Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace was a gift to a duke Churchill after winning the Battle of Blenheim against the French. The Queen was unable to give him anything other than a house because he already had the highest title. She commissioned 240,000 pounds, which quickly turned into 260,000 pounds: a lot of money for three hundred years ago. Eventually, Winston Churchill was born there, and was said to dictate while in the bath. He would then get up from the bath and into a towel, which in one case fell down and he continued to pace while dictating. Suddenly, the door bell rang but he did not hear this as FDR walked into Blenheim Palace to find a naked Prime Minister. Churchill responded without the least bit of embarrassment, “You see Mr. President, I told you I have nothing to hide.” I imagine that FDR did have something to hide, however: his eyes. Anyway, he was known for being a very quick-witted man, whom always won the battle of words. One woman said to him “If I was were wife, I would poison your tea.” To which he responded, “If you were my wife, I would gladly drink it!” One actor sent him two tickets to the opening night of his show saying, “Here is a ticket for you and a friend… if you have any.” Churchill responded, “Unfortunately, I am busy that night. But if you make it to the second night, perhaps I will attend.” An interesting fact we learned inside the Palace, is that Consuela Vanderbilt once married one of the dukes because he needed money and her parents forced her to marry a European aristocrat. Consuela was not very happy with this because he was in 5’10” or so, and she was over 6 feet tall. They had two children, and 11 years of marriage, which fortunately ended in them finding people they both actually loved and married. They had the most faded tapestries I have ever seen. They were Flemish and took 10 years to sew (and only from the back, so that they could never see their work as it progressed, which was a great risk – and ultimately, one of the dogs had hoof-like paws.) Now, significant portions of the tapestry are white, likely from exposure to sunlight in the bright room and flash photography. I have never seen the effects of such things to this great of an effect, and I now see the importance of not taking pictures when museums say not to. One friend of mine mentioned that the Mona Lisa is already becoming deteriorated, not even from flash photography, but because of people even breathing near it. I hope that I see it before it ever loses a lot of quality. Throughout the Palace, a lot of furniture was from Versailles after it was invaded. Bright royal red and gold furniture in one room was made for Louis XIV(?). The Palace also had Chinese, German and French china on display. Some, or perhaps all, of it was from a fellow that lived down the street but could not fit it all in his house anymore. He asked the duke if he could move into a small area of the Palace, and in return keep the china displayed in the Palace and after his death it would belong to the duke. The man died at only 37 years old.

During our free time, we decided to go into the café for tea and cake. This was my first time drinking afternoon tea at a café, and it was very good. I got Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla. I also got an apple and blueberry cake, but it was somewhat dry. We got lots of great pictures throughout the afternoon; the grounds and Palace were beautiful. Although, I must say I don’t believe I am the hugest fan of the honey-colored stone that made up the exterior of the Palace, and also much of the buildings in Oxford. Perhaps that was the most available stone in the area.