Inside Britain’s Super Rich Longleat Estate - Ep.1 | TRULY

do you find it way it's moving from not being aristocracy to being our stock receipt obviously you can't stress yourself out with it if you want to I feel like it's a transitional phase so not all of its going to go smoothly do I have to call you lady wait a minute change is coming to long leat the aristocratic house with liens in the backyard this national treasure belongs to a lord like no other monogamy wasn't ever going to work for me but he's handed control to his son and heir Suellen and sliding down these as a favorite as a kid who's moved back in with his new wife sort of a tingling feeling that doesn't really feel real there are nobility they own this joint they are over a standing in a breathing in society grand houses like this aren't easy to manage hundreds of people now depend on them many of you people notice a lot of changes this year I would have said she only go after the best start ever and having two Lords under one roof creates its own tensions they live in separate parts of the house so they do like to leave reasonably separate wife's I try not to do anything to irritate them now they must try to make a home in this most extraordinary of houses he's inherited a massive responsibility and a huge amount of history [Music] you have to just not be scared to use it there's no point having anything if you enjoy it we haven't done this before [Music] Sunday morning in June visitors make their way towards longleat one of the finest private estates in the country the grounds are filled with wild animals from around the world the house was built in 1518 and it's been owned by the same aristocratic family for 14 generations hi good morning do you have anything booked online yeah and your records people ask about the Markus farm and they do they say is he in and I say yo you go down to that X's in there much of the house is now shared with the general public but the Marquess of Bath himself is still very much in residence [Music] he's on the top floor in a self-contained apartment with its own front door and a butler just working through some of the things they can find on the desk this desk is a bit of a bit of a challenge is it not the filing system is urgency their long-term storage their longer-term Lord bath lives alone he has an open marriage and his wife lady bath divides her time between longleat and a house in France [Music] Trudy is a longtime wife luyt who visits Lord bath when his wife's not there you still enjoy the company of women yes I do as you'd expect and not a discard on the Shelf yet at 82 Lord bath is winding down his activities he's handed the running of the estate to his son Sue Ellen I'm really content to doesn't think I'm now in retirement my hand is still Mutulu but only in a safety valve roof with Sue Ellen lives on the floor below in a separate flat of his own Carlos is the housekeeper this flat is where Solon grew up now it's home to him and his new wife Emma now in control the couple can put their own stamp on the house going for what I want to do more events here you know we used to have concerts here the Rolling Stones played here once you know we used to have a sort of last night of the Proms thing here and I'd like to do more charity events small art events and concerts I think that would be fun today the couple are hosting a party for the rainbow trust one of their charities down in the public gardens living within a tourist attraction yeah really living in a theme park which is great it's like a dream isn't it living with all these fun things to go and do right outside the door Sue Ellen is the heir to this 190 million pound estate someday watching telly yeah well we've done a bit of that and now it's the rainbow trust event we do early tours over I mean people are literally passing by your front door every day yeah as well as the estate Sue Ellen inherits at IKEA he and Emma our Lord and Lady Weymouth but they've asked their staff to drop the traditional formalities your bath is no bath so is my lord I feel fine absolutely fine I think so I think it's all part of it's all part of the house and it's obviously with the new generation with sterling and Emma they'd like to be called by their first names and that equally is this comfortable to me in formal situations I will use their titles Jeff is the house steward in charge of protecting the house and maintaining its contents I'm just going to go into the private side now and just check the private side of the house there's no there's no one home anyway just to make sure everything's where it should be he's a regular visitor to the family's private apartments lady bath and little bath Lord bath has made Longley house quite unique for his colorful character and his lifestyle yeah I see him probably every day every other day does he come down to supper sometimes he comes down depending on who's home he will come down for lunch and dinner depending on who's home depending on who's home yes I can't possibly tell you although Lord baths open about his wife 'lets Jeff is used to being discreet no no not to I just I just can't discuss lady bath and it's lady bath who will affect where he is every family has things that go on in their life that they would like to keep private so just be able to make a judgment call on on things that do happen in the house from time to time and ensure that it's dealt with appropriately and discreetly and the people that need to know know and the people that don't need to know definitely don't find out early Monday morning and the residents of longleat are already up [Music] how steward Jeff is heading in from his cottage on the estate to open up for today's visitors okay sue ellen's now responsible for a workforce of more than 400 people this house has been in my family now for nearly 400 years then you do feel this responsibility on one had to keep it going to reserve it it was sue Ellen's grandfather who started the safari park it was the only way he could afford the upkeep of the fragile old building and it's priceless art [Music] although I'm a fairly comfortably off in money ways I would certainly not have had enough money to keep the house out his liens became famous and soon the park was paying for the house but running the estate was a full-time occupation which he hoped his descendants would carry on yeah I used to I used to work for him so I think that the rate of pay was 1 pound 20 an hour the the one experience that really stands out there was a tree that had ivy all over and my job was to to get this ivy off the tree and it was a day not too dissimilar to this one it was a hot sunny day and for a period I was just putting it with one arm and he had been parked in his Subaru a Subaru just behind the church wall watching me and he crept up behind me I had no idea was there and then said use both fucking hands you lazy little anyway I learned never to be a risk of looking lazy in front of him again he wanted you to have a work ethic yeah he wanted me to work ethic absolutely these days there are many new animals but the famous lions remain a draw and one of the most popular characters in the park dates back to sue Ellen's grandfather's time he's got an outdoor heated for and I know he feel the heat hers at 53 Nico's believed to be the second oldest male gorilla in the world Steve weather for breakfast lunch or dinner he does like a mango fruit yogurt Nico has been living on this island for 28 years animal keeper mark has been looking after him for 24 of them enjoy eating eating and sleeping that is Nico's look role in life that's that that's what keeps him happy these days there are detractors to the idea of an island I mean obviously surrounded by water gorillas are good with water but the other side is it's it's it's isolated it's peaceful it's quiet you know and gorillas are quite peaceful gentle quiet and shy animals so it's quite nice that they're out here and they don't get hassled 24/7 Nico has been on his own since his companion died so he's been on his own for seven years now and this is what would happen to him anyway even if he were in the wild he would have long since been deposed by a younger male this is actually normal hands overpower a young younger generation that's right yeah what's happening in a house kind of yeah I suppose so yes with the family yeah [Music] at the side of the house there's one private garden where the public aren't allowed emma is the daughter of a Nigerian oil tycoon and an English mum she met Sue Ellen through a distant family connection how well do you know the house pretty well I mean there's a few doors that are a mystery still there was one that I found yesterday that's locked so I might ask somebody to open it just just for the secret how many rooms there are a few hundred rooms it is massive I remember coming for the first time with Ceylon when we started seeing each other which was a strange feeling you know it was kind of exciting to come down I remember driving down the hill with him the first time and you feel I had your tummy flips a bit my Lords ladies and gentlemen would you please start the Lord and Lady waiver their wedding was held at longleat I think it's just exactly how you dream with it in a fairytale but how you want to get married there were over 400 guests Emma's parents aren't together but they were both fair it was the biggest party the house had seen in over a hundred years was really lucky I am aware I'm quite lucky it was just the happiest time ever you're I'm it's like yet when you aren't the lady of the house properly Shh scary because um everybody's walking you can't do anything completely in private really so I guess that's quite daunting [Music] masses Emma and Sue Ellen have two housekeepers a married couple Bella and Carlos yes yes we have I don't have any complexes about that and I think Bella doesn't have it to it it's it's our work it's a Java someone has got to do it and we're faith to do it and no problem whatsoever I know I am but I don't think like that they are not different from us well they are not the Royal like we see on the movies everybody it's like [Music] no because as the house is open to the public and they want to preserve as it once was a lot of it is is off-limits let's say they are too compressed they need space they do not know the rooms are are big but they don't have a space for storage but we hope soon will laugh yeah that's no lack of wardrobe space was actually the least of Solon's problems when he moved back in whilst the public areas are largely unchanged from the distant past brought bath used to live in the apartment the couple now share and spent decades painting vast flamboyant murals on every wall [Music] he wanted his art to be preserved for future generations and he opened the rooms to the public despite some of it being a bit x-rated there are probably a feeling that the figures of the protest stayed to the full crowds were kicking around if you're likely to be offended please waiting the passage out here and then if somebody starts making up as well help the new public tours through the family's apartment didn't go down well with his then teenage son it was fine until dad opened the private I mean I understand that that wants its minerals to be seen by the public and anybody that's invested that much time into something this man she'd would wanted to be seen but whenever I walked from one part of the house the other I'd bump into tours gotta get used to that I don't think I should have to get you're in danger of getting yourself seen as an arrogant departure so this is probably the most famous of my father's murals I think the reasons are the reasons why are obvious very dark and it smells quite strong strongly still the oil smell never went away it's not a silly question I mean why did he why did he create this I mean um well I mean as an artist it's it's a subject of interest do you ever use this room yeah we used to guess how people you know and when it's anybody's first time they always get put in the Kama Sutra yes was fun to decide who when Solon moved back home he decided to remove some of his father's treasured murals and we decorate there was a moment when I realized that I couldn't be looking at the same walls pushing 40 as I was looking at when I was four and so this room was a nighttime fantasy so it was very I mean the colors were very very dark Lord bath only found out after the murals were gone the consequence was the opposite caused a major rift between my father and me Lord bath broke off all contact with the couple he even boycotted their wedding despite it being downstairs in some ways it's his is his life's work yeah and you know he was and remains genuinely hers Lord baths extraordinary lifestyle was a source of tension with his own father as well the eldest son particularly never gets on with the father I mean that's the sort of paddy Joe moves from I see aristocracy I don't know why why should be I cannot think but doesn't see eye-to-eye with him at all no the covenants of longleat mean the eldest son automatically inherits it no matter what they do but whilst Lord bath is alive he could ask zulan to leave at any time outside of my apartments which are arguably under a different domain for a number of reasons which I won't go into but outside of my apartments I try not to do anything to irritate them you know guys the tensions in the family are something the staff work around you've got two laws and assholes yes yes they live in separate parts of the house so they do like to leave reasonably separate lives and that that doesn't make it any more difficult it just means you just have to be switched on a little bit more and just be wary of who's home I think is is the way I can put that the Safari Park is surrounded by a fence that 3 miles long [Music] every morning someone has to drive round it to check nothing's escaped in the night scene all the wolves you have to be relatively obsessive about this it's not completely obsessive it's just the safety in here is absolutely paramount the greatest fear is a fallen branch offering a ladder over the fence every fence is checked it's it's one of those things it's quite a mundane task and you can easily fall into the trap I've just was in reindeer and it's all ice normally okay you can't do that something could have come down across one of the camp houses and you could have a lion potentially where it shouldn't be Safari section leader Andy has worked here 28 years lonely is a very odd place it gets under your skin it's like one of those bizarre relationships eccentric oh yeah yeah I think it's next centric place for the vets and tricks but nowhere nowhere is even remotely like this place I think you've obviously got you got Henry who was who was a proper aristocrat he was proper English aristocracy then the present law bath who well I mean that man just speaks for itself he's just an incredible incredible man they smash them over and he was made there is only one of that man you know so it's probably gonna be very difficult to see all into to follow those guys you know Henry Henry in his father his grandfather in his father what a pair of guys you know and seolin he's got a couple of very flamboyant people to follow [Music] today another applaud baths lady friends is visiting [Music] Sylvana was a Bond girl when Lord bath met her Pig a woman like Silvana for example she's model and an actress she's independent in many ways she's just the person I might be looking for they've stayed friends for over 50 years as you like I should go to prepare this fuckin failure to give it to you put it in warned choose with what they've put up on the wall mm-hmm yes I have pcs for you and so where's my place hold no believe me on camera cameras to myself I should go and prepare okay Lord birth once wrote a song about Silvana hello there you know pretty color I've been following round London you shouldn't let my whiteness come between us so show to me how radiant you smile [Music] how did you coin the term why flirts Lobo yes these girlfriends sometimes expected to be called a little more than a girlfriend and wrong to say they were wives so while it became the term little wives little wives little wives little waves yes [Music] and a shield from the attitudes of okay Lord Bath immortalized 73 of his wife 'lets on a spiral staircase in the house they're numbered in the order he met them would you is this the sort of man that you would have married I mean would you like to marry ah that's a question to answer question even if one would it fantasizing that sort of you know I don't think it would be acceptable that's a him to him it would have been more than acceptable but for others I don't think they would accept it at all they'd forget you know being a chocolate baby coming into a family like this would never be accepted really not then [Music] one year after her own marriage into the family Emma's got some exciting news I like the way you feel it move now I can sometimes see it when it's ticking you know I can see my tummy moving it's such a massive thing that's an emotional and like huge thing to be pregnant so I'm very excited toys board games so that's good baby clothes in there it's handy you know the baby yes it's a boy a boy means a definite heir girls only inherit Longley TIFF no brothers are available haven't told the press but I know you know it's a boy um just just it makes it more stressful more pressure just thought you know I'm pregnant that's enough news for now you can know what it is later when it's boring well yeah I guess less questions to answer yes oh but that's just I mean that goes without saying when you get married you want to have children and happy family life and then obviously there is I mean obviously seola needs to have a child and he'll take over ideally that's what you would want to keep it going in the same direction there was always there I suppose so no one sat me down and gave me a lecture about it I wasn't like instructed in any way [Music] lonely house is the main family asset but it also includes Horning Shem an entire village contained on the estate there's the primary school where Lord baths and suelen a pump which long-lead owns and runs and over 300 residents their cottages are almost all owned by the estate residents can't buy their properties they rent them often for a lifetime it's quite an unusual way to live in some ways isn't it that you're the tenants and there's a lord in the manor do you mind that no I do it i watch that Nabi and I think yeah what do you mean well it's always been lords and serfs viras family have rented this cottage for three generations her mother was a maid at longleat so have you ever lived anywhere else today would you want to live anywhere else we live in origin [Music] but since Sue Ellen took over there's been unrest in the village Vera's son Steve rents a farm from the estate there you go I wonder said she only after the best start ever the security that we all felt with our tendencies that evaporated because nobody knew what the hell was gonna happen next under previous Lords rents in the village had always been subsidized but now they've been set to more commercial levels it was quite a weight up core to a lot of us you know um the rents narrow getting to the point where people can't afford to stay in the village people moved about people have moved away therefore you lose the heart of the village he's got to bring back trust and stability in the management that Longley has caught now this evening the villagers are awaiting a visit from long lead management to improve relations with the village sue ellen's changed the team looking after them Michael is the new liaison but he won't be offering discounted rents we have got to try me through the the rents as the properties reflect the market tonight's his first official meeting with the villagers yes yeah but you've come to the extent where the estate is in a position of rebuilding trust within the community and one of the problems we had with the last regime was communication we it's just completely non-existent okay education now given that lovely owns virtually everything in the village parish councils very keen to explore the possibility of having some affordable hangers against village yep rental value in the village now is beyond the pay structure that a lot of people are working on at longing rental Louise yeah I've heard lots of different ways about how things have been done in the past one thing I'm very clear on is that I want to try and no move forward and that's not going to happen overnight I'm a realist so I won't pretend otherwise it takes money well it takes time and the finances in work we are running a commercial business but acceptance so we have those commercial objectives which we put it always bear in mind of course but at the same time we want to try and work with the community I suppose people are more business happy now and it's a hard you know being in business you got to be hard-nosed you gotta make decisions that are gonna upset people as long as people can rely on the system that he puts in place to be fair and to listen and to act properly then I can't really see he here vehicle and it's not trying was it not turning all the time [Music] [Music] Suellen and Emma have spent the last few months trying to heal the rift with his father over the murals things a bit better between you yeah much yeah definitely we're speaking you crossed a bridge with him yes definitely hit dinner with him on Wednesday this week and it was great really friendly and happy so it's a time mm-hm but it's much better that there's no odd feelings between us you know if he even though if you even be here not see anybody else if you don't want to he lives in his bit we'd have an Abbott I wouldn't cross you know so it's it's just your the feeling you want there not to be any feeling of distance if you don't have to have it so it's easy it's just best for everybody better for the people who work here and better for us [Music] thank you as a gesture of goodwill to his father Sue Ellen has requested staff put back one of the murals he took down how long it's gonna take you to do they found a spare corridor for it but moving it caused damage that now needs repairing quite a bit to do so what's happened here what has happened here these are nice pictures you start out with here is one amateur artist and long leat tour-guide Yan will be restoring the mural these are the paths these are the first purchase that I'm going to try to work on and this one so then I have got a little bit of filling up to do okay but I'm not sure whether I have to use the original material under here I just think I can just as well use some sort of a filler and then for the rest this is or paint this is or oil paint okay it's exciting yes you'll be doing this when you came for a job as a guide at London house since taking over Sue Ellen and Emma have tried to make more use of rooms that used to lie dormant hello how are you this evening they're having friends to stay and dinner will be served in the green library when were entertaining this is generally where we would have house do you want to use the house absolutely absolutely this room wasn't used for for private use at all so it's just another example of you know letting the house live parties were never encouraged in this room because the antique books should ideally be kept in museum conditions even though it's in the non-smoking room I let people smoke not now that I was pregnant obviously but but but normally you know a bit of cigarette smoke a few days a year isn't gonna change anything that much and you know I think it's more important that the house lives and the rooms live then we maximise you know every single possible year that you can you can stretch out of the useful life of something otherwise what's the point what's the point what's the point the guests tonight include sue Ellen's bank manager the head of a libel law firm and Lord el Nene the chairman of Sotheby's [Music] friends Peter and Ana have flown in from Copenhagen and been given the kamasutra guest room [Music] wonderful for two nights whenever the family entertain in the historic parts of the house Jeff the house steward is on hand part of his role is to ensure that everything runs smoothly [Music] richard white why don't you take this Geoff's also there to keep tabs on proceedings and check that nothing of historic value is mistreated Cecilia and Emma fully understand and respect the collection they fully understand what I would call their responsibility to the house I enjoy protecting the family I enjoy seeing them enjoy their the house but I also get an awful lot of pleasure out of just protecting the house and walking away each day knowing that I've done the best I can to ensure that this house is going to be here for the next year the next 10 years and X hundred years [Laughter] [Music] first time mural restore a yan is painting the final touches are you anxious about doing it I was much warmer when I got the job don't know three patches here that I've done already and I'm quite happy with the result there's a rectangular here and there's a diamond shape here and they're the same diamond shape here when Lord Bath created these murals his public opposition to traditional family morality caused controversy [Music] on my own life I suppose I'm I'm feeling that monogamy wasn't ever going to work for me his open marriage and wife 'lets seemed shocking coming from a peer of the realm who sat in the House of Lords [Music] he hadn't wanted to marry at all but the long lead covenant required it note of loved heads a hundred children and I have always felt that Gandhi would be delightful with the the the patter of little feet up and down those that he said yes but lonely which I love could not go to any illegitimate child of mine perhaps surprisingly he only fathered three children two with his wife but Sue Ellen grew up among his father's many wife 'lets his mother was often in France this is the disco room they used to be a trampoline here this was always here and yeah yeah it was so yeah bouncing up and down on the trampoline there yeah I'm yeah packy bits not such happy bits but hmm it was what it was did you feel privileged did you feel like no I think as a child I would definitely have preferred to live in a cottage in the village like most of my friends did that you know I didn't really understand what the privilege was as a child so now as a child a child child I quite liked but set up of two up two down I mean two up two down tonight parents yeah would have been a very different life [Music] [Music] today the village tenants are having their annual fair I would say this is one of the most important days in our and our village life a lot of hard work my Harbor touch woods we're not far away were what an hour and a half two hours away from opening and it's all have been very very good he live in the village that was created by lonely Lord Balthazar Lord and we had you know to be polite and nice to them traditionally Lord bars open as the fair but this year for the first time Sue Ellen was taking over the role it will be his first public appearance in the village since he put up the rents Emma's been baking an offering for the cake store to whip some cream right thanks yes big days favor yeah absolutely you got your speech ready just remind I understand that the organizer sent you a few a few suggestions he has well he's actually very helpful is there a list of people who need to be thanked which is on this piece of paper here so I'm gonna go and deal with that that's the image you want to give to the villagers today yeah I just want them to like us obviously I think it's important when we have a good relationship in the village I'm glad that we're doing this I think it's good for them to see seolin making a speech and being responsible and you know saying welcoming them efficiently there are a few people that won't come to the fair because Jordan is gonna be there and they just feel is their way of saying you know you know you do best things that make you know we're not coming because of it only a small village but this is quiet there's a significant little moment for you too yeah very much that absolutely repairs where relations with the local community were not as good as they could have been it's an opportunity sir to re-engage and build bridges morning how are you hi there okay lovely Thanks absolutely happy to be here very very soon absolutely see you in a minute take care over to the right yeah where is the cake stand getting it here was a bit good I don't leave it here very happy to be here at the 2014 Horning sham village fair it's important to know that all of the money that you spend here is going to very good village causes including the school the church the chapel and the village hall so please spend liberally the fair is open thank you [Applause] [Music] five feeling in mo are very important to the whole village you know and it's nice to know that they're gonna be more involved hopefully with the village in if you like lead from the front you know unrest people have lost a lot of old original established people from the village but then times change and things move on they can look at the village as the old Wabash did looked at the village as part of their family just an extended family and so we certainly as a village we go to to be seen in to be thought of boy boy ceiling [Music] two hours later Lord Barth arrives to the bar with him is Prudie tell me make up make up make wave would you could you make room for democracy bar enormously helpful [Music] it's the first time Sue Ellen and his father have been seen in public together since the mural dispute hello hi again oh yes I know it's okay good good to see you I've got rise the villagers take a close interest in the family dynamics sons always disagree on how the father used to run the things father says you can't run this this isn't how I used to do it in a sense as well this is what we're doing there father this is my time now think me done bye-bye [Music] sherlyn and Emma leave Lord paths to enjoy himself Lord bath is just a huge personality in the areas he's a huge attraction just on his own words you know I think if we just sat more about in the middle of the field we did our affair just with him you know the people would come and see him because you know in a colorful country in many respects [Music] see one is a different different person altogether you know he's just a normal child who's happy to look after a very noisy system but hopefully the estate a move on in a positive manner these people make their own rules they've got their own house they've got their own money they've got their own way of doing life it's one of Hitler's watercolours look I I don't really understand what the hit Longway isn't just a place of work it's become my world woman's been flown to hospital after part of the miniature train at Longleat Safari Park overturned my doctor says I'm suffering from grief that she had merit see warden [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Barcroft TV

Views: 355,988

Rating: 4.7219687 out of 5

Keywords: amazing news, amazing stories, amazing story, amazing, barcroft media, barcroft tv, barcroft, documentary, real life, 2019, All Change At Longleat, truly, august 2019, Lord Bath, Britain, aristocratic estates, Elizabethan, Lady Weymouth, safari park, Longleat, Longleat estate, aristocrat, British, LFM389

Id: lMLWf1Zyd_k

Length: 57min 57sec (3477 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 02 2019