Viscountess Emma Weymouth has recalled the ‘sharp personal sadness’ she endured after losing her father-in-law Lord Bath to coronavirus in April.
The socialite, 34, who is married to Ceawlin, Viscount Weymouth, son of Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, described it as a moment ‘unlike any other’ she experienced during the difficult lockdown period.
Lord Bath passed away aged 87 on April 6, three weeks after he was admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath where it was confirmed he had Covid-19.
Emma also discussed the ‘panic’ she felt in March when the onset of the virus meant Longleat, the Elizabethan manor house and safari park she runs with her husband, was forced to close its gates to visitors.
Viscountess Emma Weymouth, pictured with her husband Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth, in 2019, has recalled the ‘sharp personal sadness’ she endured after losing her father-in-law Lord Bath to coronavirus in April
Writing in British Vogue, Emma said the ‘humbling responsibility of being at the helm’ of the estate and navigating it through the pandemic has kept her going during the difficult time.
Speaking about their family bereavement, Emma, who shares sons John, five, and Henry, three, with her businessman husband, explained: ‘It was a moment unlike any other I have experienced in the past six months – one of sharp personal sadness.
‘We tried to show solidarity in ways that we could. We lit the house in blue, and clapped for our carers on Thursday nights, even though we have no neighbours within earshot.
‘But each time we did it, it was incredibly and increasingly moving because of the way the NHS had taken care of my husband’s late father.’
Lord Bath was known for his flamboyant dress sense and affairs with as many as 70 women, which he referred to as his ‘wifelets’.
Lord Bath, pictured with wife Anna Thynn, Marchioness of Bath, passed away aged 87 on April 6, three weeks after he was admitted to the Royal United Hospital in Bath where it was confirmed he had Covid-19
Lord Bath was known for his flamboyant dress sense and affairs with as many as 70 women, which he referred to as his ‘wifelets’
He and his wife Anna Thynn, Marchioness of Bath, who lives in France but still visits Longleat where she stays in a flat upstairs, boycotted Emma and Ceawlin’s wedding in 2013 because his son removed several of his lurid self-painted murals from the walls of Longleat House.
In 2015, Ceawlin claimed his mother said to him: ‘Are you sure about what you’re doing to 400 years of bloodline?’ in reference to the colour of Emma’s skin.
Anna has denied making the comment and has said she has ‘absolutely nothing against her daughter-in-law’ but has never met her grandchildren – something Emma has previously acknowledged is an ongoing sadness for her and her husband.
Last month Ceawlin spoke of his ‘shock’ over his father’s death, admitting they were expecting him to come home after he appeared to be recovering from the virus.
Anna has never met her grandchildren – something Emma has previously acknowledged is an ongoing sadness for her and her husband
Emma shared a heartfelt on her Instagram account after losing her father-in-law, in which the socialite, 34, thanked the NHS for their help
The pair were patching up their relationship when Alexander began to suffer with symptoms, and Ceawlin was speaking to his doctors on a daily basis, having not been given the option to speak directly to his father.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he admitted: ‘It would be disingenuous of me not to say we had a complicated relationship so there were conflicting and confusing emotions made all the stranger by the environment we were in.’
Ceawlin went on: ‘Because he was on the Covid ward there were no visitors allowed. The day before we got the call [saying he’d died] we were told he was perking up so I think we did expect he would return from hospital. I’m still processing not having had the opportunity to be there [when he died].
Last month Ceawlin, pictured with Emma at Longleat, spoke of his ‘shock’ over his father’s death, admitting they were expecting him to come home after he appeared to be recovering from the virus
‘I think there are things one would have said. But that opportunity wasn’t there.’ He confessed he has shed tears since his father’s death.
Longleat began a phased reopening with a cap on numbers in June, after what had been the longest period of closure since the safari park opened in 1966. It closed briefly in 2001 because of foot and mouth.
It employs more than 600 staff and, as for many businesses that were forced to shut down, it’s been something of a nightmare.
Writing in her Vogue article about having to close the park to visitors earlier this year, Emma recalled: ‘The staggering numbers – a million to zero, I remember thinking – were quite simply overwhelming.
Longleat began a phased reopening with a cap on numbers in June, after what had been the longest period of closure since the safari park opened in 1966. Pictured: Emma earlier this month
‘But crucially, and rather heroically, the animal keepers, feeders and conservationists who make Longleat what it is were deemed essential and able to come to work.’
Emma said the park is there for the people who have come to ‘yearn for nature’ in a new way since lockdown.
She added that she refuses to feel a sense of loss about 2020, concluding: ‘One day, I have no doubt, the momentum of life that we all so badly crave will be back.’