Taz now has to organise a horse drawn funeral, using the same ponies that took Lord Onslow to the church for the wedding last week.
Final plans are still being sorted, but as far as I know, there'll be a private family service, followed by a funeral procession through the length of the 800 acre estate, passing along what used to be the grand avenue that led from the official estate entrance to the big house. The "Golden Gates" -huge black painted & gilded entrance gates with a small gate house on either side, stand beside the A25 & are no longer in use. They'll be opened specially for the procession to pass through enroute to the nearby Merrow church, where the Onslows have a family vault. Lordy's is the last space left in it. I think it's very fitting that he'll leave the estate for the last time that way. The end of an era.
Clandon Park's been the Onslow family home since 1641. Although his son will inherit the title & Taz gets on very well with him & his family, she says she'll continue calling him by his christian name as she always has. There'll never be another Lordy.
Scanning through the online newspaper obituaries, I came across this piece, written a few days before he died:
http://hightory.com/2011/04/17/earl-of-onslow-desperately-ill/I knew he'd appeared twice on "Have I got news for you", but I didn't know he'd presented a show on Radio 3:
"Lord Onslow achieved a degree of prominence presenting a rather eccentric Radio 3 show on rap, ambient house, acid jazz, jungle and thrash metal".
That's gonna make me smile every time I think of him now.
