Eleanor Cadbury, Duchess of Argyll, 43
MY mother is South African, my father English. I was born into the Cadbury family, from the West Midlands: I grew up in London and had my school holidays in South Africa. I married Torquhil, the 13th Duke of Argyll, in 2002 - he proposed to me when we were on holiday in Cape Town. We now have three children: Archie, who is 12; Rory, who's 10; and Charlotte, who'll be eight next month.
We live in a flat at the top of Inveraray Castle. It's a very nice, unfancy, full of Ikea and John Lewis, nothing precious, nothing exciting, flat, which is great. I can relax: I don't need to panic that the kids are breaking a priceless picture or furniture. The rest of the castle is very much open to the public. We have tourists in at the moment from around the world including a large cruise-ship party.
There was a documentary about the castle in the States, which brings a huge lot of Americans over. We also get a lot of German, French and Dutch visitors, and many Campbells from all around the world. The Duke is the head of the Clan Campbell which attracts a lot of the diaspora, especially the States.
The castle was built in the 1700s. When the then Duke was made a Duke, he wanted a fancy castle to show off that, so he built this place. Today it's a complete mixture: it's got Gothic, Palladian – everything, really. It's pretty spectacular. The Armoury Hall has the highest ceiling in Scotland, 21 metres high, and the most amazing displays of weapons. The dining room has the original, French-style painted ceilings and walls. Apart from the Armoury Hall it's very feminine and pretty inside, if strong and masculine on the outside.
The castle, then, is a museum but is still very much a family house. Today the family did a photo-shoot for a German magazine. The tourists watched me wearing a ball-dress, which I wouldn’t wear on a usual day. The children were in their kilts. Usually we’re in jeans and trainers.
My father-in-law died soon after our engagement, so we took over the castle much earlier than expected. We moved in soon after our wedding and I realised, being an outsider, that we were surrounded by amazing talent and produce – Inverawe salmon, Loch Fyne oysters, Mull Cheeses, whiskies, hugely talented people and music. I thought, I've got the venue but no talent, they've got all the talent, and I'll try to put it all together. I started the Best of the West festival in the castle grounds in 2011 and it has grown with each year.
We face different challenges each year. The first year, when I was trying to find craft stalls, I rang 200 people and didn't get anywhere. This year, 200 people rang me. Next weekend sees the 2016 festival. It covers music, food, whisky, and arts and crafts and activities. The music acts include Linden, Manran, Skipinnish and the League of Highland Gentlemen. We've got young singers, Gaelic choirs: it really is the best of the west.
The festival has to cover everything. I didn't want it to be just a pop concert or just a food fair. We used to run the Connect festival here. It was too big for what we wanted, so we took the best of that, and the best of the food around here, and put it all together. It's a real family day out. You can come with your kids, who have free entry they're under eight. There's something for all ages. The festival gets the same mix of visitors as the Castle's tourists. We're aiming for around 5,000 people next weekend - if we can get that, it will be fantastic.
Best of the West Festival, Inveraray Castle, September 10/ 11. www.bowfest.co.uk
Russell Leadbetter
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