Chevening, also known as Chevening House, is a country house in the parish of Chevening, Kent, in the United Kingdom. It is an official residence of the British Foreign Secretary. For the Blur single, see Country House (song). ... Chevening is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... // An official residence is the residence at which heads of state, heads of government, gubernatorial or other senior figures officially reside. ... The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (commonly referred to as Foreign Secretary) is a member of the British Government responsible for relations with foreign countries, heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (often called simply the Foreign Office). ...

The 115-room mansion, situated near a lake in the midst of a 3,500 acre (14 km²) estate, is a three-storey, symmetrical red brick structure in the English Renaissance style. It may have been designed by noted 17th-century British architect Inigo Jones. Staying there as a guest in 1911, the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery crossed out "Chevening" at the head of a piece of writing paper and substituted "Paradise" ^[1]. This article is about the cultural movement known as the English Renaissance. ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (May 7, 1847 - May 21, 1929) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. ...

The house was the family seat of the Earls Stanhope, and was bequeathed to the Nation by the 7th and last Earl Stanhope. He left the heavily endowed manor to be managed by a body of trustees. The Chevening Estate Act stipulated that the future resident should be the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister, the widow or lineal descendant of King George VI, or the spouse, widow or widower of such a descendant. The title of Earl Stanhope was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1718 for James Stanhope, the principal minister of King George I. The title became extinct upon the death of the 7th Earl in 1967. ... James Richard Stanhope, 13th Earl of Chesterfield and 7th Earl Stanhope (1880-1967) was a British politician in the late 1930s as The Earl Stanhope. ... Generic plan of a mediaeval manor; open-field strip farming, some enclosures, triennial crop rotation, demesne and manse, common woodland, pasturage and meadow Manorialism or Seigneurialism describes the organization of rural economy and society in medieval western and parts of central Europe. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Alternate meanings in cabinet (disambiguation) A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George Windsor) (14 December 1895 - 6 February 1952) became the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Emperor of India, upon the unexpected abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. He reigned from 11 December 1936 until his death. ...

Lord Stanhope was apparently impressed by the young Charles, Prince of Wales, and hoped that he would reside at Chevening. In 1974, the Prince accepted the prospect of living on the estate. According to his biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby (for whom Prince Charles himself arranged access to unpublished royal diaries and family correspondence), at that time he was contemplating an eventual marriage to Hon. Amanda Knatchbull, granddaughter of his great-uncle the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma: "[I]n 1974, following his correspondence with Mountbatten on the subject, the Prince had tentatively raised the question of marriage to Amanda with her mother (and his godmother) Patricia Brabourne. She was sympathetic, but counselled against raising the issue with her daughter, who had yet to celebrate her seventeenth birthday."^[2]. Amanda's paternal great-aunt had been Lady Eileen Browne, daughter of the 6th Marquess of Sligo, whose barren marriage to the last Earl Stanhope (who had no other near relations) led to Chevening's being placed at the disposal of Britain's Royal Family. If Amanda were to become Princess of Wales, the Prince's acceptance of Chevening would make some familial sense. The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor; born Windsor, 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... Jonathan Dimbleby, born 31 July 1944, is a commentator and presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes. ... Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, KStJ, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The Right Honourable Patricia Edwina Victoria Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (born 14 February 1924) is a British peeress. ... Marquess of Sligo is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1800 for the Earl of Altamont. ... Members of the British royal family A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. ... Camilla Mountbatten-Windsor, the current Princess of Wales. ...

But this was not to be, although the Prince did visit the house several times. In a note of April 24, 1978 to his private secretary, Sir David Checketts, Prince Charles observed, "I know there are advantages -- particularly financial ones -- in the Chevening set up, but I regret to say I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that they are the only advantages."^[3] In June 1980 Prince Charles wrote to Prime Minister Thatcher to renounce residency at Chevening (without actually having resided there). Weeks later, he purchased Highgrove in Gloucestershire. By then, according to Dimbleby, Amanda Knatchbull had declined the Prince's proposal of marriage,^[4] and he would soon begin courtship of Lady Diana Spencer.^[5] Squadron Leader Sir David Checketts, KCVO Royal Air Force, Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales 1970-1978. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... Highgrove is the country home of HRH The Prince of Wales, in Gloucestershire. ... Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. ... Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor; née Lady Diana Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of The Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir-apparent of Elizabeth II. Her two sons, Princes William and Harry, are second and third, respectively, in line...

Since then, Chevening has been used by the British government to house successive Foreign Secretaries. The house is currently occupied by Jack Straw, despite no longer being Foreign Secretary. He kept the house following the May 2006 reshuffle. His replacement, Margaret Beckett, was instead given a flat in Admiralty House John Whitaker Jack Straw M.P. (born August 3, 1946, Buckhurst Hill) is a British Labour Party politician. ... Following poor results for the Labour Party in the May 4, 2006 local elections in England, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a Cabinet reshuffle on May 5. ... Rt. ... Admiralty House in London was once the home of the First Sea Lord and staff. ...

See also

• Chequers
• Chatham Vase

Chequers, or Chequers Court, is a large house to the south east of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills. ... The Chatham Vase is a stone sculpture commissioned as a memorial to William Pitt the Elder by his wife, Hester, Countess of Chatham. ...

References

• Dimbley, Jonathan (1994). The Prince of Wales: A Biography. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-688-12996-X.
• Sedgemore, Brian (1995). The Insider's Guide to Parliament. Cambridge: Icon Books. ISBN 1874166-32-3.
• The Week, 27th May 2006 (Issue 564), Page 18

Notes

1. ^ Judy Hurd, Country Life, 14 September 2006
2. ^ Dimbleby, J: page 263.
3. ^ Dimbleby, J: page 299.
4. ^ Dimbleby, J: page 265
5. ^ Dimbleby, J: page 279.