MRS GREVILLE’S TREASURES

Margaret Greville rose from humble origins to become one of the most celebrated hostesses of the Edwardian era, amassing an extraordinary collection of treasures at her Surrey retreat, Polesden Lacey

WORDS SANDRA LAWRENCE

“I would rather be a beeress than a peeress.” Mrs Margaret Greville, society hostess par excellence, not only admitted but celebrated her humble beginnings. She was born in 1863, the illegitimate daughter of a cook at McEwan’s brewery in Edinburgh. The brewery owner, multimillionaire William McEwan, was Margaret’s rumoured true father, and he eventually married his mistress when Margaret was 21, making her the heiress to an astonishing fortune. McEwan, a ‘disruptor’ himself, famously refused a title, saying “I would rather be rst in my own order than at the tail end of another”. He’d made his money himself; he needed no airs and graces to spend it. Like father, like daughter.

This attitude did not endear Margaret to the aristocracy and the reputation she has attracted down the decades has often not been kind. She has been decried as social-climbing, meddling and, worse, trivial. When writer Harold Nicolson noted “the harm which these silly, sel sh hostesses do is really immense” he was writing generally, but he was implying Margaret. The photographer and diarist Sir Cecil Beaton described her as “a galumphing, greedy, snobbish old toad who watered at her chops at the sight of royalty.” Even her marriage to the Hon. Ronald Hulk Greville in 1891 is likened by the National Dictionary of Biography to a “grappling hook onto society”. Sir Oswald Mosley, hardly a paragon of virtue himself, described her as a “blousy old barmaid”. Was she really that bad? The truth is, we can’t know.

“One of our real challenges is that Mrs Greville had all her papers burned on her death,” admits Richard Ashbourne, the National Trust’s Assistant Curator for London and the South East. “This limits our understanding of her in her own words.” Ashbourne has been working with the team at Polesden Lacey, the Edwardian house in Surrey that was Margaret Greville’s weekend retreat for over three decades, on a new way of trying to appreciate and understand her. A new exhibition, Treasured Possessions: Riches of Polesden Lacey, attempts to portray Mrs Greville from her point of view. “We wanted to look at her through her love of collecting,” says Ashbourne, “asking what those objects say and trying to nd a new

The society hostess Mrs narrative. In the past there have been certain views about Margaret Greville not only Mrs Greville. Some there is admitted but celebrated her evidence for, but some is based on the way she was humble beginnings perceived by her friends – and her enemies. Some of the criticism by her contemporaries was inspired by envy and resentment for her success.” Mrs Greville’s ‘success’ lay in her capacity for lavish entertaining, one of the great upper-class accomplishments of the Edwardian age. She began hosting grand dinners and parties in the 1890s but upped the grandeur after her husband’s premature death in 1906. Instead of marrying again, she devoted herself – and

Previous spread, left to right: The iconic portrait of Margaret by Carolus-Duran, in the picture corridor; a view of the east front of the house This page, clockwise from far left: Polesden Lacey was built in 1824; a photograph of Margaret Greville; brooches on display at the exhibition, set with the cipher of Edward VII; a porcelain vase and a crystal dog from the exhibition

Clockwise from above: A Johann Zoffany portrait of the Viennese dancer Eva Maria Veigel being hung as part of the exhibition; the house is well-known for its extravagant gilding and opulent decor; a decorative box in the shape of a folded letter is on display at the house Polesden Lacey – to what became known as ‘Fridays to invite. One of the pieces in the exhibition is a shagreen box Mondays’. The staggeringly beautiful mansion, with its presented to her by King Edward VII at her very rst distinctive yellow render and elegant setting – the view house party. She also entertained Queen Alexandra and across the valley was described by one visitor as “a peep of Queen Mary, who shared her love of expensive objets d’art beautiful distance” – was remodelled as the ultimate house and would turn up unannounced for tea. The future King party retreat. George VI and his bride Charles Mewès and Arthur Joseph Davis, famed She entertained Queen Alexandra Elizabeth Bowes Lyon spent their honeymoon at Polesden architects of the Ritz, were and Queen Mary, who shared her Lacey in 1923: “So shrewd, brought in to create opulent rooms that would be, as love of expensive objets d’art and so kind and so amusingly unkind, so sharp, such fun, Margaret put it, “ t to entertain maharajas”. Her would turn up unannounced for tea so naughty,” the Queen later described her. Where royalty home was transformed into went, so followed the what could be mistaken for a top-class hotel. “After a aristocracy, and Mrs Greville became one of Britain’s most little antechamber to build excitement, you would have famous – and polarizing – society hostesses. passed into the main hall, much like a hotel lounge,” Those receiving that coveted envelope could look explains Ashbourne. Over drinks, anticipation forward to a weekend of unrivalled opulence. The Daily would build via a gigantic painting of a lifesize Telegraph reported in 1930 that the food at Polesden Mrs Greville set at the top of the staircase. Lacey was “unsurpassed anywhere”, and guests were Then the hostess herself would descend, treated to lavish dinners, strolls round the rose garden, tea making a dramatic, theatrical entrance. in the loggia and evenings full of society chatter and gossip “You’d see the painting and then you’d in the Saloon. National Trust volunteers have nicknamed see the woman.” this extraordinary confection the Gold Room. Every ‘Maggie’ Greville knew who to surface not deep red or ornate plasterwork is gilded to

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Top to bottom: Three items from Margaret Greville's ten-piece Fabergé collection: a pink egg with a diamondstudded clasp, a bookmark with pearls and diamonds and an ornamental frog; Princess Eugenie wearing the Greville emerald Kokoshnik Tiara at her wedding in 2018 within an inch of its life, lit by a 4,000-piece chandelier. Naturally, their hostess would have booked a famous music hall act or two for a private performance.

The pièce de resistance of the weekend was, however, something far smaller. Advised by the best art historians and dealers, Mrs Greville was a true art connoisseur but her world-class collection was, perhaps, outshone by a fabulous array of exquisite objets d’art, made by the nest craftsmen of the age. While much was purchased personally, many of the best items were presents, the giving and receiving of which was an important social ritual among the upper classes.

“Gift-giving was the thing and Mrs Greville was adept at that social game,” explains Richard Ashbourne. There are gifts from Queen Mary in the exhibition, including a beautiful blue and gold box. Most were displayed for guests to see and comment on, so that Mrs Greville could say, ‘Oh, yes that was a gift from King Edward, isn’t it lovely? So generous…’

Her Fabergé collection is particularly interesting in that respect. “You wouldn’t buy something for yourself at Fabergé,” notes Ashbourne. “You bought gifts. You see that in the ledgers, with spikes in the sales around social occasions such as weddings, birthdays and Christmas. Vita Sackville West once said if you’re given a Fabergé gift, it means that a relationship is in danger of becoming serious”. There are ten Fabergé pieces in the Greville collection, the classic ‘Fabergé egg’ being the most spectacular. Pink with a diamondstudded clasp in the shape of a snow ake, it is breathtaking, but equally telling are a Fabergé gum pot (for sticking postage stamps), a well-used bookmark set with seed pearls and a rose-cut diamond, and six tiny, intricately carved animals. Someone clearly knew that Mrs Greville had a weakness for pets. She is even buried near to her beloved dogs, which lie in a special dog cemetery in the grounds.

Even after her death in 1942 Margaret Greville has been castigated for leaving her jewellery to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, rather than to ‘worthy causes’. Nobody really knows the full extent of the famous Greville bequest (see box, below) but it does include treasures such as Marie Antoinette’s diamond necklace, Catherine the Great’s diamond ring and Empress Josephine’s emeralds.

Yet Mrs Greville did leave something very special to ‘the people’. She bequeathed Polseden Lacey to the National Trust, along with its priceless collection of art, the entire collection from her Mayfair home and a generous endowment. She speci cally stated that Polesden Lacey should be enjoyed by as many people as possible, displayed as an art gallery, a wish the Trust has ful lled ever since.

The new exhibition places speci c emphasis on Mrs Greville’s ‘treasures’, yet possibly the most extraordinary item on display is not a Fabergé egg, nor the ruby and diamond brooch worn to Edward VII’s coronation. It is in fact Mrs Greville herself, staring triumphantly down from her portrait’s ornate frame, reminding us all of opulent times past and a formidable woman who knew exactly what she liked. Treasured Possessions: Riches of Polesden Lacey runs until 30 October 2022, and from 1 March until 29 October 2023. www.nationaltrust.org.uk

THE MYSTERY OF THE GREVILLE JEWELS

When Margaret Greville died in 1942, she bequeathed her jewellery “with my loving thoughts” to the Queen Mother. Only the royal family knows the full inventory of the bequest, but it is thought to amount to more than 60 pieces. One of the most precious is the Greville tiara, made by Boucheron in a towering honeycomb formation, now worn by the Duchess of Cornwall.

Five years after receiving the Greville bequest, Queen Elizabeth gave her daughter Princess Elizabeth a distinctive V-shaped diamond and ruby necklace, also by Boucheron, as one of her wedding gifts. She wore the necklace regularly in the early years of her reign, and it was recently spotted for the first time in many years, worn by the Duchess of Cambridge at a state banquet.

Another prized piece is the Greville emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, admired globally when Princess Eugenie chose it for her 2018 wedding to Jack Brooksbank (left) – the first time it had been seen since Margaret Greville was photographed wearing it in 1937.

The Greville jewels made an appearance in the Platinum Jubilee portraits, when Her Majesty wore diamond and platinum Greville Ivy Leaf Clips given to her by her mother. Many more pieces in the collection have never been seen, but with a new generation of married princesses and duchesses in the royal ranks (since tradition dictates only married women wear tiaras), who knows what treasures might yet appear for the first time?