The Irish Mail on Sunday

Family who found King Tut snubbed by gala

-

THE GRAND opening of a spectacula­r £1bn museum to commemorat­e the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamu­n will have one thing missing: the family of the man who made it all possible.

Notably absent from the guest list of the three-day gala in Cairo next year will be Lord and Lady Carnarvon. Lord Carnarvon’s greatgrand­father famously funded the expedition, led by archaeolog­ist Howard Carter, which discovered the Pharaoh’s intact tomb. He became one of the first people to witness the treasures inside the burial chamber in more than

3,000 years.

But astonishin­gly, the Carnarvons

say they know nothing about the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, close to the Pyramids of Giza. It will house the mummified body of the boy king, which will be taken from his tomb in Luxor and reunited with his iconic golden death mask for the first time since the discovery in 1922.

Lady Carnarvon, who lives at Highclere Castle, the setting for Downton Abbey, calls the snub a ‘great shame’, saying: ‘I have a lot of historic material I would like to share. Egypt is in my husband’s DNA and mine by associatio­n. I don’t know anything about a party or what’s going on because they haven’t reached out to us at all. It’s a great shame because the museum will be amazing and we would like to be there. I have fantastic photograph­s I have found from that era.’

In 1922, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon was present when Carter first peeped into the tomb. After Lord Carnarvon asked him what he could see, Carter famously replied: ‘Wonderful things.’ The first stone of the museum was laid in 2002 but work was beset by delays. A spokesman was unavailabl­e for comment.

 ??  ?? ‘IT’S IN OUR DNA’: Lady Carnarvon and, right, the boy king’s death mask
‘IT’S IN OUR DNA’: Lady Carnarvon and, right, the boy king’s death mask
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland