Duke of Norfolk’s Bride Will Dwell in Stately Home

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 23, 28 January 1937, Page 11

Duke of Norfolk’s Bride Will Dwell in Stately Home

Particular interest attached to the marriage of the Duke of Norfolk yesterday with the Hon. Lavinia Strutt, the dark-haired daughter of Lord Bet per and the Countess of Rosebery. Fa? not only is the Duke of Norfolk, th| Premier Duke of the United Kingdom, but he is also Earl Marshal of England, and in virtue of that office he has control of the Coronation ceremonies. The young Duchess—she is not yet 21 years of age—will be chatelaine of one of the most ancient castles of England, and one, moreover, which is most beautiully situated on the banks of the silvery Aran, in tho heart of lovely Sussex. Arandal is associated with many phases of English history, just as the Earls of Arundal have been closely linked with the history of England. The first reference to Arundai dates back long before the Norman Conquest, for it is contained in the will of Alfred the Great. Then the castle was a royal fief, and Alfred devised it to his nephew. The castle still looks like a fortress of the Middle Ages, but the interior was remodelled at the beginning of the last century by the twelfth Duke, who was known as an amateur architect of ability. Every

room in the house recalls a page of English history. In the great Hall—the Baron's Hall it is called—hang actual helmets worn at Crecy, Agincourt and Floden Field. In this hall, which was badly damaged during the siege of the castle by Cromwell's army during civil war, is a record of another great event of English history, for the great window that lights the hall is a representation of the Barons laying Magna Carta before King John. It was unveiled upon the 600th anniversary of that scene at Runnymcde, and just 15 days before the Battle of Waterloo. The beautiful Gothic chapel is of particular ibterest, for the Dukes of Norfolk have always been Roman Catholics, and are regarded as standing at the head of Roman Catholic gallery, from whose tall windows can be seen the Arun wending its way through the peaceful countryside, hang th© family portraits, but missing from the collection is Catherine Howard, the illfated wife of Henjy VIH.