It is not often that one is fortunate enough to lunch with a duke. Charles Gordon-Lennox, the tenth Duke of Richmond and Gordon, was 79-years-old and jolly fine company when Lynne and I had lunch with him 16 years ago. At the time he lorded it over West Sussex, one of the most splendid parts of England, and held no fewer than four dukedoms – more than any other person in the realm. We were in Britain attending the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2008, and when an invitation arrived from his grace to dine on the estate, what could one say?
The Goodwood estate has been the Duke of Richmond’s seat for more than 300 years, it once covered 17,000 acres. Today it accounts for a more modest 12,000 acres of rolling Sussex downland, but it still encompasses one-eighth of the county. And with British property prices the way they are, credit crunches notwithstanding, you can only begin to imagine the value of the Goodwood estate.
Before lunch, two Americans, slightly worried about etiquette, had asked how the duke should be addressed. When told either ‘Your Grace’ or simply ‘Duke’, they were clearly uncomfortable with the former and decided to settle for Duke. Some colonials apparently have no understanding of occasion. With a twinkle in his eye and a wry sense of humour, there was little surprise in discovering the duke’s grandfather, nine times removed, was King Charles II of England. Even so, we discovered there was nothing daunting about chatting with a chap related to a colourful king of England.
RACING IS IN THE BLOOD
The current Duke of Richmond and the Earl of March and Kinrara lineage and
