Locked away until 2034, secrets of woman who fed Betjeman’s soul
Poet’s ‘beloved other wife’ Lady Elizabeth Cavendish stipulated letters be held for 50 years after his death
SHE was the unconventional aristocrat, thrust into the limelight when she fell in love with John Betjeman, the future poet laureate, who happened to be married.
Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, who died earlier this month aged 92, has been described as Betjeman’s coup de foudre, the woman upon whom he relied, in his own words, as “food for my body and mind”.
But although their relationship became public knowledge in the midSeventies, 20 years after they met, few, if anyone, can lay claim to the explosive secrets of their affair.
So determined was Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Cavendish, the 10th Duke of Devonshire, to ensure that their intimate thoughts and feelings did not become public fodder that on his death in 1984 she locked away all of their letters to each other, placing them under embargo until 2034, 50 years after his death.
The handwritten missives, spanning three decades, remain under lock and key at Chatsworth tsworth House, her family seat, at, leaving a chasm in their ir intriguing story. “She was s deeply private and these were very personal,” Mark Girouard, rouard, 86, the architectural historian and one of Lady Elizabeth’s zabeth’s closest friends, said.
“She used to keep them all in a pile le by her armchair in n her sitting room. At one point, she wanted nted to destroy them.” .”
Lady Elizabeth beth was introduced d to Betjeman at a dinner party in 1951. The poet had been married ied to Penelope Chetwode de for 20 years and had two children. She was 20 years younger and significantly taller, yet et their mutual attraction was undeniable and she became, as his daughter Candida Lycett Green would later say, “his beloved other wife”.
As such, she never married or had children. When Betjeman fell ill with Parkinson’s, Lady Elizabeth and Penelope shared his care, although were careful not to meet. Lady Elizabeth was at his side when he died. According to the carefully chosen words of Betjeman’s biographers, the relationship was far from platonic. Bevis Hillier said: “When John was with Elizabeth, she ministered to his comfort in a way that Penelope rarely did.” Lady Elizabeth never discussed the affair. She did not collaborate with Betjeman’s biographers or with his daughter when she edited and published her father’s letters in 1995. Andrew McCallum, vice-chairman of the Betjeman Society, said many made futile approaches to Lady Elizabeth in the hope she would open up.
“A lot of people would do anything to get a hint of their relationship. There must be some wonderful stories,” he said. “She did wonders for Betjeman. There’s no doubt she was his muse for many years. Betjeman would not have achieved what he did without her.” Mr McCallum said Lady Elizabeth clearly wanted to ensure there was no prospect of any fallout for any of their closest relatives – and might also have wanted to be sure Hillier, Betjeman’s official biographe biographer and close confident, who is 78, was w also off the scene. “She was leaving leav no stone unturned,” he added. adde As it has turned out, most of those th closest to the couple have hav already died, including Penelope, P Mrs Lycett Gre Green and all of her sibling siblings. Lady Elizabeth was particularly p close to her sister-in-law, the late Duchess of Devonshire. shi Deborah Mitford, for known as Debo. Some Som claim it was Deb Debo who persuaded her to t keep the letters and lock them away. As a childhood friend of the Queen and an Princess Margaret, she would likely have had a natural nat instinct not to make anything any public. “It’s un unlikely they contain any one p particular great secret,” said sai Mr McCallum. “That sai said, you can’t be 100 per cent sure.”