Cliveden House
 Stately Homes |
Cliveden House is the third house to sit on the site it occupies, the first, which was host to the first performance of the patriotic anthem, "Rule Britannia", burnt down in 1795 as to did the second in 1849. The current House was built in 1850 and was bought by the Astor family in 1893, becoming one the most significant stately homes in Britain.
Cliveden's most famous resident was Lady Nancy Astor, who, in 1919, was elected Britain's first Member of Parliament. During the 1930s the House played host to the controversial "Cliveden Set", a group of politicians and prominent people who advanced a peace-line with Germany. In 1942 the House was given to the National Trust, although members of the Astor family continued to live there until 1966. In 1963 Cliveden acquired notoriety by hosting "goings on" involving senior politicians, including Britain's Minister of War, John Profumo, several nightclub "hostesses" and Soviet diplomats. The scandal, known as the Profumo Affair, was one of the reasons behind the fall of the government of Harold Macmillan, when it became clear that John Profumo had been having an affair, which he denied in Parliament, with Christine Keeler, who, as it was revealed, was also having an affair with a Soviet diplomat.
Today Cliveden is a private luxury hotel, although much of it, such as the oak-panelled Grand Room, the French dining room and the former library, is open to day visitors. The extensive beautiful parkland in which the House is set, is also open to visitors.