The Guests

Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s fifth daughter, was a frequent guest of the Stanfords, last appearing in 1926. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and Princess Helena, second and third daughters of Victoria, were also occasional guests. Literary friends of Charles included Carrie and Rudyard Kipling, who visited in 1927 and 1930.

Place settings had to be carefully worked out in advance; guests’ names might be written on cards or Charles Thomas-Stanford might request each guest to take a given seat. Charles and Ellen normally sat at the middle of the able at the sides so that the principal guests were gathered around a common centre.