Latest news with #DukeofMarlborough
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Blenheim aristocrat's 500 homes plan ‘could cause traffic congestion'
An aristocrat who owns one of the country's most famous stately homes is embroiled in a row with locals over building 500 homes on his land. James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough, wants to build the new homes close to Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Blenheim Estate Homes, the estate's housing operation, said the plans would 'encourage community integration and social cohesion'. In planning documents submitted to Cherwell District Council, the company added that the plans consist of 'high-quality new homes which will include a range of house types, sizes and tenures to deliver market and affordable housing for young people, families and the elderly.' But locals have expressed concerns that the plans could overwhelm local infrastructure and cause traffic congestion problems. 'Unsustainable and harmful expansion' The Campaign to Protect Old Woodstock, a residents' campaign group that aims to protect the leafy market town from over development and damage to its natural environment and heritage, told the Telegraph the plans could also impact the Blenheim Estate as well as local health and school facilities. The 11,500-acre palace and its vast grounds, granted Unesco world heritage status in 1987, are owned by the Duke, who is the great nephew of Sir Winston Churchill. The day-to-day running is taken care of by a board of trustees, which also oversees Blenheim Estate Homes. Claudio Calvino, who lives in Woodstock, said: 'This development represents an unsustainable and harmful expansion that would irreversibly damage Woodstock's character, overwhelm its services, and create significant environmental and heritage risks.' Another local, Anne Cooper, said the plans were 'absolutely shameful' and added: 'Please, NO more. Oxfordshire is, or rather was, known as a beautiful RURAL county. Villages are desperately trying to retain their community values, but being overwhelmed by vast numbers of new housing estates.' Ulrike Parkinson, a fellow local resident, added: 'Woodstock has reached saturation point regarding infrastructure and traffic, and the town cannot cope with any further development.' James Carr, who lives in the leafy market town, indicated that the Blenheim Estate said the plans were 'out of touch' and said: 'Historic landowners making out of touch plans, chasing revenue generation, should be consigned to the past and not the future.' Owen Davies, who also lives in the town, said: 'The population has doubled in size, but none of the infrastructure has. The GP was already at capacity before any of the new developments, but now it's overwhelmed and has literally fallen apart. Both schools are oversubscribed. The Co-op is not fit for the number of people who need to buy food, so everyone has to go further afield for a full shop. This is now 1000s of people without adequate, accessible food supply and services.' Concerns were addressed 'openly and honestly' Woodstock town council, of which the Duke is a member, also objected to the plans and wrote: 'The farmland and parkland surrounding Blenheim are essential to understanding and appreciating its historic character. Development would urbanise this landscape. This proposal represents unsustainable, unplanned, and harmful development.' Meanwhile, the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board called for a financial contribution to be made from the estate to 'co-fund the extension/re-configuration of healthcare provision'. But other locals claimed Blenheim Senior Management addressed concerns 'openly and honestly' at a recent residents' meeting. Cherwell District Council will ultimately decide whether the planning application is successful by September. In planning documents, Blenheim Estate Homes argues: 'The ambition and vision of Blenheim Estate Homes is to build beautiful homes and create thriving communities where people will enjoy living and working, now and in the future.' The application also says the development will provide a mix of house types and tenures, including a target of 35 per cent affordable housing. The estate previously angered locals over plans for one of the UK's biggest solar farms, which could provide enough energy to power 330,000 homes, on the estate. The plan is being backed by the family of the Duke of Marlborough and, in particular, by his eldest son George, who stands to inherit the estate. Conservationists also previously raised concerns about plans to bring a golden sculpture called the Gilded Cage, representing the struggle of refugees in the modern world, to the estate.
Vogue
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
The Real-Life Miserable Marriage of Consuelo Vanderbilt That Inspired The Gilded Age
The third season of The Gilded Age is not a love story. It is, however, a story about marriage: the first episode is centered around Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga), the teen daughter of Bertha and George, who is head over heels for Billy Carlton (Matt Walker), a well-to-do young man in New York society. He and Gladys want to marry. However, her mother (Carrie Coon) refuses to approach the match. 'It's not happening,' she says in the last minutes of the episode. Why? She wants Gladys to marry the Duke of Buckingham—a British aristocrat who would elevate the family's standing from the top of New York society to the top of European society. Taissa Farmiga and Carrie Coon as Gladys and Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age. Photo: Karolina Wojtasik / Courtesy of HBO As is often the case in his shows, Julien Fellowes was inspired by a real-life historical event for this particular plot-line: the 'marriage of convenience' between Consuelo Vanderbilt and the Duke of Marlborough. Consuelo Vanderbilt, the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Vanderbilt, was just 19 when she was forced to marry Charles Spencer Churchill, the ninth Duke of Marlborough. Forced is not an exaggeration: her memoir, The Glitter and the Gold, details the lengths her overbearing mother went to ensure the union. Consuelo hoped to marry for love: specifically, Winthrop Rutherford, a handsome American who was a member of Ward McAllister's 'The Four Hundred'—or, the notable New York families that were considered to make up the cream of New York society at the time. Yet, during a trip to Europe, it became clear to Gladys that Alva intended for her to find an aristocratic suitor within the continent's gentry. While the children of her New York peers often married well, none of them had married into titles. At first, the options were lackluster. 'That summer, I received two or three other proposals from uninteresting Englishmen, which I found slightly disillusioning. They were so evidently dictated by a desire for my dowry, a reflection that was included to dispel whatever thoughts of romance might come my way,' she wrote. But then they arrived for a weekend at Blenheim Palace, the family seat of the Marlboroughs. There, Mrs. Vanderbilt found the socially advantageous bachelor she was looking for.
NZ Herald
11-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Bay News: Duke of Marlborough wins top boutique hotel award at Wedding Industry Awards
Russell's illustrious waterfront hotel, the Duke of Marlborough, took home the prestigious Most Outstanding Boutique Hotel award for wedding ceremonies and venue at the Wedding Industry Awards New Zealand 2025. The eighth annual awards evening was held in Wellington on June 7. Wedding Industry Awards NZ is the brainchild of
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The devastating mystery gripping the heir of Blenheim Palace and his desperate family - and the film star battling abuse trauma: RICHARD EDEN'S DIARY
Mystery at Blenheim Palace: Heir's dog vanishes He's blessed with a glamorous wife, two wonderful young daughters – and will, one day, inherit Blenheim Palace, arguably the most sumptuous family seat in Britain, plus its 12,000-acre estate. But never assume that the Marquess of Blandford, the 12th Duke of Marlborough's son and heir, is immune to the trials and tribulations that can afflict us all. George Spencer-Churchill's young labrador, Gecko, went missing at the weekend. Perhaps even more disquietingly, she remains unaccounted for, even though there was a tracker in her distinctive pink collar. This allowed Gecko's movements to be traced to the northernmost part of Woodstock, the Oxfordshire town near Blenheim. That was shortly before 2pm on Sunday. But thereafter the trail ran cold – prompting George, 32, and his wife Camilla, 38, both pictured, to seek assistance from the police, who have issued a public appeal in a bid to find Gecko. There is another element which adds to their heartache. I understand that, at the time Gecko disappeared, she was in the care of a trusted third party. Friends and family have been putting up posters alerting locals. 'If someone has stolen her, then people will have read about her,' one tells me. George certainly won't be daunted by the challenge. In 2019, he and two of his wife's cousins rowed across the Atlantic in 35 days, securing themselves a Guinness World Record for the 'fastest time for a related team of four to row the Atlantic east to west'. I profoundly hope that the Spencer-Churchill motto – 'faithful but unfortunate' – does not hold true for Gecko. George and Camilla Blandford attending the Blenheim by Starlight charity ball in 2019 Blandford's post appealing for help finding his missing golden labrador Fry's latest field of study? Wrestling... SIR Stephen Fry has a surprising new passion. The Cambridge-educated polymath, 67, and former Marylebone Cricket Club president has become obsessed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 'I am now a fan of WWE and I bought a couple of tickets for Wrestlemania in Las Vegas,' reveals Fry, a friend of King Charles. 'I said that to some people and they've said, 'Doesn't he know it's fake?' and I go, 'Oh, for heaven's sake!' It isn't fake in the sense that they are banging on and doing things to their bodies which are astonishing for entertainment. They are bloody talented.' Konnichiwa! Lily takes Tokyo trip A previous trip to Japan didn't run smoothly for Lily James after she was wrongly accused of mocking the local accent. Happily, this hasn't deterred the former Downton Abbey star from embracing the country's culture. The Surrey-born actress, 36, took part in a Japanese tea ceremony in the capital, which involves preparing, serving and drinking tea to promote wellbeing, mindfulness and harmony. She wore a traditional kimono with a floral print. 'I love Tokyo,' she said next to photographs shared online. Lily James in Tokyo A rare sighting in ermine of former prime minister David Cameron, who was one of two official 'supporters' as former attorney general Victoria Prentis became a member of the Lords on Monday. One onlooker reports that Lord Cameron, who has yet to make a speech in the house this year, is now sporting an increasingly obvious bald patch. Don't expect to catch a glimpse of Michel Roux Jr at your local drive-through. 'I don't do takeaways,' the chef tells me. 'My last McDonald's was in October 1989 and my first and last KFC in 1976.' Clearly the dates stuck in the memory of Roux, 65, whose two Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche closed last year. Film helped Jaime deal with trauma Jaime Winstone has revealed that starring in a film about childhood trauma has dredged up memories of abuse she suffered in the past. The daughter of Hollywood hardman Ray Winstone, 68, appears in the psychological horror Everyone Is Going To Die. 'The film gave me the opportunity to creatively purge from a trauma,' says the actress, 40, who played the young Peggy Mitchell in TV soap EastEnders and Dame Barbara Windsor in biopic Babs. 'I was triggered from a trauma. There was a lot of stuff happening to do with a certain person that I have dealt with, with abuse.' Fans can't tell who's Hugh Griff Rhys Jones has a problem. The television personality can't go anywhere without being mistaken for Hugh Grant – who is seven years his junior. 'I've just come back from the States,' Griff, 71, says. 'Nearly every day somebody would come, because there was a camera around, and ask for an autograph, assuming I was Hugh.' Griff says of the Four Weddings And A Funeral star: 'I haven't told him directly. I've only met him once in the last five years, and he very sweetly said, 'And what do you do these days?' 'I said, 'Well, I'm still in television, Hugh, what about you?' ' Touche. The television personality can't go anywhere without being mistaken for the Four Weddings and a Funeral star – who is seven years his junior.
BBC News
01-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Painting of Winston Churchill's hero goes on display at Chartwell
A restored painting gifted to Sir Winston Churchill to lift his spirits during World War Two goes on public display for the first portrait of the first Duke of Marlborough, who was known to be Churchill's ancestor and hero, was given to him by Lord Saltoun on 15 February followed the Fall of Singapore, which he deemed "the worst disaster" in British painting is on display at Churchill's family home, Chartwell in Westerham, Kent, which is now owned by the National Trust. Churchill's four-volume history of the Duke of Marlborough, written largely at Chartwell, was cited among the works for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writing to Lord Saltoun, Churchill said: "It is exceedingly kind of you to offer me the portrait of the first Duke of Marlborough. I am greatly complimented by this kind thought and accept your offer with gratitude"I shall always value the picture not only in itself but also for the feelings so gracefully expressed in your letter."In reply, Lord Saltoun wrote: "I was sure that your sensitive ear and taste must have suffered and suffer even more and more often than my own, I ventured to offer it (the painting), and as I said before, I hope it may bring you good fortune." Initially thought to be a 19th Century copy of an early 18th Century painting, the artist is painting was previously in too poor condition to be displayed until a donation of £25,000 was received for its analysis and revealed that the painting dates back to the late 17th or early 18th curator, Katherine Carter, said: "The addition of the Duke of Marlborough painting enriches the collection and provides visitors with a more intimate glimpse into Churchill's life and legacy."She says it "underscores the emotional support and encouragement that sustained Churchill during the war".
