Carnarvon's Life of Adventure
A young man in a fast car races down a straight forest road. He is heading to meet his wife, Almina, in the German town of Schwalbach. Cresting a rise, he spies an unseen dip in front of him, blocked by two carts pulled by bullocks. Swerving onto the verge, the car hits a pile of stones and turns over. His chauffeur, that day riding as passenger, pulls him free. Seriously injured, characteristically his first question demonstrated his care for others, “Have I killed anyone?”
The date is 1901 and the driver the young George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon.
Rich and Horsey
The dashing, charming young man could easily have stepped from the pages of a Clive Cussler novel – other than in his wardrobe which was often somewhat lacking. George Edward was born into the English aristocracy at Highclere Castle in the rolling Berkshire countryside on 26 June, 1866, and could trace his ancestry to King Edward III and Henry VII. As eldest son and heir, he assumed the hereditary title Lord Porchester and became known within the family as Porchy. Sadly his mother, the Lady Evelyn, died young in childbirth, but his father remarried and his aunts also stepped in to help raise him and cousins from Devon introduced Porchy to his first passion – horses. In time he would own a stud and a string of racehorses which won several major races.
Like many aristocrats he was schooled at Eton College where he succumbed to an epidemic of measles which the boys survived by pouring jugs of water over each other to bring down the fever. While remembering peers fondly, he was critical of Eton both for the food served and the standard of teaching. He took time out to receive private tuition. His plan was to go into the army, but instead the teaching ignited his scholarly interest and he matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1885. Although it's far from clear whether he actually graduated from Cambridge, Carnarvon did develop a passion for reading and is hardly the first scholar who has found himself unsuited to the strictures of university academia.
The Young Adventurer
Porchy learned to sail while holidaying at the Herberts’ Villa Altachiara (Italian for Highclere) in Portofino, Italy - a house with a greater history of tragedy than any curse of Tutankhamun. He loved sailing so much that when he left Cambridge in 1887 he sailed across the Atlantic and down to Buenos Aries. He intended a circumnavigation but was dissuaded from attempting the Strait of Magellan so instead he spent time adventuring in various parts of the world. Returning to England, he was present at his father’s death and, at age 23, George Edward succeeded as 5th Earl of Carnarvon but continued to travel, indulging his twin passions of sport and history.
Returning from another trip to South America, he married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell at Westminster Abbey on his 29th birthday. Carnarvon was far better at spending money than making it. Like many aristocrats in this position, he therefore chose to marry into money. Almina was probably the illegitimate daughter of Alfred Rothschild, a scion of the famous banking family. As a dowry, Carnarvon demanded from Alfred £150,000 to clear his debts and a further £½m to set him and Almina up, although Almina still regularly tapped him for further funds. Almina quickly presented Carnarvon with an heir, Henry, and a daughter Evelyn who in time became her father’s travelling companion and, when sickly, his nursemaid.
After The Accident
With his health never robust, the motoring accident had changed Carnarvon’s life. He took to wintering in Egypt when doctors advised against muggy British winters. To offset growing ennui during his enforced visits to Egypt, Carnarvon took up the practice of digging for antiquities, and from 1907 to 1911 he excavated a small and unrewarding concession near Luxor.
With only a mummified cat to his credit, in 1911 Maspero suggested a partnership with Howard Carter. In a reversal of the position when he married Almina this time Carnarvon had money; Carter had contacts and concessions. In the pre-war years, the pair unsuccessfully tried digging in the Delta but had more, if limited, success in the Theban Hills.
Although Carter recommenced excavation in 1915, Carnarvon himself was unable to rejoin him in Luxor until 1919 when he was again convalescing from illness.
The next three seasons are remembered for an exhausting, expensive and unsuccessful search for Tutankhamun’s tomb. It must be remembered that little was then known of the boy-king. Following the death of Alfred Rothschild in 1918, money was again an issue for Carnarvon so that after the 1921-1922 season he proposed a halt. Only serious persuasion by Carter on a trip to Highclere persuaded Carnarvon, with little enthusiasm, to finance one last year.
Striking It Rich
Three days into that new season on 4th November 1922, Carter struck pay-dirt, discovering 12 steps down to a sealed tomb. Carter dashed off his famous telegram to Carnarvon who hurried to Egypt with his daughter Evelyn – by then, he and Almina were living somewhat separate lives. On 24th November, the threesome entered Tutankhamun’s tomb for the first time, although another two days passed before they reached the sealed door to the inner chambers.
Famously they peered through a chink and Carter memorably reported he could see “wondrous things”.
Clearance of the tomb proceeded over the winter. Shortly after the official opening of the Burial Chamber on 16th February 1923, Carnarvon left for a holiday in Aswan and was bitten on the face by a mosquito. Aggravated by shaving, the bite became infected. Back in the Continental hotel in Cairo, after finally succumbed to pneumonia, caused by the bite.
The swift and mysterious death of Carnarvon, so soon after penetrating the tomb, triggered worldwide speculation that Carter and his team had unleashed an ancient curse - the 'curse of the mummy'. The deaths of Carter's canary and Carnarvon's dog added fuel to the story, and when King Tut's mummy was finally uncovered, it is said that the king had a wound on his face in exactly the same spot as Carnarvon's mosquito bite. However, Carter himself failed to succumb to the curse, and it is thought that mould spoors inside the tomb were responsible for some of the effects of the 'curse'.
A Dramatic Exit
The Egyptian newspaper, Al Ahram, contradicts the standard story and reports that Carnarvon was flown home before his death on a private plane, accompanied by Almina and his doctor. The accepted truth, however, is that Carnarvon died in the early hours of 5th April 1923 in the company of his family who had rushed to Cairo. Lord Carnarvon’s body was returned to Highclere for burial on a hill overlooking the estate.
He died in debt, and Almina was forced to sell his Egyptian collection to New York’s Metropolitan Museum.
Watch a video featuring Lord and Lady Carnarvon, on the discovery of Tutankhamun, here. You can also purchase Fiona Carnarvon's books right here at Heritage Key -
Buy Carnarvon & Carter HERE
Buy Egypt at Highclere: The Discovery of Tutankhamun HERE
Images by Sandro Vannini. All rights reserved.
Comments
From June to September 2009 there is a special exhibition about Lord Carnarvon and Carter and their discoveries at Highclere Castle, with photographs of the discovery and excavations of King Tut's thomb that were up to now unpublished. (Only discovered a few years ago.) Also, some letters from Carnarvon where he orders to sell some of his horses, as he needs more money to continue funding the dig for King Tut's tomb.
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