On Thursday, May 16 after her visit to St Mary’s church, Her Majesty the Queen was welcomed by National Trust staff for a tour of Lamb House and met invited guests at a reception in its beautiful garden.
As a keen reader, the Queen launched, in 2021, the Queen’s Reading Room, a book club and charity with the aim to foster a lifelong love of literature. As part of her day in Rye, she personally requested a visit to Lamb House, the former home of the writers Henry James, Rumer Godden and one of the Queen’s favourite authors, EF Benson.
EF Benson, author of Mapp and Lucia novels, set his stories in the fictional town of Tilling based on Rye. Lamb House, Benson’s home, was the inspiration for Miss Mapp’s home, Mallards and many other houses and locations in the town appear in his books.
Danial Demaine, collections and house officer and other National Trust staff had decorated the house as if Lucia was living there: dresses were strewn across the bed in the King’s Room; a card table was in the Oak Parlour complete with a card game in progress and half drunk whiskey. The Green Room upstairs was set up as EF Benson’s writing room where the Queen was shown a first edition of Benson’s book Dodo along with copies of books by Henry James and Rumer Godden.
Philip Barnes, general manager for Lamb House, said: “It is an honour to welcome Her Majesty the Queen to Lamb House. We’ve heard that Her Majesty is a Mapp and Lucia fan, and the team is delighted to be able to share some of the highlights in the house from the 2014 BBC adaptation of the series, which was filmed here at Lamb House and in and around Rye.”
While the tour was taking place the guests braved the rain in the garden, which looked absolutely wonderful thanks to the hard work of the gardener, Matt Mordaunt and his volunteers.
As the Queen arrived into the garden to meet the assembled guests, the skies cleared and she spent time talking with members of the Friends of Tilling, the EF Benson Society and staff and volunteers from Lamb House before listening to two readings from Mapp and Lucia.
Gyles Brandreth, as president of The Friends of Tilling, was a wonderful master of ceremonies, thanking the Queen for her visit and introducing the readers, Timothy West who was accompanied by the original Miss Mapp, Prunella Scales, and Hayley Mills who read the scene in which Lucia and Georgie first arrive at Mallards.
The CEO of the National Trust, Rene Olivieri, told of the trust’s vision for the future of the house including the hope that the Garden Room, destroyed by a bomb in the second world war, could be recreated. He said: “Lamb House is brimming with 300 years of stories and has been the source of inspiration for many. We are so thrilled The Queen has decided to visit.”
The Queen was presented with a special poster to commemorate her visit based on a poster from the coronation of George VI in 1937 in the collection at Lamb House when EF Benson was mayor.
Philip Barnes said: “We have a dedicated team of staff and volunteers who help us to share the story of Lamb House with thousands of visitors every year. It’s just wonderful that The Queen is able to visit, putting the spotlight on this historic, literary refuge at the heart of Rye’s beautiful old town.”
Jane Maynard, National Trust volunteer at Lamb House of nearly a decade and garden reception attendee said: “It’s been a joy to share just some of the wonderful stories and literary connections, which are such a vital part of Lamb House, with countless visitors over the years. Like the Queen, I enjoy reading books by its former residents including EF Benson. It’s so special to be a part of Her Majesty’s visit here and I look forward to sharing the story of this day in the future.”
After the visit to Lamb House, the Queen was driven down Mermaid Street seeing some of the other houses that inspired EF Benson’s work as well as the famous Mermaid Inn.
Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lamb-house.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff .