The duke of Glorious Goodwood dies at 87
THE 10th Duke of Richmond, who revived the fortunes of the Goodwood estate and caused a society scandal when he adopted two mixed-race girls more than half a century ago, has died at the age of 87.
Charles Gordon Lennox moved to Goodwood House in 1967, when the 17th Century West Sussex property was a decaying wreck with a neglected 2,500-acre estate and racecourse.
It is now a magnificent stately home open to the public and hosts Glorious Goodwood, the sporting and social highlight of the flat-racing season, and the hugely popular Festival of Speed motoring event.
The duke also held three other dukedoms, more than any other person in Britain, which had come into the family over time. These were the Scottish dukedoms of Lennox and Gordon, as well as the French title of Duke of Aubigny.
Last night, the Duke’s son, Charles, the Earl of March and Kinrara, said: ‘He was a most unorthodox aristocrat, very liberal, non-conformist – quite anti-establishment in his way.
‘He and my mother were free thinkers, very involved in the church and Africa. He was anti-apartheid and liberal.’
In the early 1960s, the Duke adopted two mixed-race girls, Maria and Naomi, aged six months.
Both had black African fathers and mothers who were white British.
‘It didn’t go down well,’ Lord March recalled. ‘In fact it was considered outrageous.’
The Duke had two other daughters – Elinor and Louisa – with his wife Susan.
Charles Gordon Lennox was still the Earl of March and Kinrara when he moved to Goodwood with his wife, inheriting the Dukedom when his father died in 1989.
He pulled down one of the wings of the house, restored the remainder and turned it into the model of a thriving stately home business.
But it was horse racing that put Goodwood on the map.
The course originally opened in 1802 and was little changed before the Duke had the grandstand rebuilt.
He supported his son – who will become the 11th Duke of Richmond – when he founded the Festival of Speed in 1993 and helped put the fortunes of Goodwood back on track.
The 10th Duke is survived by his wife and children. A private family funeral will be held at the family church, Boxgrove Priory.
‘An unorthodox aristocrat, very liberal’