From agriculture to aristocracy, meet the "accidental duchess"

It’s not every day that you interview a duchess. Like, how are you even supposed to address one?

I Google furiously before making the phone call. Your Grace?

“Just call me Emma,” comes a reassuring voice at the other end of the line.

Phew.

But maybe that should not come as a surprise. Because while Emma Manners may be Duchess of Rutland – and calls Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, England, home – she actually grew up on a hill farm on the Welsh border.

Why is this of interest to Irish Country Living readers? Well, if you have ever watched The Crown on Netflix, you might recognise Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) from seasons one to three. Also, Emma recently released her autobiography, The Accidental Duchess, charting her journey from agrarian to aristocrat, after falling in love with David Manners: without realising that he was heir to the title of 11th Duke of Rutland.

That honour, however, also came with £11m worth of inheritance tax, which meant that Emma had to call on the resourcefulness ingrained in her on the family farm, where her parents reared Hereford cattle and Kerry Hill sheep and also ran a B&B.

Put it simply: she’s no stranger to putting on a high-vis jacket or clambering up a ladder if there’s a job to do.

“Farming makes the ultimate entrepreneurs,” she says, “there’s nothing they don’t put their hand to.”

In the book, the mother-of-five charts how she has steered the fortunes of Belvoir through good times and bad, including the breakdown of her marriage due to her husband’s infidelity.

Today they are on good terms, however, and live in separate wings of the castle with their new partners.

“It’s like delivering a child in a way,” she says of writing her life story. “I hope it’s uplifting for people and it’s about how to overcome whatever is put in front of you and I hope that it shines a light on the role of women in private heritage throughout the British Isles.”

Filming to farming

Belvoir costs approximately £700,000 a year to run, which has meant diversification in different forms, from opening up the castle’s state rooms to the public and developing a retail village, to providing filming locations to productions like The Crown.

Belvoir’s “Elizabeth Saloon” was used as a stand-in for Windsor Castle when actresses Claire Foy and Olivia Coleman were in the title role.

Did Emma get to make an appearance herself?

“People always ask that,” she laughs, “but I spend a lot of my time with a mop cap on, being a member of the household service team and try to keep my head below the parapet and let them get on with the job in hand… peeking from behind a column in perhaps the ballroom.”

Though, it’s worth noting that the actual Queen visited Belvoir for lunch in 1997.

“I was just bowled over by her charisma,” says Emma. “She radiated this energy of charm and wisdom around the whole castle on her visit.”

Another important source of income at Belvoir is the farm.

“We have about 4,500 acres of farmland that we farm in-house,” says Emma, explaining that as well as growing crops like potatoes, wheat, barley and oilseed rape, they have developed a vineyard and keep 1,200 Mule sheep and Hereford cattle, which she originally brought from the home farm.

Today, the home place is run by her brother, who diversified himself by setting up a mineral water company on the farm in 1990, called Radnor Hills.

Christmas at the castle

At present, Belvoir has been transformed into a Cinderella inspired- fairytale experience for the festive season. All the castle’s state rooms – such as the Elizabeth Saloon, the 130 foot long Regent’s Gallery and the dining room – are decked out and open to the public.

“There’s about 70 Christmas trees,” hints Emma of the logistics involved. “It’s much more fun putting it up than taking it down, but that’s the same for everyone with Christmas, isn’t it?”

As for the family’s private Christmas celebrations, Christmas Eve sees a family shoot, “a light supper and a glass of bubbly”.

“And for some reason I’m still doing my adult children’s stockings,” laughs Emma.

Christmas Day begins with breakfast in the private dining room, before going to church in the estate’s chapel. Presents are then opened in the Elizabeth Saloon, before dinner in the state dining room. This features a goose or turkey from one of Belvoir’s tenant farmers, all the trimmings (“I love apricot stuffing and sausage meat and cranberry stuffing”) and the traditional Christmas pudding brought into the dining room in flames.

Then, it’s time for another tradition.

“We would have the Queen’s speech at three,” she continues, “but now we’ll have the King’s speech.”

What does a duchess want for Christmas, though?

“I would love a really lovely dressing gown and a pair of cosy slippers,” she replies, “that’s about it.”

The Accidental Duchess by Emma Manners, Duchess of Rutland is published by Pan Macmillan, £12.99/€14.86.