A Chimpanzee in the Wine Cellar by Patricia Cavendish O'Neil

Author:Patricia Cavendish O'Neil
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Published: 2012-09-27T16:00:00+00:00

Horse racing was the most popular sport of the day in South Africa and with this came much excitement and glamour. On Met days, everyone used to spend a fortune on hats, beautiful dresses and glamorous suits. Every year I would hire a huge pavilion tent for all our lunch guests; these tents became one of the features of Met day and they used to line the rails. Kenilworth Racecourse employed a garden expert and the paddock and the entire surrounds had magnificent flowers and hedges all adding to the colourful event! Of course, the lunch parties with their unlimited booze and food would sometimes go on to nightfall.

Getting these Met day parties together was quite an undertaking. I used to hire caterers but I still had to decide on the menu and make sure the decorations were all in place. Then buying enough alcohol to cater for over 100 guests as well as the casual visitors was quite a headache. One had to get there really early and was unable to leave until the last guest had departed.

I remember one particular occasion when one of the guests and a friend had gone to relieve themselves in one of the nearby flower beds, as our own toilet facilities were full at the time and they were in a hurry to return to the festivities. Unbeknown to them, one of the other guests had passed out in the very flower bed they chose to visit and he only came to when he got covered in a shower of urine. The unfortunate and intoxicated man had to be taken to the men’s room and washed down; he was then lent a jacket by one of our kind waiters and driven safely home.

The drunken revelry I witnessed at these events never ceased to amaze me. I have never been keen on alcohol myself, with two glasses of champagne being my limit. I am sure this is a result of a terrible mistake I made when I was about 10 and living at Sandley House. I had come back from riding and, feeling hot and thirsty, seen in the butler’s pantry a lovely jug of what looked like delicious fruit juice. I drank the lot – needless to say it was Pimms! I got horribly drunk and sick and I also received a thrashing from my governess. After that experience I was put off alcohol for life. My mother also hated alcohol, so that might have been an additional influence.

In addition to the big Met parties we hosted, Broadlands was also a renowned venue when it came to entertaining. Famous faces who were cherished friends were the norm at the lunch table. Earl Spencer, Lady Diana’s good-looking younger brother, would often join us here with his family and like his sister he was so marvellous with children, constantly playing with them and cuddling and kissing them – they were so loved and it was such a pleasure to spend time with them all.

A very

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