Sir Winston Churchill and Blenheim Palace

Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s famous war-time leader, had close connections to Blenheim Palace in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, his family’s ancestral home.

The great man once said, ‘At Blenheim, I took two very important decisions: to be born and to marry. I am happily content with the decisions I took on both those occasions.’
In 2024, Blenheim celebrated 150 years since that first ‘decision’ was taken.

 

Churchill’s birth: 30th November, 1874

Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill, Churchill’s father, was son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough whose family seat was awe-inspiring Blenheim Palace, a country house of tremendous grandeur in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
Randolph met his wife – American beauty Jennie Jerome – at a sailing regatta on the Isle of Wight. Jennie was also from a distinguished family – daughter of New York newspaper proprietor and all-round financial whizz Leonard Jerome. In fact, the couple was introduced by no less a personage than the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII.
There are two versions of how their son, Winston, came to be born in a rather humble room at the palace. The first is that this vivacious woman, seven months pregnant, was out with the guns in Blenheim Park when her contractions started. She was rushed to the first room that had a bed – a small downstairs cabinet. 
The second version has Jennie dancing at a small party at Blenheim. Sensing the birth to be imminent, she tried to get to her own bedroom, through a maze of drawing rooms and the huge library. Jennie only made as far as the ladies’ cloakroom. (The same room as above but, in this anecdote, filled with velvet capes and feather boas.)

 

Churchill’s boyhood

Winston spent many school holidays – (he wasn’t a big fan of Harrow, where he boarded) – at Blenheim, more often than not on horseback. ‘No hour of life is lost that is spent in the saddle,’ he wrote. He adored his visits, particularly playing with toy soldiers, recreating the original Battle of Blenheim fought by his ancestor. Although the young boy was known as a handful, his grandmother – Frances, seventh Duchess – clearly enjoyed having him there. On December 27, 1887, she wrote of her disappointment that Winston had been kept away because of a cold. ‘…I feel it’s all an excuse of that horrid old Everest [his nurse] to prevent my having him and his being happy with his cousins without her.’ Indoor football – a rather rough game, by all accounts – was another favourite with Winston and his brother, Jack.

 

The proposal, August 11, 1908

Winston was the life and soul of a circle of brilliant and beautiful young things at Blenheim. Enthusiasm, spontaneity and a lack of self-importance were some of the descriptions of him. But it was a certain Clementine Hozier who stole his heart. Although they went on to share 56 years of marriage, the course of true love almost didn’t run at all.
When Clementine accepted an invitation to visit Blenheim, arriving at the railway station on August 10, her admirer asked her if she’d care for an early-morning walk in the Rose Garden the next day.
As Antonia Kearney, Blenheim’s social history researcher, explains, ‘Unfortunately, Winston was not renowned for being an early riser. Whilst Clementine was up, dressed and ready at the agreed time, there was no sign of her would-be companion. She began to think that perhaps she should leave Blenheim and return to London!’
Fortunately, his cousin, the Duke, took it upon himself to play Cupid, via a rather stiff note he had delivered.
But as Winston and Clementine finally made their way to the romantic Rose Garden, the heavens opened, forcing them to shelter in the Temple overlooking Capability Brown’s Great Lake. Fast losing confidence, a nervous Clementine noticed a beetle making its way across the paved floor. ‘She told herself that, if the beetle reached a particular crack, Winston would propose. If it changed direction, the proposal would never come.’
Luckily, the beetle understood its fateful role.

 

Later years

Blenheim continued to play a pivotal part in Churchill’s life. He researched and penned books here, painted in its most picturesque spots, and simply relaxed. Consuelo Vanderbilt, first wife of the 9th Duke, wrote of one social occasion, attended by the spirited Lady Astor. She and Winston ended up having a fearful row, after which Lady Astor shouted, ‘If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee!’
To which Winston famously replied, ‘And if I were your husband, I would drink it.’
Sir Winston died on Sunday, January 24th, 1965, aged 90. After a state funeral, he was buried at Bladon, amongst members of his family, within sight of Blenheim. Just as he’d requested.

For more information on the 150th celebrations, visit blenheimpalace.com