Beaulieu

The Private Apartments: The Family Today

Palace House is still my family home. However, when I decided to share my home for visitors to enjoy, we moved out of the more historic rooms and today my family and I occupy a private apartment in the Victorian wing of the Hous e. When we are away, the Palace House staff are happy to give guided tours of these private areas.

Most of the rooms in our apartment were formerly guest suites, but with the main dining room on view to the public, we needed an alternative room where we could entertain our guests. For this purpose, we chose part of the northern chapel of the Great Gatehouse, known in the 18th and early 19th centuries as the 'Oak Room' no doubt because of the linen-fold panelling around the walls which was rescued fro m the House of Commons following the great fire of 1837, and brought to Beaulieu. Except when meals are in progress, this room is open to the public.

Beaulieu has changed greatly over the past thirty-five years or more, but I still remember clearly t he period of feverish activity which followed my decision to open my family home to visitors.

I inherited the Beaulieu Estate in 1951, on my 25th birthday. The estate had been managed by a Board of Trustees since my father's death in 1929. Running co sts were high and I decided to invite visitors to see my home to help to meet the costs of maintaining the historic buildings, Grounds and estate. The Abbey Ruins had been open since the tur n of the century so we had some experience of tourists and their needs.

Apart from adapting the guest suites to create my new flat, we moved the library upstairs, to allow for creation of the Picture Gallery. Three veteran cars were placed in the Ent rance Hall as a tribute to my father, a motoring pioneer, and from these simple beginnings has grown the National Motor Museum.

Later we decided to display the family coronation robes in the Ante Room at the top 'of the stairs, known today as the Coronation Room.: The black velvet suit was worn by me at the Coronation of George VI in 1937, and the small bag contained ham sandwiches to stop me going hungry during the long ceremony, to whi ch as a minor Peer, I was the youngest person to be invited.

Sharing my home and welcoming visitors to Beaulieu since 1952 has been a source of great pleasure to me and their visits have ensured that Palace House, Beaulieu Abbey and other historic bu ildings in my care are in a better state of repair now than they have been for many decades. I hope that they will survive for many years to come, for future generations of visitors from all over the world to enjoy.

by Lord Montagu