BECOME A DUCHESS

What it feels like to ...

MY mother is South African, my father English. I was born into the Cadbury family, from the West Midlands, and grew up in London and spent my school holidays in South Africa. I married Torquhil, the 13th Duke of Argyll, in 2002 – he proposed to me when we were on holiday in Cape Town. We now have three children: Archie, who is 12; Rory, who’s 10; and Charlotte, who’ll be eight next month.

We live in a flat at the top of Inveraray Castle. It’s a nice, unfancy flat, full of Ikea and John Lewis –

ELE ANOR CAMPBELL, DUCHESS OF ARGYLL, 43

nothing precious, which is great. I don’t need to panic that the kids are breaking a priceless picture or furniture. The rest of the castle is open to the public.

There was a documentary about the castle in the US, which brings a lot of Americans over. We also get many German, French and Dutch visitors, and Campbells from around the world. The duke is the head of the Clan Campbell which attracts a lot of the diaspora.

The castle was built in the 1700s. When the then duke was made a duke, he wanted a fancy castle to show that off, so he built this place. Today it’s a mixture: it’s got Gothic, Palladian – everything, really. It’s spectacular. The Armoury Hall has the highest ceiling in Scotland and the most amazing displays of weapons. The dining room has the original, French-style painted ceilings and walls. Apart from the Armoury Hall it’s feminine and pretty inside, if strong and masculine on the outside.

The castle is a museum but still a family house. Today we did a photo shoot for a German magazine. The tourists watched me wearing a ball dress, which I wouldn’t wear on a usual day. The children were in kilts. Usually we’re in jeans and trainers.

My father-in-law died soon after our engagement, so we took over the castle earlier than expected. We moved in soon after our wedding and I realised, being an outsider, that we were surrounded by amazing talent and produce – Inverawe salmon, Loch Fyne oysters, Mull cheeses, whiskies, hugely talented people and music. I thought: I’ve got the venue but no talent. They’ve got all the talent – I’ll try to put it all together. I started the Best of the West festival in 2011 and it has grown each year.

We face different challenges each year. The first year, when I was trying to find craft stalls, I rang 200