I was very privileged today to have a private viewing of Althorp.
The staff had started decorating the house for Christmas with an enormous tree in the hall, the house was warm and very cosy, you felt you could have snuggled up in a chair in front of a fire and read a book. Yet the art, the books the paintings were to die for, I felt so clever that I could name the Reynolds and Gainsboroughs, but what of the many other paintings, each jostling for your attention on every wall. I wished we were in an Harry Potter book and the people in the paintings could have moved and talked to me. At the top of the stairs was a charming portrait of the Princess of Wales, and the odd photograph of her on side tables holding Prince William as a baby. Yet the house is very grand, the state bedrooms are opulent, and have been graced by the presence of many monarchs in the 500 years history of the family and house from William of Orange to George V, and of course their own Royal Princess.
More Than Good Manners looks forward to hosting many guests' stays at Althorp, everything was perfect, run by an amazing team of devoted staff, who feel very much part of the Althorp family.
