
0:56:46 > 0:56:48and to really get to grips with everything Blenheim had to offer
0:56:48 > 0:56:50and really drive the business forward.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52How does it work hierarchically?
0:56:52 > 0:56:54Who's in charge?
0:56:54 > 0:56:56Well, obviously, the Duke is resident in the palace,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59it's very much the home of the duke, home of the dukes of Marlborough,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01currently the 12th Duke of Marlborough.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04I report into a board of trustees, who work very closely with
0:57:04 > 0:57:08the duke, so, really, above the duke and above me is a board of trustees.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11My operation as director!
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Have you ever seen the palace from above?
0:57:13 > 0:57:16Only when I went up and regilded the balls on the top.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Did you? HE LAUGHS
0:57:18 > 0:57:20Was that fun?
0:57:20 > 0:57:21- Yeah, hard work. - LAUGHTER
0:57:21 > 0:57:24- Is it gold?- Yeah, gold leaf.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27Well, if you put gold paint, it comes off every year.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34When did you do that? Were you the duke or was it before?
0:57:34 > 0:57:36No, no, no. Heather, when was it? It was...
0:57:36 > 0:57:39- it was over 20 years ago.- Yep, yep.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43- I'm going inside. Thank you very much.- Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48What do you think of the hereditary principle?
0:57:48 > 0:57:52I think it's part of our DNA, I think it's part of the heritage.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54I think it's what makes us special.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56We're the envy of the world because of places like Blenheim,
0:57:56 > 0:58:00and the heritage and the private historic houses are utterly unique.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03But I think the real jewels are the ones that are in private ownership
0:58:03 > 0:58:06because, there, you've got the love and the sweat
0:58:06 > 0:58:09and the dedication of the family, over generations,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12to keep their end up, if you like,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15because no incumbent wants to be the incumbent that doesn't hand on
0:58:15 > 0:58:18in a better condition than they received it in.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24In the 21st century, dukes may be a dying breed,
0:58:24 > 0:58:29but splendid heritage or privileged anachronism, their survival is
0:58:29 > 0:58:33sure to be a magnificent struggle for generations to come.