The Accidental Duchess: From Farmer's Daughter to Belvoir Castle

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Life in a castle isn't always a fairytale, as the Duchess of Rutland vividly illustrates in her fascinating, revealing and funny autobiography. When Emma Watkins, the pony-mad daughter of a Welsh farmer, imagined her future it was as the wife of a younger version of her father. But then she fell in love with David Manners, having no idea that he was heir to one of the most senior hereditary titles in the land. When David succeeded his father, against all the odds Emma became the chatelaine of Belvoir Castle, ancestral home of the Dukes of Rutland. She had to cope with five boisterous children while faced with a vast estate in desperate need of modernisation and staff who wanted nothing to change - it was a daunting responsibility. Yet with sound advice from the doyenne of duchesses, 'Debo' Devonshire, she met each challenge with optimism and gusto, including scaling the castle roof in a storm to unclog a flooding gutter; being caught in her nightdress by mesmerised Texan tourists; and disguising herself as a cleaner to watch filming of The Crown. She even took on the castle ghosts . . . At times the problems she faced seemed insoluble, yet with her unstoppable energy and talent for thinking on the hoof, she won through, inspired by the vision and passion of those Rutland duchesses in whose footsteps she trod, and indeed the redoubtable and resourceful women who forged her, whose homes were not castles but remote farmhouses in the Radnorshire hills. Vividly written and bursting with insights, The Accidental Duchess will appeal to everyone who has visited a stately home and wondered what it would be like to live there.

Author Bio

Born Emma Watkins, the Duchess of Rutland is the daughter of a farmer from Knighton, Powys. She worked as an estate agent, marketing properties in London, and later as an interior designer. Today, the Duchess runs the commercial activities of Belvoir Castle, including shooting parties, weddings and a range of furniture. She has presented on various television programmes, including ITV's Castles, Keeps and Country Homes, and has produced a book about Belvoir Castle. In 2021, the Duchess created a podcast titled Duchess, where she interviews chatelaines of castles and stately homes throughout the United Kingdom. In her podcast's first season, she interviewed Lady Ingilby of Ripley Castle, Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill of Blenheim Palace, Lady Derby of Knowsley Hall, Demetra Lindsay of Hedingham Castle, Lady Devon of Powderham Castle, Catherine Maxwell Stuart of Traquair House, The Hon. Martha Lytton-Cobbold of Knebworth House, Caroline, Duchess of Fife, of Kinnaird Castle, Eleanor Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, of Inveraray Castle and Lady Mansfield of Scone Palace. Watkins married David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland, in 1992. They separated in 2012 but continue to cohabitate. The pair have five children.