One of the girls in the office walked into John, our Castle Manager’s office, white as a sheet. Immediately concerned, he suggested she sat down and asked her what was the matter and how he could help?
It turned out that she was most worried about the curse of Tutankhamun. The media reported that there had been a little accident in the Cairo museum and apparently his beard had fallen off and been glued back on with superglue! It so happened that, unfortunately, I also had a little accident the same day as this news. At the time, it looked much worse than it was. Rather than stitches, however, the Doctor had used superglue on my nose but there I was back together again and superglue hardly showing.
(C) Sandro Mainardi
John assured her that everything was fine and would be fine for both of us.
The discovery of Tutankhamun was the first global world media event, 90 years before Downton Abbey. At the time the Carnarvons and Highclere were front page news. It was a glint of gold in 1922, just after the First World War. It was a fascinating story of endeavour, triumph and of course death. It quite caught the imagination around the world when there was so much hardship in the aftermath of the war in the UK.
The story incorporates treasure, tragedy and curses. We actually receive quite a lot of emails from people who think they are reincarnated or related to various pharaohs or gods and would like some tickets to see the Egyptian exhibition here. I always find them strange because if you were reincarnated or some sort of God I am not sure you would need tickets… and nor would you really need to see the exhibition as you would surely know it all anyway?
Highclere’s Egyptian Exhibition is, I hope, both full of information and fun. Several thousand schoolchildren visit in term time (but when Downton are not filming to ensure squawks of excitement do not interrupt some key line).
Archbishop Lord Carey was telling me at supper that he had been asked to give various talks to schoolchildren and one of his starting points was the experience of failure. We are all going to fail at different points of our lives and the point is as ever trying again, not giving up, and above all Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter never gave up.
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Superglue, really, on your nose? Glad to hear it wasn’t serious.
Here in America, duct tape would have been used. Glad they didn’t use that on you!
I sliced my finger on a piece of glass, and my secretary suggested I superglue it closed. Luckily, it wasn’t that deep.
I think the superglue/epoxy on Tut’s beard is criminal carelessness!
Glad to hear your ok! Hello from Bakersfield California. I love reading your stories and I love you comment as I was thinking the same thing about the Gods not needing tickets! That’s to funny! I hope you stay warm and safe!
Oh goodness.. your nose.. ouch!
I saw that on the news, the broken beard repair done
by a Janitor !! I’m sure your nose repair was done much
more professionally 🙂
Have a great week, be safe.
What an extraordinary coincidence…..and not to say the least, a little spooky too.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could always simply be “glued” back together again after accidents ! I’ll bet you never thought you’d have quite so much in common with Tutankhamun.
Nonetheless, I wish you a full recovery.
Best wishes
Mark
Superglue to the rescue!!! Hope your nose heals and all will be well with you and your family. Jacquie
Our house was originally part of the Carnarvon estate at Teversal but we believe it was auctioned off in the 1920s shortly after the Tutankhamun expedition – unfortunately the map identifying all the auction properties is missing from the Sutton in Ashfield library archives.
At the roadside of the village itself we have a lovely mosaic of the mask of Tutankhamun, created by local children.
Hope the nose is (or has) healed up nicely! Usually if you bang up the snozzle, you end up with a couple of shiners… did you end up looking like you lost a boxing match?? 🙂 I hope not.
Funny to read about having to juggle the schoolkids vs. filming… I bet it would be very difficult to keep the kids from unintentionally ruining a lot of the shots.
Take care! I hope you go a long time before needing any other body parts super-glued back together!
Thank you for your kind comments – luckily I could use various shades of make-up to disguise a few bruises…
Our diaries here at Highclere are such a juggling act, I keep trying to think through consequences and wake up sometimes in a panic!
Medical application was the intended purpose for super glue and then it snowballed into what is is today. However, I am sure the inventors never dreamed it would be used to fix ancient relics! Thank you for sharing.
I am wondering if Archbishop Lord Carey and I are distant relatives. My last name is Carey. I would dearly love to visit Highclere. So much history!
Be careful with that super-glue on your nose! Dangerous stuff! But gorgeous pharaoh!
Ancient Egypt, what a fascinating subject. The things they built with such primitive tools. It is truly amazing. Hope your nose is better soon! But superglue?
Kind regards
Mary
I was amazed at superglue – that was what the doctor called it – but delighted to avoid stitches which I was preparing myself for as my girlfriend Sally drove me…
GOOD MORNING, OR SHOULD I SAY GOOD AFTERNOON TO YOU LADY CARNARVON. I HAD THE GREAT HONOR, OF VISITING HIGHCLERE AND THE TUTANKHAMUN EXHIBIT LAST SEPTEMBER. AND I MIGHT SAY, THEY ARE BOTH SMASHING. SORRY TO HEAR OF YOUR ACCIDENT. HOPE THAT YOU FEEL BETTER SOON. LOVE YOUR BLOG. DESIREE.
Might we call you “Super Girl”? I’m glad that all you needed was a little superglue and dabs of makeup. So glad the comparison to the mummy stopped short of his disaster! I have read in the past about the discovery of King Tut and was delighted to hear of the discovery of the secreted Tut artifacts found in your home, from a TV show some time ago . What fun!
Get well soon. Taking plenty of Arnica, is bound to help, a bruised nose, its so soothing, not to mention the shock. Can be a very sensitive area, on the face, poor you best to pamper ones self at times like these, Lady Canarvon.
Sounds like a little Photoshop needed!!
We can’t recommend the Highclere Egyptian Exhibition enough. We have been fortunate to visit The Cairo Museum a couple of times but having this exhibition on your doorstep is the icing on the cake. Our girls Grace & Ava visited again recently with Grandparents and had a super time. Lady Carnarvon kindly signed her book & Grace thoroughly enjoyed the captivating story and used the information gleaned to enhance her school project.
Hello your Ladyship….sorry about the accident…
Many of the “workers” in the museums of Egypt are not properly trained to respect their heritage and many are ignorant of the history of Egypt…and many just see the artifacts as a way to make illegal money by selling what they find…therefore it stands to reason that an untrained person used epoxy glue to just “stick it on” before the next tour group came through the museum….by unthinking, unfeeling and did not care staff….it is unfortunate….
David
Ohio, USA
In a few months a group from the north Georgia USA area plans to attend the Chelsea. All of us are avid flower design lovers. Rather than visit many gardens (which is part of the schedule) we would like to have one morning for a design expert to give us a “crash course”. Having watched the PBS program on the officials who design your Highclere floral arrangements, we wonder if it would be possible for you to suggest someone for us to contact who would prepare a design class for us.
Thank you for any suggestions regarding a person to contact.
Just found this blog aunty ivy always believed in the curse as you know and I would not be able to have anything Egyptian in my house as I would it was cursed so it had gone down another generation I think it was that she always remembered the dog dying the same time as Lord carnarvon
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
I recently came across your delightful blog and plan to visit the castle and your fascinating Egyptian exhibition this Spring. My great grandparents knew Lord Carnavon and Howard Carter personally, and Mr. Carter stayed at their Hotel in Luxor for some time while working on the grave. As a child, I heard many interesting stories from my grandmother about that time, and loved to -secretly- explore the attic where she kept things they had brought over from Egypt when they had to leave in 1939.
She died in 1982, and
I inherited old photos and records etc. from my family’s “Luxor times” which are quite interesting. My sons and I are excited to see the exhibition at Highclere on our next trip to Europe! It will truly be a highlight on our trip!
Best regards,
Tanja Verena
Canada
Look forward to your visit!
That whole Tut curse thing is pretty creepy. Just out of curiosity, have there been any reports of hauntings at your house?
I have just written a little ghost story for my next book…