In our blog series, Lord Montagu shares his insights on the most stately of our newly transformed bedrooms which is now open to visitors.
I love heraldry and this was the perfect theme to adopt in this, the most stately of our bedrooms.
The heraldic shields of 70 of my forebears were photographed from an ancient hand-painted scroll in the family archives, then reworked and arranged chronologically for a frieze around the top of the walls. Each one commemorates an ancestor who was a Knight of the Garter, beginning with the order’s founder King Edward III (1312-1377). According to popular legend, the Countess of Salisbury (Lord Montagu’s 17 x great-grandmother) lost her garter at a court ball and the King picked it up with the words Honi soit qui mal y pense (shame on him who thinks evil of it). This phrase became the motto of the order.
The room design by Southampton Solent University interior design students Lola-Mia Gurr and Sara Riofrio features wallpaper with a lattice pattern, which echoes the Montagu heraldic device of three lozenges.
The four-poster bed was given a complete overhaul with new drapes, canopy and headboard, the latter embroidered with a fierce looking griffin crest. This is the work of Jenny Adin-Christie who made lace panels for the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress. She also produced the intricate satin bedspread featuring a gold braided ‘M’ surmounted by a baron’s coronet.
In the canopy of the bed, a canvas work moon by Sarah de Rousset-Hall looks down from the centre of the midnight blue lining. It is just a little fun in an otherwise quite sober bedroom. Happily for me, this is all in the style of my mother’s needlework, I am only sorry she didn’t live long enough to undertake the job herself.
The portrait above the fireplace is my ancestor, John 2nd Duke of Montagu who was also very keen on genealogy and heraldry, and was a Knight of the Garter. I think he would approve. I certainly approve of his choice of dog!
Hear more in Lord Montagu’s story here: https://youtu.be/LpctqtY3Eac
COMING NEXT: A grand design to create the Griffin’s Nest