Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2019 17:39:48 GMT
Cholmondeley, who is 35, was there because her husband David, the Marquess of Cholmondeley (pronounced “Chumley”), has a ceremonial role as Lord Great Chamberlain. But weeks earlier Vine’s newspaper had breathlessly reported rumors about Rose, the Marchioness at Houghton Hall, the absurdly grand Cholmondeley seat in Norfolk, a county in the east of England.
In that strange rural enclave of castles and the royal-adjacent characters who inhabit them—now gleefully dubbed “Turnip Toffs” by the press—there was talk of a dramatic falling out between Rose and her neighbor and friend Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Headlines suddenly proclaimed Rose to be Kate’s “rural rival.” Despite the three miles that separate Houghton and Anmer Hall, Prince William’s home on the royal Sandringham estate, had a boundary been crossed? Kensington Palace slapped back against the gossip and intimations; lawsuits were threatened. At the state dinner the couples wouldn’t get close at all—after the awkward procession they were scattered across long tables. Instead Rose sat next to perhaps the only man who might know the official version of events: Britain’s spy chief, Jeremy Fleming.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appeared to fit right in when they moved, in 2014, into Anmer Hall, a relatively modest Georgian pile between Sandringham and Houghton. As well as the Cokes and the Cholmondeleys, there was Mave Fellowes, William’s cousin, a novelist and daughter of Lord Fellowes; James Meade, one of William’s best friends, and his wife Lady Laura Marsham, godmother to Louis; and the van Cutsem brothers—Nicholas and William—who lived at Anmer when their father rented it from the queen and who are by all accounts William’s favored shooting partners.
As in counties across England, game shoots are woven into the social fabric here; Duchess Kate has reportedly become quite a skilled shot, attending Sandringham’s famous Boxing Day shoot. The Cambridges quickly began hosting friends and events at Anmer, including a lunch celebration for Kate’s 37th birthday in January.
As well as being neighbors, Rose and Kate are of a similar age and attend the same charity galas and garden parties. The Marchioness was a guest at the Cambridges’ wedding in 2011, and they mingled at events at Houghton, including its annual horse trials. (Zara Tindall, the queen’s eldest granddaughter, was competing at Houghton when I visited in May, although, I was politely informed, the owners were not at home.)
The women, apparently fast friends, represent the modern face of North Norfolk, which has been changing while still eschewing the showiness of the smarter counties in London’s orbit. The area has become a magnet for middle class holidaymakers and second home owners.
In that strange rural enclave of castles and the royal-adjacent characters who inhabit them—now gleefully dubbed “Turnip Toffs” by the press—there was talk of a dramatic falling out between Rose and her neighbor and friend Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Headlines suddenly proclaimed Rose to be Kate’s “rural rival.” Despite the three miles that separate Houghton and Anmer Hall, Prince William’s home on the royal Sandringham estate, had a boundary been crossed? Kensington Palace slapped back against the gossip and intimations; lawsuits were threatened. At the state dinner the couples wouldn’t get close at all—after the awkward procession they were scattered across long tables. Instead Rose sat next to perhaps the only man who might know the official version of events: Britain’s spy chief, Jeremy Fleming.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appeared to fit right in when they moved, in 2014, into Anmer Hall, a relatively modest Georgian pile between Sandringham and Houghton. As well as the Cokes and the Cholmondeleys, there was Mave Fellowes, William’s cousin, a novelist and daughter of Lord Fellowes; James Meade, one of William’s best friends, and his wife Lady Laura Marsham, godmother to Louis; and the van Cutsem brothers—Nicholas and William—who lived at Anmer when their father rented it from the queen and who are by all accounts William’s favored shooting partners.
As in counties across England, game shoots are woven into the social fabric here; Duchess Kate has reportedly become quite a skilled shot, attending Sandringham’s famous Boxing Day shoot. The Cambridges quickly began hosting friends and events at Anmer, including a lunch celebration for Kate’s 37th birthday in January.
As well as being neighbors, Rose and Kate are of a similar age and attend the same charity galas and garden parties. The Marchioness was a guest at the Cambridges’ wedding in 2011, and they mingled at events at Houghton, including its annual horse trials. (Zara Tindall, the queen’s eldest granddaughter, was competing at Houghton when I visited in May, although, I was politely informed, the owners were not at home.)
The women, apparently fast friends, represent the modern face of North Norfolk, which has been changing while still eschewing the showiness of the smarter counties in London’s orbit. The area has become a magnet for middle class holidaymakers and second home owners.
