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 Nancy, Lady Astor
As soon as Nancy moved in to the House, she was a figure of great interest. Among her earliest guests were the Prince of Wales (the future George V) and Princess Marie of Romania. But it was after the First World War that Cliveden really came into its own as centre of social and political influence, when Nancy decided to enter Parliament. She made history when she became the first ever woman MP at Westminster in 1919.
From then on, Cliveden was a social whirl of important entertaining, mixed with life as a family home for Nancy’s five children. When Waldorf and Nancy travelled abroad, they were treated like royalty, particularly in the United States, where they were regarded as unofficial ambassadors from Britain.
The Cliveden Visitors Book is a ‘Who’s Who’ of the period. Writer and playwright George Bernard Shaw made the first of many visits in 1926. Winston Churchill became an occasional guest, as did Charlie Chaplin, aviator Amy Johnson, King George, Queen Mary and the young Joyce Grenfell, Nancy’s niece, who spent several idyllic Christmases at the House.
Perhaps the earliest sign of what was eventually to become of Cliveden came in 1942, when Waldorf’s concerns over the cost of the House’s upkeep prompted him to give the entire estate to the National Trust. The arrangement provided for the Astor family to continue living at Cliveden for as long as they wished to remain.
Like for many country homeowners, the post-war years for the Astors were tough, not helped by a distancing of relations between Nancy and Waldorf. Waldorf himself died in August 1952, while Nancy outlived him by another 12 years. The death of her eldest son, Bill, the third Viscount Astor, two years after hers, spelt the end for the 73-year long reign of the Astors at Cliveden.
More History ...
The 2nd Duke of Buckingham
The First Earl of Orkney
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Three Countesses of Orkney
Second Fire and Rebirth
Cliveden's 'golden age'
Cliveden and the Profumo Affair
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Nancy Astor by John Singer Sargent
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