Anne Glenconner was born Girl Anne Coke in 1932. The eldest daughter of the fifth Earl of Leicester, she grew up at Holkham Corridor in Norfolk and was a childhood buddy of the late Queen and Princess Margaret and a maid of honour on the Queen’s coronation. She married Colin Tennant, later Lord Glenconner and the proprietor of Mustique, an island within the West Indies, in 1956. They’d 5 youngsters collectively, of whom three survive. Her son Charlie, a former heroin addict, died of hepatitis in 1996. Her son Henry died of Aids in 1990. She was appointed woman in ready to Princess Margaret in 1971. Her first ebook, a memoir known as Girl in Ready, was revealed in 2019 and have become a shock hit. Now she has written one other, No matter Subsequent?, by which she reveals that in her marriage she was a sufferer of home violence.
Why did you resolve to write down a second memoir?There was a terrific deal extra that I wished to say. However the publication of Girl in Ready made me braver. It’s extraordinary to change into a bestselling creator at 87, your ebook translated into 12 languages.
You had been born into one other world. Did the cooks at Holkham actually collect up the shed velvet from deers’ antlers, fry it and serve it on toast?Sure, they did and if the footman carried uncooked eggs in a bain-marie from the kitchen to the nursery, it was to this point, they had been boiled on arrival. The world has modified immeasurably. I believe anybody who lived by means of the warfare was marked for ever by it. We went by means of so much. I do discover it a bit unusual what individuals complain about these days.
However isn’t stoicism a double-edged sword? As you admit in your ebook, life may need been higher for you and your youngsters in case you’d talked extra.Sure, however due to this ebook, I’ve had probably the most fantastic conversations with them. We’ve been in a position to speak about what Colin, their father, did to them in nice element and I’ve been in a position to say: “Oh, darlings.”
You’re feeling that your governess, Miss Bonner, who tied you to your mattress at night time as a baby, made you extra susceptible to a person like Colin Tennant. Does she nonetheless hang-out you?No, as a result of I used to be in a position to homicide her in my novel A Haunting at Holkham [published in 2021]. I removed her and there was an exquisite feeling of aid. That is true of quite a lot of the terrible issues which have occurred to me in my life. Now I’ve written about them, I really feel fully completely different. It’s had an exquisite impact on me.
Colin was a Jekyll and Hyde determine, wasn’t he? Nice enjoyable at one second and harsh and violent on the subsequent.Sure. He was fantastic, however he was additionally harmful. The entire time you had to pay attention to that and anticipate it. It was exhausting. At first, I didn’t understand how to deal with him in any respect. I had my ninetieth party at Holkham Corridor. We ate within the Lengthy Gallery, which is the place I had my popping out [as a young woman], watching the Queen Mom whirling to Tommy Kinsman [and his orchestra]. So many reminiscences got here flooding again. However I additionally thought: I’m so glad Colin isn’t right here.
Colin had quite a lot of affairs, big appetites, a compulsive facet. I believe leaving his property to his valet was a closing cruelty
Why did you by no means go away him?I wasn’t introduced up like that. One tried and tried. After he almost killed me [Tennant violently beat her on Mustique], our marriage did change. We led extra separate lives. He spent much more time within the West Indies and I used to be in England with the kids. If we’d needed to dwell cheek by jowl, it will have been a lot more durable, as it’s for most individuals.
Are you any nearer now to understanding why, when he died in 2010, he left his whole property to his valet, Kent Adonai?Not likely. I simply suppose it was a closing cruelty. Folks do ask if he was homosexual or bisexual, however I actually don’t know. He had quite a lot of affairs with women. He had big appetites. It was the identical with buying. In India as soon as, he noticed these home windows on a home. He wished them, however not a duplicate. He wished these very home windows. He had a compulsive facet.
What about Princess Margaret? She’s broadly portrayed as having been spoilt and tough, however you’ve all the time insisted that is unfair.She was probably the most fantastic buddy to me, as a result of she noticed all this [the trouble with Colin] occurring. She had among the similar issues herself – I noticed how Tony [Lord Snowdon] behaved – and it was worse for her, as a result of she was within the public eye. However she saved my life in a means. She was caring, however she was additionally sensible. She didn’t approve of crying or moaning. You needed to pull your self collectively.
In The Crown, you had been performed by Nancy Carroll. Did you watch it? Do you continue to watch it?I did watch it once I was in it. But it surely’s fantasy. That terrible nation membership swimming pool we sit by! And it’s as if I used to be pimping for Princess Margaret. All I did was introduce her to somebody [Roddy Llewellyn, who became her lover]. What they’ve performed is to take a tiny kernel of fact and exaggerate it into one thing fully false. It makes me so offended.
What’s the key to being so match and energetic at 90?Nicely, I’ve given up supper. I discover that consuming late offers me indigestion and I wished to reduce weight round my center. It’s marvellous. I by no means really feel hungry. I’ve breakfast and a very good lunch and that’s it. I misplaced a stone with out attempting. I additionally stroll daily and correctly. You’ve bought to elevate your toes up.
What about grief? You’ve suffered horrible losses.I’m fortunate that I’ve all the time had my Christian religion. However you simply need to hold going. The ache doesn’t ever go away fully, nevertheless it does get higher. One factor that did assist was to spoil myself by doing one thing I actually beloved, like doing my {photograph} albums or going to a gallery. However I nonetheless take into consideration my sons daily. Completely I do.
What are you going to do subsequent?Who is aware of? I’m 90 and a half and I do typically get exhausted. However I’m having such an exquisite time. Life is so thrilling. I’m occurring The One Present on Monday.
No matter Subsequent? Classes from an Sudden Life by Anne Glenconner is revealed in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton (£22). To help the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Supply expenses could apply
