On the trail of Churchill Again - Romance at Blenheim

The gate to the Palace

A little north of Oxford sits one of the most remarkable stately piles of Britain: Blenheim Palace - home of the Dukes of Marlborough and also the birthplace and wooing-ground of Winston Churchill. 

Blenheim was the gift of Queen Anne to the first Duke, John Churchill in recognition of his military success against the French in 1704, thereby thwarting the ambition of Louis XIV to rule the whole of Europe. (Any of this sound weirdly familiar: a Churchill defeats someone trying to run Europe?)

I mentioned previously that Winston Churchill was nobly born and he was, in fact, born at Blenheim Palace (when his mother went into labour prematurely there during a social visit) and he spent much of his childhood there. It was also the place that he proposed to the lady who became his wife.

Blenheim Palace

A decorative English lion mauls a French cockerel

The story goes that Churchill rose late and almost missed his chance with 'Clemmie'. He had to be roused and sent on his mission by his cousin, and good friend, the ninth Duke.

Finally, he and Clemmie sit secluded in the pavilion just beyond the formal garden and with a view of the lake. He is still slow to make his proposal and she was watching a beetle cross the floor and had decided that if it reached a particular crack before he made his move, she would leave.

Fortunately, Churchill beat the beetle!

the 'pavilion' or Tmeple of Diana 

They married in 1908 and Clementine remained his faithful wife and wise councilor until he died in 1965.

View from the pavilion