Arriving just after seven and demolishing the other roll, a puff pastry mince pie, some grapes and a pear and a cup of tea there was no inclination to go the pictures as intended and the attempt to find out about wireless without being on line was set aside to watch a programme about the wife of Randolph Churchill which included the surprisingly candid comments of their son Winston. The programme was called Churchill's daughter although she was of course his daughter in law.
The programme and the their son and statements by the daughter in law provided a picture of Randolph as a risk taking gambler who in the war lost three year's salary on his way to Egypt and who liked alcohol too much. However even he found the behaviour of his wife too rich as she established herself as confident to her father in law and embryonic courtesan to the rich and famous. It is said that with Churchill's blessing and while still married to his son she became mistress of the leading American in the land and therefore provided Churchill with a unique perspective of the American viewpoint throughout the war from pillow talk. After which there was nothing stopping her although period in Paris and France led to a premature departure.
Young Winston admitted that he never had a mother in the conventional sense and was thrust into the adult world from the age of nine year, expected to accompany her on functions with other adults when she did not have a personal male escort, this included taking her to dances. It was when she met and married the aging and exceptionally wealthy Averill Harriman that her fortunes changed in more ways than the obvious although she quickly controlled the ongoing links with his own family with hers, so that one relative wistfully commented that whereas he was accustomed to receiving expensive gifts, that Christmas he was given a tie and Winston junior was given an aeroplane, a real one.
However it was not her acquisitive and high spending lifestyle which brought her international recognition but her fund raising and social skills led her to become the dominating influence in the Democratic party, and to discover, nurture and financially back Bill Clinton into the White House. Bill then called upon her to ask what she wanted as a reward and he overlooked career diplomats and fellow politicians to make her the American Ambassador in Paris. As the second programme on the working life of Queen Elizabeth demonstrated she has a special relationship with the Governor Generals of former territories and Ambassadors of friends and foes.
I digress to remember the night spent on a vigil outside the Russian Embassy, the sitting down outside of South Africa House and the use made of the American Embassy lending library of books and records. There was also the day I was invited to lunch with Ambassador of a country in Africa, who at Ruskin I had lent my Correspondence course on the English Language and Literature and given my half baked views on the nature of the English Civil service as the strength of democracy, only to find out afterwards that he had been the secretary of the civil service union of his country. Alas I was required to present a report to a court on the day of the lunch and had to cancel and did not receive a further invitation as a consequence.
Churchill's daughter died from a stroke after swimming a number of length the day after returning from a hectic visit to celebrate the birthday of a grandchild, having enjoyed a fox hunt jumping gates between fields. The president of France contacted her son Winston to say he had intended to award her France's highest award which he would now do so posthumously, whereupon President Clinton laid on airforce one and gave her a state funeral. Only within the last week did I discover that David Cameron is descended from the courtesan to a King which confirms the nature of wealth and political power and the opportunities available to young women with the right social education and understanding of men. It was said in the programme that when she hosted a political social event, such as a fund raiser she was skilled in taking the men to oneside, one by one, to explain her requirements of them, but to restrict the time with each individual not to arouse the concern of wives or to generate gossip which had commenced when the whole of social London knew of her special relationship with Churchill and with the American Ambassador.
Six months have passed since my last trip of any kind for the Concert marking ten years since the death of Princess Diana, I have yet to go through the DVD again and to see if during the six hours of performers and crowd interaction they came close to where I was sitting. There is still the sense of adventure before and on the day of a trip. There is great advantage in taking the car except for the travelling. Travelling by train is excellent but then there is the problem of the luggage. Little did I know how much the issue of travelling was to be a feature of this trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment