Do you find it weird moving from not being aristocracy to being aristocracy?
Obviously you can stress yourself out with it, if you want to.
But I feel like it's a transitional phase,
so not all of it is going to go smoothly.
Do I have to call you Lady Weymouth now?
Ha-ha! I'll let you off.
Change is coming to Longleat,
the aristocratic house with lions in the back yard.
This national treasure belongs to a lord like no other.
Monogamy wasn't ever going to work for me.
But he has handed control to his son and heir Ceawlin...
Sliding down these was a favourite as a kid.
.. who's moved back in with his new wife.
Sort of a tingling feeling because it doesn't really feel real.
They are nobility, they own this joint.
They are of a standing and a breeding in society.
Grand houses like this aren't easy to manage.
- Stop! - Steady, steady, steady.
Hundreds of people now depend on them.
Many of you will notice a lot of changes this year.
I wouldn't say Ceawlin got off to 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 live reasonably separate lives.
I try not to do anything to irritate him.
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.
We have to just not be scared to use it.
There's no point in having anything if you don't enjoy it.
We haven't done this before.
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 1580
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 reference?
Do people ask about the Marquess of Bath?
They do, they say, "Is he in?" I say,
"Yeah, you go down for a cup of tea then! In the front door!"
Much of the house is now shared with the general public.
- Good morning. - Good morning!
But the Marquess of Bath himself is still very much in residence.
BELL RINGS
He's on the top floor
in a self-contained apartment with its own front door and a butler.
- BARKING - Good morning, Lord Bath.
Good morning.
Good morning, how are you?
- I am well. - What have you been up to this morning?
Um, just working through some of the things I can find on the desk.
This desk is a bit of a challenge, is it not?
The filing system is urgency there,
um, long-term storage there.
- OK. - Or longer term.
Right, OK.
Lord Bath lives alone. He has an open marriage and his wife,
Lady Bath, divides her time between Longleat and a house in France.
Trudy is a long-time wifelet...
Come on, Douglas.
.. who visits Lord Bath when his wife's not there.
You still enjoy the company of women?
Yes, I do.
As you'd expect. I'm not older than....
A discard on the shelf yet.
At 82, Lord Bath is winding down his activities.
He has handed the running of his estate to his son Ceawlin.
I'm really content to just sort of think, "I'm now in retirement."
My hand is still on the tiller, but only...
in a...
A safety valve sort of way.
Ceawlin lives on the floor below, in a separate flat of his own.
- Hello. - Morning. - Good morning.
Carlos is the housekeeper.
This flat is where Ceawlin grew up.
Now it is home to him and his new wife Emma.
Ha-ha! Hello.
- How are you? - Good. How are you? - Nice to see you. Fine.
Hello. Ready.
- Ceawlin joining us? - Yeah, yeah, he's just putting his belt on.
Now in control, the couple can put their own stamp on the house.
Going forward, 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, more 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.
Oh, sounds like they're having fun.
- You are sort of living within a tourist attraction. - Yeah.
Completely. Living in a...
Theme park. Ha-ha-ha!
Which is great.
It's a dream, isn't it? Living with all these fun things to go and do,
right outside the door.
Ceawlin is the heir to this £190 million estate.
- Hi, there. - Morning. - How are you?
- All right, how are you? - Good, thanks.
Nice to see you.
Hi, there. How are you?
- So, Sunday. Shouldn't you be...? - Watching telly.
Asleep!
- Reading the papers. - Yeah.
Well, we've done a bit of that
and...
Now it's the Rainbow Trust event.
They do early tours, don't they?
I mean, people are, literally,
passing by your front door, aren't they?
Mm. Every day.
You get used to it.
As well as the estate, Ceawlin inherits a title.
He and Emma are Lord and Lady Weymouth...
.. but they've asked their staff to drop the traditional formalities.
Lord Bath is Lord Bath, so he is My Lord.
- How do you feel about that? - I feel fine, absolutely fine.
- Does he like it? - I think so.
It's all part of the house.
And it's, obviously with the new generation, with Ceawlin and Emma,
they like to be called by their first names
and that equally is as 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-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 Lord Bath.
Lord Bath has made Longleat House quite unique
for his colourful character and his lifestyle.
- Do you get to see him much? - Yeah, I see him 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.
- What does that mean? - I can't possibly tell you.
OK.
Although Lord Bath is open about his wifelets,
Jeff is used to being discreet.
Sorry, have I hit a problem?
No, no, not at all. I just can't discuss Lady Bath
and it is Lady Bath who will affect where he is.
Every family have things that go on
in their lives that they like to keep private.
So, just being up to make a judgement call on things
that do happen in the house from time to time,
and ensure that it is 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.
House steward Jeff is heading in from his cottage on the estate
to open up for today's visitors.
- Morning. - Morning. - You OK?
BARKING
- Bye! - Bye, darling. See you later. - Have a good day.
Bye, Monkey, see you later.
- See ya. - Bye!
Ceawlin's now responsible for a workforce of more than 400 people.
This house has been in my family now for nearly 400 years
and you do feel this responsibility on one...
to keep it going, to preserve it.
It was Ceawlin's grandfather who started the safari park.
It was the only way he could afford the upkeep of the fragile old building and its priceless art.
Although I'm fairly comfortably off in money ways,
I would certainly not have had enough money to keep the house up.
His lions 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.
You were close to your grandfather?
Yeah. I used to... I used to work for him.
Um, so, uh, I think that the rate of pay was £1.20 an hour.
The one experience that really stands out,
there was a tree that had ivy all over it.
My job was 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 pulling it with one arm
and he had been parked in his Subaru
just behind the church wall, watching me,
and, uh, he crept up behind me, I had no idea he was there.
And then said, "Use both fucking hands, you lazy little cunt!"
I don't know if you can show this or not!
Anyway. Um, I learned never to be at risk of looking lazy
in front of him again.
He wanted you to have a work ethic.
Yeah, he wanted me to have a 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 Ceawlin's grandfather's time.
Now, Nico is a western lowland silverback gorilla.
He's a very special gorilla indeed.
He's got an outdoor heated veranda, he's got a fully heated house.
At 53, Nico is believed to be the second oldest male gorilla in the world.
Whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner,
he does like a mango fruit yoghurt.
Nico has been living on this island for 28 years.
Animal keeper Mark has been looking after him for 24 of them.
What does he enjoy in life?
Eating.
Eating and sleeping, that is Nico's role in life.
That's what keeps him happy these days.
There are detractors to the idea of an island.
Obviously, surrounded by water,
gorillas aren't good with water,
but the other side is it is isolated, it's peaceful, it's quiet.
And gorillas are quite peaceful, gentle and shy animals,
so it is quite nice that they are out here and they don't get hassled 24/7.
Nico's 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.
He, in effect, hands over power to the younger generation?
That's right, yeah.
It's what's happening in the house, isn't it?
Kind of, I suppose so, yes!
It is what's happening with the family, yeah.
At the side of the house,
there's one private garden where the public aren't allowed.
Wow, so sunny!
Bring my sunglasses.
Come on, then!
Good girl!
She probably won't bring it back to me.
Monkey!
Emma is the daughter of a Nigerian oil tycoon and an English mum.
She met Ceawlin through a distant family connection.
How well do you know the house now?
Pretty well. I mean, there are 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 for the sake of it.
- How many rooms are there? - A few hundred rooms.
It is massive.
It's enormous.
I remember coming for the first time with Ceawlin,
when we started seeing each other, which was a strange feeling.
It was kind of exciting to come down.
I remember driving down the hill with him the first time and you feel...
Your tummy flips a bit.
My lords, ladies and gentlemen,
would you please stand for Lord and Lady Weymouth?
APPLAUSE
Their wedding was held at Longleat.
I think it's just exactly how you dream of it in a fairytale book.
How you'd want to get married.
There were over 400 guests.
Emma's parents aren't together, but they were both there.
It was the biggest party the house had seen in over 100 years.
I was really lucky. I am aware I'm quite lucky.
It was just the happiest time ever.
- You're... I mean, it's like, you are the lady of the house. - Mmm.
- Scary? - Yeah, probably.
Shh! Scary because...
everybody's watching.
You can't do anything completely in private, really...
.. so I guess that's quite daunting.
Glasses.
You have funny glasses.
Emma and Ceawlin have two housekeepers,
a married couple, Bella and Carlos.
Do you see yourself as a servant?
A modern day servant.
Yes, yes. We have... I don't have any complexes about that
and I think Bella doesn't have it, too.
It's our work, it's a job and someone has got to do it,
and we're paid to do it, and...
No problem whatsoever.
Do you consider yourself a servant?
Uh...
I know I am,
but I don't think like that. They are not different from us.
They are not royal like we see on the movies,
everybody with the, like...
No.
It's slightly ironic, isn't it? It's a big house
but they don't have a lot of rooms here, do they?
No, because as the house is open to the public
and they want to preserve...
as it once was.
A lot of it is off limits, let's say.
Is her...?
Up...
They are too compressed, yeah.
They need space.
- They don't have a lot of room. - No.
The rooms are big, but they don't have space for storage or...
We hope soon we laugh!
And... yeah.
- He doesn't have anywhere to put his shirts. - No.
Lack of wardrobe space was actually the least of Ceawlin's problems
when he moved back in.
Whilst the public areas are largely unchanged from the distant past,
Lord Bath used to live in the apartment the couple now share
and spent decades painting vast, flamboyant murals on every wall.
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 will probably be a feeling that the figures are grotesque.
Say to the full crowd you are taking round,
"If you are likely to be offended,
"please wait in the passage out here."
And then if somebody starts making a fuss, well, to hell.
- And do we give them their money back? - Oh, no, no, no.
The new public tours through the family's apartment
didn't go down well with his then teenage son.
It was fine till Dad opened the private apartments to the public.
I mean, I understand that Dad wants his murals to be seen by the public,
and anybody that's invested that much time
into something of this magnitude would want it to be seen,
but whenever I walk from one part of the house to the other,
- I bump into tours and... - Well, you've got to get used to that!
Well, no, I don't think I should have to.
You're in danger of getting yourself seen as an arrogant
- departure from the... - No, I don't think I'm being arrogant.
I just want a home to be a home.
So this is probably the most... famous of my father's murals.
Erm...
I think the reasons why are obvious.
WOMAN: I mean, it is quite dark, isn't it?
It's very dark and it smells quite strong.
- HE SNEEZES - Strongly still.
The oil smell never went away.
If it's not a silly question, I mean, why did he create this? I mean...
Erm...
Well, I mean...
As an artist, it's a subject of interest.
Do you ever use this room?
Yeah, we use it as a guest room.
- Who would stay in here? - Who? - Who would want to stay in here?
- People find it quite funny. - Yeah, when it's anybody's first time,
they always get put in the Kama Sutra room.
Yeah, it's fun to decide who gets this room.
When Ceawlin moved back home, he decided to remove
some of his father's treasured murals and redecorate.
There was a moment when I realised 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 night-time fantasy, so it was very,
I mean, the colours were very, very dark.
Lord Bath only found out after the murals were gone.
The consequence was that obviously it 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 life's work. - Yeah. And...
You know, he... was and remains...
genuinely hurt.
Lord Bath's extraordinary lifestyle was a source of tension
with his own father as well.
LORD BATH: The eldest son particularly
never gets on with the father.
That's a sort of adage almost among the aristocracy.
I don't know why. Why it should be, I cannot think.
But, erm, one doesn't see eye to eye with them 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 as Ceawlin 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 him.
Good night, guys.
The tensions in the family are something the staff "work around."
- You've got two lords and two separate households to navigate. - Yes.
They live in separate parts of the house,
so they do like to lead reasonably separate lives. And that...
That doesn't make it any more difficult,
it just means you have to be switched on a little bit more
and just be wary of who's home, I think is the way I can put that.
The safari park is surrounded by a fence that's three miles long.
Every morning, someone has to drive round it
to check nothing's escaped in the night.
Five...
Seen all the wolves!
VOICE OVER RADIO: OK, thank you!
Do you have to be relatively obsessive about this sort of stuff?
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 one of those things that it's quite a mundane task...
And you can easy fall into the trap of just whizzing round here
and it's normally OK. You can't do that.
Something could have come down across one of the cat houses
and you could have a lion potentially where it shouldn't be.
Safari section-leader Andy has worked here 28 years.
Longleat is a very odd place.
It kind of gets under your skin
and it's like one of those bizarre relationships.
A bit of an eccentric place?
Oh, yeah! Yeah, I think it's an eccentric place full of eccentrics.
But nowhere... Nowhere is even remotely like this place.
I think you've obviously got Henry, who was...
who was a proper aristocrat. He was proper English aristocracy.
Then the present Lord Bath who,
well, that man just speaks for himself.
He's just an incredible, incredible man.
They smashed the mould when he was made.
There is only one of that man.
So, you know, so it's probably going to be very difficult
for Ceawlin to follow those guys.
You know, Henry and his father, his grandfather and his father,
what a pair of guys, you know?
Ceawlin, he's got a couple of very flamboyant people to follow.
Today, another of Lord Bath's lady friends is visiting.
Sylvana was a Bond girl when Lord Bath met her.
LORD BATH: Take a woman like Sylvana, for example.
She's a 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.
- Hi, love. - I brought a bottle of wine.
- Shall I open this now? - As you like.
Lovely.
- Yes. - I should go to prepare this for you.
Right. Glasses is the only thing. I've got a glass.
Do you remember this?
I've been saving it to give it to you.
You put it on the wall.
- I must choose what I put up on the walls. - Well, excuse me!
Mm-hm? Yes, I have places for you and places not for you.
So where is my place?
Now, don't bully me on camera.
I don't, darling. I never do.
I've got to be on camera, sticking up for myself...
- I never do! - .. showing you can't bully me. - I never do, darling.
Don't be unkind. [SHE LAUGHS]
- I shall go and prepare. - OK, love.
Lord Bath once wrote a song about Sylvana.
MUSIC PLAYS
♪ Hello there
♪ You mulberry-coloured Venus
♪ I've been following
♪ Around London
♪ For a while
♪ You shouldn't let my whiteness come between us
♪ So show to me how radiant you smile... ♪
WOMAN: How did you coin the term "wifelets", Lord Bath?
- Yes. - These girlfriends...
.. sometimes expected to be called a little more than a girlfriend.
Erm...
And it would be wrong to say they were wives,
so wifelet became the term.
Little wives.
- Hmm? - Little wives. - Little wives, yes.
♪ I'll garland her with necklaces and flowers
♪ And I'll shield her from the attitudes of hate... ♪
- OK? - OK, darling.
Lord Bath immortalised 73 of his "wifelets"
on a spiral staircase in the house.
They're numbered, in the order he met them.
Do you see the likeness?
Would you...? Is this the sort of man that you would have married?
Would you have liked to have married?
SHE SIGHS
That's a question... to answer. It's quite a...
Even if one were fantasizing that sort of, you know...
I don't think it would have been acceptable.
To him?
To him, it would have been more than acceptable, but for others,
I don't think they would accept it at all.
Don't forget, you know,
being a chocolate lady coming into a family like this
would never be accepted...
really. Not then.
One year after her own marriage into the family,
Emma's got some exciting news.
I like that I can feel it move now.
I can sometimes see it when it's kicking.
You know, I can see my tummy moving.
It's such a... massive thing.
Such an emotional and huge thing to be pregnant,
so I'm very excited.
They're empty. Toys.
Board games.
So that's good.
Baby clothes in there.
That's handy.
- Do you know the sex of the baby? - Yes.
It's a boy.
A boy means a definite heir.
Girls only inherit Longleat if no brothers are available.
I haven't told the press, but I know.
I know it's a boy.
- Why haven't you told the press? - Erm...
Just makes it more stressful.
More pressure. Just all...
You know. I'm pregnant, that's enough news for now.
You can know what it is later, when it's born.
- Because it's an heir? - Yeah, I guess so. Less questions to answer.
Is there a sense that you were always expected to have a child and an heir?
I guess so, but that's just...
I mean, that goes without saying.
When you get married, you want to have children
and a happy family life, and then obviously...
[SHE SIGHS].. there is...
I mean, obviously, Ceawlin needs to have a child who'll take over.
Ideally, that's what you would want...
to keep it going in the same direction.
There was always that expectation?
I suppose so, but no-one sat me down and gave me a lecture about it.
I wasn't, like, instructed in any way.
Longleat House is the main family asset...
.. but it also includes Horningsham,
an entire village contained on the estate.
There's the primary school where Lord Bath sent Ceawlin,
a pub, which Longleat 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 the lord in the manor.
- Do you mind that? - Not a bit.
I like it.
[SHE LAUGHS] I like it. I do.
I watch Downton Abbey and I think, "Yeah, I live it!"
It's England, isn't it, really?
- What do you mean? - Well...
There's always been lords and serfs.
Vera's family have rented this cottage for three generations.
Her mother was a maid at Longleat.
So have you ever lived anywhere else?
No.
I wouldn't want to, would I?
Would you want to live anywhere else if you could live in Horningsham?
Bit since Ceawlin took over,
there's been unrest in the village.
Come on, you two. Come on.
Vera's son Steve rents a farm from the estate.
There you go.
I wouldn't say Ceawlin got off to the best start ever.
The security that we all felt with our tenancies, that evaporated,
because nobody knew what the hell was going to happen next.
Under previous lords, rents in the village had always been subsidised,
but now they've been set to more commercial levels.
You know, it was quite a wake up call to a lot of us.
You know... the rents now are getting to the point
where people can't afford to stay in the village.
People have moved away?
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 Longleat has got now.
This evening, the villagers are awaiting a visit
from Longleat management.
To improve relations with the village,
Ceawlin'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 and make sure
that the rents in estate properties reflect the market.
Tonight's his first official meeting with the villagers.
- Settled in? - Er, yeah. - Settling in.
Settling in, yeah.
You've come into the estate, where the estate is in a position
of rebuilding trust within the community.
One of the problems we had with the last regime
- was communication. - Mm-hm. - We... It was non-existent.
- Completely non-existent. - Mm-hm. OK.
Communication...
Now, given that Longleat owns virtually everything
in the village, the parish council's very keen to explore
the possibility of having some affordable housing in the village.
Yeah.
Rental value in the village now is...
.. beyond the pay structure
that a lot of people are working on at Longleat.
Er, rental values...
Erm...
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 now move forward
and that's not going to happen over night.
Erm, I'm a realist, so...
I won't pretend otherwise.
- Erm... - Of course, it takes money.
- Well, it takes time... - And money.
.. and the finances.
We are running a commercial business,
that's evident, so we have those commercial objectives
- which we've got to 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-savvy now
and it's a hard...
You know, being in business, you've got to be hard-nosed.
You've got to make decisions that are going to 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'll be a good landlord.
Not working properly?
Is it not drying or is it not turning or...?
[INDISTINCT] Okey dokey.
- I'll get him out again for you. - OK, thank you.
I'll add it to the list. Thank you, Carlos.
Ceawlin and Emma have spent the last few months trying to heal
the rift with his father over the murals.
WOMAN: Are things a bit better between you?
Yeah, much.
Yeah, definitely.
We're... We're speaking.
- You've crossed a bridge with him. - Yes, definitely.
We had dinner with him on... Wednesday this week?
And it was great.
Really friendly and happy, so...
- It takes time. - Mm.
But it's much better that there's no... odd feelings
between us. You know, even though you can be here
and not see anybody else if you don't want to --
he lives in his bit, we live in our bit --
it's not...
Our paths wouldn't cross, you know, so it's just the feeling.
You want there to not be any feeling of... distance...
if you don't have to have it. So it's easier.
It's just better for everybody,
better for the people who work here and better for us.
RADIO CHATTER
Thank you.
As a gesture of good will to his father,
Ceawlin has requested staff put back one of the murals he took down.
How long do you reckon it's going to take you to do?
It's really hard to say.
They've found a spare corridor for it,
but moving it caused damage that now needs repairing.
Oh, heck. There's quite a bit to do.
So, what's happened here?
What has happened here?
This doesn't fit here.
These are nice patches to start out with. Here is one.
This needs some of that stuff. Here we need a piece of wood, in there.
Amateur artist and Longleat tour guide Yann
will be restoring the mural.
These, these are the first patches 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. - OK.
But...
I'm not sure whether I have to use the original material under here.
I just think I can use just as well some sort of a filler
and then, for the rest, this is all paint.
- This is all oil paint. - OK. It's exciting.
It is... very.
Didn't think you'd be doing this
when you came for a job as a guide at Longleat House.
Since taking over,
Ceawlin and Emma have tried to make more use of rooms
that used to lie dormant.
- Hello, there. How are you? - I'm good, thanks. Yourself? - Good.
This evening, they're having friends to stay
and dinner will be served in the green library.
When we're entertaining,
this is generally where we would have dinner.
- Do you want to use the house? - Absolutely.
Absolutely.
This room wasn't used 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 a non-smoking room, I let people smoke.
Erm... Not now that Emma's pregnant, obviously, but normally.
You know, a bit of cigarette smoke a few days a year
isn't going to change anything that much.
Erm...
You know, I think it's more important that the house lives
and the rooms live than we maximise every single possible year
that you can stretch out of the useful life of something.
Otherwise what's the point in having it?
What's the point? What's the point?
Champagne or white wine?
The guests tonight include Ceawlin's bank manager,
the head of a libel law firm
and Lord Dalmeny, the chairman of Sotheby's.
Friends Peter and Anna have flown in from Copenhagen
and been given the Kama Sutra guest room.
SHE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY
Look at the decor!
- Kama Sutra. - Wow-ee, look at this. - Darling, the Kama Sutra...
What do I think? That it's good.
Crazy!
- What do you think? - Erm...
Yeah, wonderful for two nights. [SHE LAUGHS]
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.
CHATTING AND LAUGHTER
Can I just check...?
Are we missing Mrs Stanley?
Oh, yes, Mrs Stanley can't come.
OK, can you give me two minutes just to take the seating out?
Of course, of course.
Richard, why don't you take this seat here?
And we're removing one seat.
Jeff's also there to keep tabs on proceedings
and check that nothing of historic value is mistreated.
So Ceawlin 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 the house,
but I also get an awful lot of pleasure from 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 ten years, the next 100 years.
CEAWLIN LAUGHING
First-time mural restorer Yann is painting the final touches.
Are you anxious about doing it?
I was more worried...
.. when I got the job, than now.
There's 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 there's the same diamond shape here.
When Lord Bath created these murals,
his public opposition to traditional family morality caused controversy.
On my own life...
.. I suppose I'm feeling that monogamy
wasn't ever going to work for me.
His open marriage and wifelets seemed shocking
coming from a peer of the realm who sat in the House of Lords.
HORN SOUNDS
He hadn't wanted to marry at all,
but the Longleat covenant required it.
I'd have loved to have had 100 children
and I have always felt that Longleat would be delightful
with the patter of little feet up and down those staircases.
Yes, but Longleat, which I love,
could not go to any illegitimate child of mine.
Perhaps surprisingly, he only fathered three children,
two with his wife.
But Ceawlin grew up among his father's many wifelets.
His mother was often in France.
This is the disco room.
There used to be a trampoline here.
This was always here.
- And... - Your playroom?
Yeah. Yeah, it was.
So, yeah, bouncing up and down on the trampoline there.
A happy childhood?
Yeah...
Erm, yeah.
Happy bits, not such happy bits,
but...
Hmm, it was what it was.
Did you feel privileged? Did you feel lucky?
Did you feel lucky as a child?
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.
I didn't really understand...
er...
what the privilege was, as a child.
So as a child, a child-child...
I quite liked the set-up of two-up-two-down.
Ha!
I mean, two-up-two-down, ordinary parents...?
Yeah, it would have been a very different life.
Today, the village tenants are having their annual fair.
I would say this was one of the most important days in our village life.
A lot of hard work, a lot of hard work,
but touch wood. We're not far away.
We're what? An hour and a half,
two hours away from opening and it's all looking very, very good.
We live in the village that was created by Longleat.
Lord Bath is our lord
and, we have, you know,
to be polite and nice to them.
Traditionally, Lord Bath opens the fair.
But this year, for the first time, Ceawlin's 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 stall.
A Victoria sponge,
yes, with berries, strawberries.
We've got to whip some cream.
- Hello, morning. - WOMAN: Hello. - Hi.
- How are you? - I'm all right, thanks.
Yes, big day today then?
- Yeah, absolutely. - Have you got your speech ready? - Ha! No!
You've just reminded me.
- I understand the organiser sent you a few suggestions. - He has.
Well, he's actually very helpful.
He sent me a list of people who need to be thanked,
which is on this piece of paper here.
So I'm going to go and deal with that
and I'll be back in a few minutes.
FOOD PROCESSOR WHIRS
- What'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
that we have a good relationship with the village.
I'm glad that we're doing this. I think it's good for them to see
Ceawlin making a speech and being responsible,
and welcoming them officially.
There are a few people who won't come to the fair
because Ceawlin is going to be there
and they just feel it's their way of saying, you know,
"You messed things up, mate. We're not coming because of it."
WOMAN: It's only a small village,
but this is quite a significant little moment for you two, isn't it?
Yeah, very much so, absolutely.
After a period where relations with the local community were
not as good as they could have been,
it's an opportunity to re-engage and build bridges.
- Morning, how are you? - MAN: Fine, thank you. - Hi there.
- Down across to the right. - OK, lovely, thanks.
- Nice to see that you're doing the job that your dad used to do. - Absolutely!
- Happy to be here! - I'll see your opening... - Very, very soon.
Absolutely. See you in a minute. Take care. Over to the right, yeah?
- Yes, down across to the right. - Okey doke.
Where is the cake stand?
- Fantastic cake! - Ta-da.
- Your own creation, is it? - Yeah, I made it. - Oh.
Getting it here was a bit...
I was going to say, no wonder you're carrying it personally.
- Raspberry's my favourite. - Oh, good!
I'll leave it here and then...
Hi, everybody.
I'm very happy to be here at the 2014 Horningsham Village Fayre.
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 but the fayre is open.
Thank you.
APPLAUSE
- Was that all right? - Yeah. - All right.
ANNOUNCER: It's officially open, so off you go and enjoy yourselves.
Ceawlin and Emma
are very important to the whole village, you know,
and it's nice to know that
they're going to be more involved,
hopefully, with the village and...
If you like, lead from the front, you know?
- All right. Good to see you. There you go. - Thanks. - Hello.
After the unrest that we've had, we have lost a lot of old original
established people from the village,
but then times change and things move on.
If they can look at the village as the old Lord Baths did,
looked at the village as part of their family,
just an extended family, and that's how we, certainly as a village,
would like to be seen and to be thought of by Ceawlin and Emma.
- Come on. - All right.
- Two hours later, Lord Bath arrives. - We're going to the bar.
With him is Trudy.
Can we make way? Could you make room for the Marquess of Bath?
It'd be enormously helpful if you would.
HE CHUCKLES
Well, happy days.
It's the first time Ceawlin and his father have been
seen in public together since the mural dispute.
Hello. Hi again, how are you?
- Hello. - Hi, there. - Hi. Hi.
Beverly.
Years ago, I was at your 21st.
Were you? OK!
- I was Cinderella in the big white dress. - Oh, yes! Now, I know.
Right, OK, good! Good to see you.
Right. Right, right, right.
The villagers take a close interest in the family dynamics.
Sons always disagree on how the father used to run things.
The father says, "You can't run this, this isn't how I used to do it."
And the son says, "Well, this is what we're doing now, father.
"This is my time now."
- Oh, my God! - How are you? - Hello, hi!
- Nice to see you. - Yeah, nice to see you.
- And you brought the sun, good for you. - Well, thanks.
Yes, Caroline Aylesbury, I do remember you, absolutely.
No, seriously, yeah. How's life?
Ah! I think we're done. Bye, see you soon, bye.
- See you tomorrow. - See you, Andrew.
Ceawlin and Emma leave Lord Bath to enjoy himself.
Lord Bath is just a huge personality in the area.
He's a huge attraction, just on his own.
And I think if we just sat Lord Bath in the middle of the field,
we could have a fayre just with him, cos people would come
and see him because he's a colourful character in many respects.
Come on, then. Ah!
Ceawlin's a different person altogether.
He's just a normal chap who happens to look after a very nice estate...
.. but hopefully the estate will 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 don't really understand what the Hitler thing was about.
Longleat isn't just a place of work, it's become my world.
A woman has been flown to hospital after part of the miniature train
at Longleat Safari Park overturned.
- Hi! - Hi!
My doctor says I'm suffering from grief that she had married Ceawlin.