Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon

Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon
Damian Collins

The story of a fascinating man who connected the great politicians, artists and thinkers at the height of British global power and influence.A famed aesthete, politician and patron of the arts, Philip Sassoon lived in a world of English elegance and oriental flair. Gathering a social set that would provide inspiration for Brideshead Revisited, Sassoon gave parties at which Winston Churchill argued with George Bernard Shaw, while Noël Coward and Lawrence of Arabia mingled with flamingos and Rex Whistler painted murals as the party carried on around them.Not merely a wealthy socialite, he worked at the right hand of Douglas Haig during the First World War and then for Prime Minister Lloyd George for the settlement of the peace. He was close to King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis, and Minister for the Air Force in the 1930s. And yet as the heir of wealthy Jewish traders from the souks of Baghdad, Philip craved acceptance from the English establishment. In Charmed Life, Damian Collins explores an extraordinary connected life at the heart of society during the height of British global power and influence.

Copyright (#ulink_cfbfd4f6-69f5-59a3-91fe-de733500f356)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com (http://www.WilliamCollinsBooks.com)

First published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016

Copyright © Damian Collins 2016

Damian Collins asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

‘Song-Books of the War’ and ‘Great Men’ copyright © Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon

Extract from Osbert Sitwell, Rat Week (Michael Joseph) by permission of David Higham Associates

Extract from Noël Coward, ‘Twentieth Century Blues’ copyright © NC Aventales AG 1931 by permission of Alan Brodie Representation Ltd, www.alanbrodie.com (http://www.alanbrodie.com)

Cover photograph © National Portrait Gallery, London

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Source ISBN: 9780008127633

Ebook Edition © June 2016 ISBN: 9780008127619

Version: 2017-01-31

Dedication (#ulink_9d611b3e-475c-502f-8187-42592585b9f0)

For Sarah,

and her love, support and inspiration in all things

CONTENTS

COVER (#u4ac7f307-d9ab-54ef-bc6c-590574d89e9a)

TITLE PAGE (#u801571c3-17d8-5537-a457-82b32c397161)

COPYRIGHT (#uc817b451-5046-5648-bce7-dfafadc20cea)

DEDICATION (#uc3c1304e-b8d2-5256-8350-559a9efde438)

PROLOGUE (#u39ca7e79-39fc-50b6-8d7e-9af84ee32b33)

1. Son of Babylon (#u38a63709-3aa2-58c8-a66d-e2b2a2c05888)

2. The General’s Staff (#u86728180-3644-56ac-90f2-c13bc00b42f4)

3. Brave New World (#ucada771a-d802-5b53-bb20-c9637b4eefd8)

4. Centre Stage (#litres_trial_promo)

5. Flying Minister (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Cavalcade (#litres_trial_promo)

7. The Gathering Storm (#litres_trial_promo)

8. The King’s Party (#litres_trial_promo)

9. Philip Sassoon Revisited (#litres_trial_promo)

PICTURE SECTION (#litres_trial_promo)

FOOTNOTES (#litres_trial_promo)

NOTES (#litres_trial_promo)

INDEX (#litres_trial_promo)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#litres_trial_promo)

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS (#litres_trial_promo)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (#litres_trial_promo)

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER (#litres_trial_promo)

• PROLOGUE • (#ulink_b1aff9ee-b3b4-5970-a331-991d42fd6cac)

At dawn, long before the guests arrive, a cavalcade of horse-drawn carts makes the 14-mile journey from the flower market at Covent Garden, to the edge of north London and the gates of the Trent Park estate. Legions of gardeners are waiting to receive its colourful potted cargo ready for immediate planting, while the staff collect enough azaleas, roses and lilies to fill every room in the house. By noon there is a new procession, of Rolls-Royces arriving and departing in rapid succession. Everywhere along the approach there are signs with arrows guiding the drivers ‘To Trent’. Children and their parents line the route, hoping to catch a glimpse of a royal prince or a Hollywood star. The house and gardens have been profiled by Country Life, and the society columns regularly highlight the comings and goings of weekend guests. The Trent Park garden parties each June and July are considered the last word in elegance and luxurious informality.

Trent Park nestles in the ancient royal hunting ground of the Enfield Chase, where a broad, gentle valley is watered by a stream, creating a lake which divides the estate in two. The mansion is a fine Georgian-looking building with rose-coloured bricks and honeystone cornicing. It is a fantasy of a perfect eighteenth-century country estate, but supported by every modern convenience. In the drawing room, paintings by Gainsborough and Zoffany hang alongside Flemish tapestries. The floors are decorated with silk carpets from Isfahan, and Chinese lacquerwork sits alongside Louis XV furniture. In the Blue Room with its pale walls and accents of hot red, the contemporary artist Rex Whistler has just finished creating a mural above the fireplace which perfectly brings together the colours and elements of its surroundings.

The guests gather on the terrace, which is the heart of the party, and from where you can see right across the estate. People come and go as they please and white-coated footmen wearing red cummerbunds serve endless courses created by the resident French chefs. There is a restless atmosphere of constant activity. Winston Churchill is at the centre of the conversation, arguing with George Bernard Shaw about socialism, discussing art with Kenneth Clark and painting with Rex Whistler.

Flamingos and peacocks have been released from cages and move effortlessly between the gardens, terrace and house, mingling with the guests while Noël Coward plays the piano. And the host, the millionaire government minister and aesthete Sir Philip Sassoon, is in the midst of it all. He is a touch under 6 foot, with a handsome face, dark aquiline features and a smooth olive skin which makes him appear younger than his mid-forties. He is the creator of this tableau, and with meticulous attention to detail obsesses over every part of his production. Sassoon has an idiosyncratic and infectious style, always on the move, and is seen mostly in profile as he flits from guest to guest like a bee in search of honey.