Damian Collins. Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon
Copyright
Dedication
• PROLOGUE •
1 • SON OF BABYLON •
2 • THE GENERAL’S STAFF •
3 • BRAVE NEW WORLD •
4 • CENTRE STAGE •
5 • FLYING MINISTER •
6 • CAVALCADE •
7 • THE GATHERING STORM •
8 • THE KING’S PARTY •
9 • PHILIP SASSOON REVISITED •
PICTURE SECTION
FOOTNOTES. CHAPTER 1: SON OF BABYLON
CHAPTER 2: THE GENERAL’S STAFF
CHAPTER 3: BRAVE NEW WORLD
CHAPTER 4: CENTRE STAGE
CHAPTER 5: FLYING MINISTER
CHAPTER 6: CAVALCADE
CHAPTER 7: THE GATHERING STORM
CHAPTER 8: THE KING’S PARTY
CHAPTER 9: PHILIP SASSOON REVISITED
• NOTES • ARCHIVES CONSULTED
CHAPTER 1: SON OF BABYLON
CHAPTER 2: THE GENERAL’S STAFF
CHAPTER 3: BRAVE NEW WORLD
CHAPTER 4: CENTRE STAGE
CHAPTER 5: FLYING MINISTER
CHAPTER 6: CAVALCADE
CHAPTER 7: THE GATHERING STORM
CHAPTER 8: THE KING’S PARTY
CHAPTER 9: PHILIP SASSOON REVISITED
• INDEX •
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS •
• ILLUSTRATION CREDITS •
About the Author
About the Publisher
Отрывок из книги
For Sarah,
and her love, support and inspiration in all things
.....
On 6 August 1913 Sybil, at nineteen, was married after a brief courtship to George, Earl of Rocksavage, the dashing heir of the Marquess of Cholmondeley. Philip had introduced Sybil to ‘Rock’; they had known each other through their mutual friend Lady Diana Manners. Sybil’s marriage added to Philip’s relative isolation at this time. She would depart on a honeymoon of almost a year in India, and when they returned set up home at Rock’s family estate in Norfolk, Houghton Hall, and their townhouse at 12 Kensington Palace Gardens. The marriage also caused a severe rift with many of their Jewish relations, particularly the Rothschilds, who took exception to Sybil marrying outside their religion. Philip gave his sister away, and their great-aunt Louise Sassoon and cousin David Gubbay were witnesses, along with Rock’s father, the Marquess of Cholmondeley. None of Sybil’s Rothschild relations attended the ceremony and they would have no contact with her for many years. The wedding was a quiet affair, and took place at Prince’s Row register office, off Buckingham Palace Road in central London. The ceremony lasted only a quarter of an hour and there were no more than ten guests, who were themselves outnumbered by the pressmen and photographers waiting for them outside.35
There can be no denying that in the Eton of my time a good deal of this sort of thing went on, but to speak of it as homosexuality would be unduly ponderous … I can only say that, in all cases of which I have been able to check up on the subsequent history, no irretrievable harm seems to have been done. Some of the most depraved of the boys I knew at Eton have grown into respectable fathers of families, and one of them who, in my day, was a byword for scandal has since become a highly revered dignitary of the Church of England.43
