Page 40 - WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE DISCOVERING ENGLAND

Photos courtesy of Highclere Castle

well as a nearby residence. Unlike lescent hospital for British officers
with other open-to-the-public es- during World War I. Almina's gen-
tates where the occupants have erous dowry, and later inheritance
long since departed, visitors to from her father, banking tycoon
Highclere are treated to constant Alfred de Rothschild, allowed her
reminders that this is a working husband, the fifth earl, to pursue
home. On a recent tour, the master his interest in Egyptian archeology.
bedroom revealed a bottle of Sinex That's where the name Carnarvon
at bedside and reading material strikes home. It was the fifth earl,
that included books by Ian Rankin along with Howard Carter, who in
and John Grisham.
1922 opened the treasure-filled
"I don't want to present a museum," tomb of Egyptian boy-Pharoah
said the present countess, Fiona, Tutankhamun, which had been
as we sipped tea at the outdoor sealed for centuries.
cafe set up for visitors. "I want "Can you see anything?" Lord Car-
people to know that we reside here.
It's a living history." narvon is said to have asked as
Carter peered through an open-
These days, the countess has been ing in the tomb. "Yes, wonderful
consumed with making sure TV things!" came the reply.
crews don't light candles under the Carnarvon's instant celebrity sta-
Van Dyck painting and that their tus was to be short-lived, however.
electrical cables don't topple mar-
Top: The Saloon is physically and socially the heart of the house. ble statues. Shortly after the discovery he died
Above: Current owners of the castle -- Geordie, the eighth Earl of in Cairo of blood poisoning from
Carnarvon and Lady Fiona, Countess of Carnarvon -- relax with their Parallel to the plot that has un- an infected mosquito bite. His son,
lab. Opposite page: Egyptian boy-Pharoah Tutankhamun. Opposite folded on TV, the countess recently "Porchey," who would become the
left: The great oak staircase in the saloon. Opposite right: Elements published a book on an earlier next earl, related in his memoirs,
of Highclere Castle architecture can be seen in Britain’s House of Countess Carnarvon, Lady Almina, "No Regrets," what happened next.
Parliament because they had the same architect Sir Charles Barry. who turned the estate into a conva-

40 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2014