Conversation
with William Cross
with William Cross
Author of The Life and Secrets of Almina Carnarvon
A Candid Biography of Almina, 5th Countess of Carnarvon
of
Tutankhamun Fame.
BBC Radio Ulster 11 August 2011
KIM L :
As we eagerly anticipate the return to our screens of the hugely popular period drama Downton Abbey it may surprise you to learn that the goings on of that fictional series pale into insignificance beside the real life scandal and intrigue during that period in Highclere Castle, the historic house which doubles as Downton. Between 1895 and 1923 Almina Countess of Carnarvon was the lady of the house and her colourful life is now the subject of a new book written by William Cross who tells me her story.
WILLIAM CROSS:
Her birth certificate records the name of the father as a man called Frederick Charles Wombwell. He was from the Wombwell family of Newburth Priory in North Yorkshire, however it’s quite plain to me that he’d already left the scene by the time that Almina’s mother, Marie, became pregnant; now you are being asked to believe by other people that the father was Alfred de Rothschild who was a banker from the very famous Rothschild family, who had already established themselves in Europe at this time. There are a lot of skeletons in Alfred’s cupboard. He was not inclined to women in the sense of fathering children with them. He was very fond of women, he liked looking at them; he was very fond of artistic women. It may well have been that, he was fond of Marie Boyer, who was Almina’s mother, but it may not have been Alfred who was Almina’s father; it could have been any number of people that Marie was also seeing on a much more romantic basis.
KIM L:
Goodness! Obviously like mother like daughter, but regardless of whether Alfred de Rothschild was Almina’s father or not, he was certainly the one who bankrolled her in such extraordinary style and put so much wealth her way that she very quickly attracted wealthy suitors – including the man that she married: the 5th Earl of Carnarvon.
WILLIAM CROSS:
Yes, that’s true. The mother was a social climber. She knew Alfred de Rothschild and Alfred de Rothschild had a soft spot for Marie. It’s pretty clear that he took over responsibility for Almina because Frederick Wombwell conveniently died and was forgotten and erased; so Alfred became her mentor and became her guardian – clearly her benefactor, as you say. It was Alfred’s money that led to Alfred determining who she was going to marry. That was as you say the 5th Earl of Carnarvon. By the time the 5th Earl of Carnarvon inherited the title, he was already in deep debt - £150,000 worth of debt, so it was a huge attraction to him to have his debts wiped clean by Alfred de Rothschild as well as the marriage settlement, to something like £500,000 – set aside for him and Almina.
KIM L:
Obviously we know him so well as the man who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb along with Howard Carter, who died of the curse. Presumably it was Almina’s money that bankrolled all that as well?
WILLIAM CROSS:
It was Alfred de Rothschild who was appealed to by Almina, to have the Egyptian episode pay rolled. Unfortunately, Carnarvon didn’t live long enough to see the results of all that investment by Alfred. Alfred didn’t see it either. He was long dead: the mosquito bite and the curse… Really people have to make up their own mind about that. I think it’s already been discredited in respect of the curse. The mosquito bite certainly did take place. He did suffer from blood poisoning and died a very desperate death, but Almina went to the rescue. She left England. She hired a little plane; she’d never flown before and she went off to Egypt. She said, “I am a nurse and my place is beside my husband,” so she went out there. She tried desperately to do something to save him but unfortunately blood poisoning had taken complete control.
KIM L:
You mention that she was a nurse. She had turned Highclere into a nursing home for wounded soldiers during the war. She was this indomitable figure, but it didn’t stop her enjoying herself either did it?
WILLIAM CROSS:
No, she was able to balance the two things. I mean, there was a day-Almina and there was a night-Almina. During the time of the First World War which opened up Highclere Military Hospital, she opened up for officers. Like so many of these women – these aristocratic women – who opened up their doors. But Almina was also a social butterfly: she was very much, (even during the First World War) ensured she was meeting the right people, she was pulling the right strings. Black marketeering was going on and whenever she couldn’t get something by one means she got it by another, and Alfred helped her enormously.
KIM L:
She also reputedly sold jewels off on the black market or let’s just say ‘on the quiet’ to avoid paying tax. Is that right?
WILLIAM CROSS:
I’m afraid her tax record wasn’t particularly good. In the years that followed the death of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, of course who’d left everything to her, she ensured the money that she had was actually kept away from the authorities. During the time that Carnarvon was in Egypt she was seeing another man and she was using that man to manipulate her finances. All the money that was left to her by Alfred de Rothschild was money laundered. The sale of £100,000 worth of pictures by Gainsborough was secretly sold to art dealers.
KIM L:
This is the man that she subsequently married and who indeed was to become her downfall
WILLIAM CROSS:
She knew the Colonel, her second husband. He was Ian Onslow Dennistoun. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army during the First World War. She knew that she could manipulate Ian and Ian unfortunately had lots of skeletons in his closet. He was a bit of a cad, a bit of a bounder. He had a particular weak spot for women. Almina saw that she had to have him lock stock and barrel, because without marriage there wouldn’t have been the opportunity for her to siphon off even more money from the authorities.
KIM L:
And unfortunately she also found herself in the witness box in front of all of the world having to confess to the money laundering; the adultery; the money that she gave to Dennistoun; the money that she gave the wife. That all came out! She must have been absolutely socially persona non grata after that?
WILLIAM CROSS:
By that time any good Almina had done, because of the work in the First World War, was long forgotten. The fact that she had Alfred’s money as well – huge amounts of money, (and she spent quite a lot of that and wasted quite a lot) at the end of the day Almina lost out. All these people dropped her like a hot potato. They would no longer see Almina the nurse; they saw Almina for what she was in some respects, which was a money grabbing woman – somebody who would take anybody to her bed. She had taken the Colonel to her bed and had taken others to her bed up the that point and had probably done it without any kind of conscience.
KIM L:
You couldn’t make it up actually. You look at something like Downton Abbey, this wonderful script that Julian Fellows has put together. You think, “Well that would never happen in real life.” The reality is actually much, much worse and more incredible.
WILLIAM CROSS:
Yes, I think so. I think Almina’s story is much more interesting. The truth is always more interesting than fiction – even when fiction is based on fact, it can never really portray people like they really were. It’s a story that’s worth hearing and it’s a story worth listening to.
KIM L:
Scandalous and interesting: The Life and Secrets of Almina Carnarvon by William Cross is available by contacting the author by e-mail at williecross@aol.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjrtJkiLxvQ
For more details about the book please see the following web sites :
http://lifeandsecretsofalminacarnarvon.yolasite.com/
http://reviewsoflifeandsecretsofalminacanarvon.yolasite.com/
http://launchofthelifeandsecretsofalminacarnarvon.yolasite.com/
