Treasures of dynasty descended from king’s mistress
TO its owners, it is not so much a ring as the crown jewel which founded an entire dynasty. Other pieces in this historic collection glittered before the Duke of Wellington on the eve of Waterloo.
And now a major police hunt is under way following the violent theft of dozens of heirlooms from a family which has been at the forefront of national life for more than three centuries.
Starting with Charles Lennox, illegitimate son of Charles II and his French mistress Louise de Keroualle, this family would go on to acquire four dukedoms and a famous Sussex pile, along with Britain’s prettiest racecourse and a motor racing circuit in its 12,000-acre grounds.
The Dukes of Richmond, Lennox, Gordon and Aubigny have produced Cabinet ministers, generals, ambassadors, wastrels and war heroes. One codified the game of cricket while another is part of foxhunting folklore (the fox had its revenge when the 4th duke was bitten by a pet fox in Canada and died of rabies).
Their duchesses have been similarly illustrious, notably the wife of the 4th duke who staged one of the greatest parties in history. In June 1815, the Allies danced the night away at the Duchess of Richmond’s Ball in Brussels while Napoleon prepared for battle.
The family story is told through the paintings, sculptures and jewels which draw thousands to Goodwood House each year. But in the early hours of Wednesday an intruder escaped with several treasures after assaulting the current heir to the dukedom, the Earl of March, and forcing his wife to open a safe.
While police have put a value of £700,000 on the haul, one can only guess what an open auction would get for a piece like the ‘CL’ ring which Charles II presented to Louise.
‘The C is for Charles, the L is for Louise and it is integral to the whole history of Goodwood,’ explains a spokesman for the estate.
SO precious is the ring that it has seldom been on display and was last seen in public when Downton Abbey’s creator, Julian [Lord] Fellowes, was allowed to try it on while filming an ITV series on stately homes.
Charles II also gave Louise the title of Duchess of Portsmouth, and her descendants include Princess Diana, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
Despite her royal affair, Louise – herself descended from a line of nobles – lived her final years struggling with multiple debts.
She left the ring to her son, Charles (named after his father the king) and it has gone down the male line ever since.
The boy started life with the ancient Stuart surname of Lennox. At the age three, his father gave him the title of Duke of Richmond, along with Richmond Castle in Yorkshire. A year later, he was given the Scottish dukedom of Lennox. By way of income, he also received 12p for every cauldron of coal shipped on the Tyne at Newcastle.
In due course, he would acquire Goodwood, a Jacobean house in Sussex for use as a hunting lodge. His son, the 2nd duke, introduced cricket there, along with the first set of written rules.
But it was the 3rd duke, founder of the Royal Ordnance Survey, who would stage the first horse race there and transform the house with two vast Regency wings – at ruinous expense.
As a result, the 4th duke spent much of his life abroad, avoiding his creditors. But his marriage to a future heiress would be a blessing for the 5th duke, who would serve at Waterloo and become ADC to Queen Victoria.
During her reign, Goodwood became embedded in the social calendar as the Prince of Wales descended each summer for the horse races, accompanied by a mistress or two and an ever-changing selection of hats. Thanks to him, the white top hat and the panama both entered polite society
FOLLOWING their retirement to an estate house in 1994, the estate has been run by his son, the Earl of March, a former advertising photographer, and his wife, former fashion designer Janet Astor, who is daughter of the 3rd Viscount Astor.
The earl is the president of the British Automobile Racing Club, patron of the TT Riders Association, and president of the Motor Racing Cycle Industry Association.
On his watch, Goodwood has revived its great engineering legacy, reopened the circuit and gone on to become a centre of historic motoring and aviation. Rolls-Royce has a plant on the edge of the estate.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors attend annual events such as the Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival, while four-legged racing also remains as popular as ever.
And it all started with that ring. No wonder the family are so keen to get it back.