Page 159 - WDT MAGAZINE PORTUGAL

so like her brother Jack's, and extreme good nature 12th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and their
made her far more attractive than most pale English family reside there.
beauties. She was loved by everyone who knew her." The Chatsworth House you see today is mostly
Following the shocking death of both her rebuilt (and it was later expanded during the 19th
beloved brother and husband within a month, a century by the "Bachelor Duke") on the original
grieving Kathleen —after spending some time at footprint that, back in 1552, had been the dream of
Chatsworth House in Derbyshire with Billy's the ambitious Bess of Hardwick, mother of eight,
consoling family — decided to return to London, who inherited wealth from her four marriages. She
where she bought a townhouse. While volunteering was said to be the most powerful woman in England
at a charity dance in June 1946, she met a dashing after the queen.
man — another wealthy British aristocrat named "There is no theme, no connecting style," wrote
Peter Fitzwilliam, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, whose the Dowager Duchess in her book of this massive
family seat was Wentworth House, an amazing estate. "Each room is a jumble of old and new,
"palace" in South Yorkshire, with a room for each English and foreign, thrown together by generations
day of the year. He was also Protestant and, even of acquisitive inhabitants."
worse, still married (separated from his wife) with
an 11-year-old daughter. It was nearly love at first But the elegant rooms — including the entry,
sight for the couple. (Several fascinating books give the breathtaking Painted Hall and its dramatic
much detail about Kathleen's life: Kathleen staircase — house priceless artwork, spanning some
Kennedy by Lynne McTaggart; Black Diamonds by 4,000 years, from ancient Roman and Egyptian
sculpture to Rembrandt masterpieces. The massive
Catherine Bailey; and the more recent Kick
Kennedy: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the collection includes priceless china, tapestries and
Favorite Kennedy Daughter by Barbara Leaming; furnishings, including the throne chairs and
and Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir footstools made for the coronation of King George
to Chatsworth by Paula Byrne.) III and Queen Charlotte. The library has nearly
50,000 volumes, one of the finest private
But theirs was not a happy ending, either. collections, which visiting scholars may use.
Reportedly on their way to a romantic getaway in
the South of France in May 1948 (before planning to It was here at Chatsworth where Mary, Queen
meet Joseph Kennedy in Paris to discuss their of Scots spent some time as a prisoner of Queen
desire to wed), their small, chartered plane crashed Elizabeth I; where King George V and Queen May
in stormy weather, instantly killing them. Kathleen stayed — as well as King Edward VII. It was also here
was 28. The Kennedy patriarch was the only family in the Great Dining Room where, in 1832, a young
member to attend her London funeral Mass and Princess Victoria — who would become the
later burial in a tiny graveyard at St. Peter's Church renowned queen — visited for a few days with her
in Edensor, near Chatsworth House. mother, experiencing her first formal, adult dinner
when she was 13.
What an irony that, as ambitious as Joseph Sr.
was for his children — aspiring for them to achieve And Chatsworth has been the site of several
great success in politics and other professional and films, including "Pride and Prejudice" -- and "The
social endeavors, even grooming his eldest son to be Duchess" — about the life of the colorful Georgiana
U.S. president some day —that Kathleen had Cavendish, 5th Duchess of Devonshire and an
become the Marchioness of Hartington (and was ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales.
known as Lady Hartington) upon marrying into one But what got my attention on the day that I
of England's oldest, most distinguished, and toured Chatsworth — following an earlier visit that
wealthiest families. But that apparently was not morning to Kathleen Kennedy's gravesite — was a
enough, because they were Protestant. (How times photograph in the portrait gallery. There, near a
have changed with the subsequent generations.) bust of Queen Elizabeth II — among all the huge,
color portraits of Cavendish ancestors and other
Today, visitors can see the tiny Protestant
churchyard in the charming village where Kathleen British aristocracy — hangs a modest black-and-
is buried in the Cavendish family plot, with a plaque white photo of a young, smiling Kathleen wearing
her Red Cross uniform.
by her gravestone noting the June 1963 visit of JFK
just months before his own death. And, about a mile "Her charm comes through," the Dowager
away, is Chatsworth House, the gorgeous 297-room Duchess wrote of the photo, "and you can see why
estate where, prior to her marriage, Kathleen had she was the most popular girl of my generation."
celebrated her 24th birthday. Each year, some half-
million visitors tour 30 rooms of Chatsworth House, IF YOU GO
which for nearly five centuries--16 generations--has
been the Cavendish family home. Currently, the www.chatsworth.org

158 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2019