Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle

By Anthony Russell

Leeds Castle, once home to kings and queens, was a place of spectacular opulence and luxury, and it was here that Anthony Russell spent his childhood; a childhood beyond the reaches of ordinary imagination. Away from the extravagance, the embrace of his nanny and the strong but distant love of his mother, Anthony's childhood was often lonely and fraught with the pressures of upholding the 'Castle Way', unwritten rules that were, perhaps, not the best preparation for life outside the castle walls. The polite reserve of his sheltered existence was inevitably ruptured by the arrival of the 1960s, with its new music, mores, and social freedoms; things both alluring and alarming to a young man who had spent his youth in splendid isolation. Uniquely entertaining, Outrageous Fortune is an extraordinary memoir, an accessible and personable account of how the 'other half ' lives, and a real-life Downton Abbey. As he documents his life at Leeds Castle, Anthony Russell gives us a vivid and intimate glimpse into a fascinating world gone by.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Robson Press
• Release date: Nov 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781849546751

Anthony Russell

ANTHONY RUSSELL was educated at Stowe School, England. For more than five hundred years his family has served kings and queens of England as ministers, privy counselors, generals, and prime minister. He was raised at Leeds Castle, Kent, where his childhood was centered around the feudal world of his very rich grandmother, Lady Baillie, with occasional excursions to the much less grand castle of his other grandmother, Lady Ampthill, in Ireland. A writer, musician, and a composer, he currently divides his time between Los Angeles, California, and France. He is the author of Outrageous Fortune: Growing Up at Leeds Castle.

Reviews for Outrageous Fortune

[ccayne_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a life and like all lives, rich or poor there is some good and some bad. Family wealth and privilege is what obviously set this story apart.

[judith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fabulous book. Brilliantly written. Amazing account of the writers, strange to most, upbringing. Hilarious descriptions of the English upper class in a bygone era. Funny and sad at times. Completely honest. I think the writer must be a lovely person. Highly recommend this book