My reality show? The Real Housewives of Windsor. Drama. Backbiting. Fights over tiaras and titles. All in fabulous clothes and sky high heels. When the news gets rough, I tune out and turn to the Royal Family. Lady Colin Campbell’s book, Meghan and Harry: The Real Story, released in June 2020 was perfectly timed for me to take a deep dive into YouTube. My search engine led me to Lady Campbell herself, royal commentator extraordinaire.When Christine Mortimer Biddle offered to introduce us when I was in London, I was there — literally. I hired a car and hied to Lady C’s Castle Goring, 90 minutes south, for a private tour and dinner à deux with its sharp witted chatelaine.
As expected, her personal stories were just as provocative as the royal tales she tells. Five hours later, I had to tear myself away, for the sake of my driver.
Goring is a storied castle. Mary Shelley (who wrote Frankenstein) inherited the home her father-in-law built when husband Percy Shelley drowned at 29. Queen Victoria visited frequently. It’s a Grade I listed building, an architecturally important landmark.
“It’s one of the most important buildings in the country,” Lady C told me, “and on the top 10 at risk of ruin. The eastern elevation for instance was propped up by scaffolding because the roof had collapsed onto the walls. But, when I walked in, I thought: this feels like home. I had never felt like that about a building before. So, I did my calculations. Because I’m Jamaican and have excellent Jamaican builders, I knew I could get it done for several million pounds less than the English.”
To help fund the restoration, she began appearing on British reality programmes, calling it “Whoring for Goring.”
