Winston and Clementine Churchill - A Love Story Quiz

Answer: Temple of Diana, Blenheim Palace

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) first met Clementine Hozier (1885-1977) while attending a party at Crewe House in Curzon Street, Mayfair. The 29 year old politician was rather tongue-tied and failed to impress the 19 year old beauty. She was witty and intelligent, spoke fluent French and German, and was keen on politics. He was an accomplished soldier, journalist, and politician, he hated dancing and was bullish and independent. They next met four years later at a dinner party at 52 Portland Place, London, when fate lent them a helping hand with their courtship.

They both attended a house party at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire a month after meeting the second time. While walking the grounds, they took shelter during a rainstorm inside the Temple of Diana. He proposed and she accepted. Blenheim Palace was the ancestral home of Winston Churchill so it always held a special place in his heart. He gave her an engagement ring belonging to his mother which had a large ruby and two diamonds. The morning after they became engaged, he wrote her a note:

"My dearest, I hope you have slept like a stone. I did not get to bed till 1 o'clock. Tell me how you feel and whether you mean to get up for breakfast. The purpose of this letter is also to send you heaps of love and four kisses."

She replied:

"I never slept so well & I had the most heavenly dreams. I am coming down presently - Mother is quite worn out as we have been talking for the last two hours. Je t'aime passionnement - I feel less shy in French."

Answer: Ambassador

Their engagement was officially announced in "The Times" newspaper on Saturday 15th August, 1908. It was always traditional for the groom to ask the father of the bride for his daughter's hand in marriage, but this was not possible for Winston Churchill as Clementine's father had passed away the previous year.

Clementine's childhood was unsettled as both her parents had separated. There was also uncertainty whether Henry Montague Hozier was actually her paternal father as her mother, Lady Blanche Hozier, led a promiscuous life with a string of lovers. Although born into aristocracy, Clementine was brought up in an impecunious household, often having to move from house to house to avoid creditors.

Winston was the offspring of a British statesman and American socialite. He was raised by a nanny and was often lonely as a child. Although he loved his parents dearly, they were both very distant, often failing to visit him during his years at boarding school.

Both Winston and Clementine were sadly affected by their childhoods which may account for why such opposite personalities were attracted together. Drawn together by their shared insecurity, she became his ambassador and emotional rock while he became father to her children and the love of her life.

Answer: St. Margaret's Church, Westminster

St Margaret's Church in Westminster, London, is the parish church of the House of Commons. It is located between Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. The church was built during the 11th century at the request of the Benedictine monks who resided at the nearby abbey. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Famous people who have married there include the diarist Samuel Pepys, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and royal family members Lord Louis Mountbatten and David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley. Famous people who are buried there include explorer Sir Walter Raleigh and the poet, John Milton.

On 12th September 1908, Winston Churchill married Clementine Hozier, with Lord Hugh Cecil as his best man and former prime minister, David Lloyd George, as one of the witnesses. She was accompanied by five bridesmaids including Miss Madeleine Whyte and Miss Claire Frewen. The bride wore a white satin dress, with an orange blossom floral crown and a bouquet of white tuberoses. It is believed King Edward VII sent them a gold-topped walking stick as a gift, and Prime Minister Herbert Asquith gave them the complete works of Jane Austen.

Their wedding reception was held at 52 Portland Place amongst close family and friends. They stayed the first two nights of their honeymoon at Blenheim Palace, before leaving for a two week holiday at the Lido Palace Hotel overlooking the shores of Lake Maggiore in Italy.

Answer: Gallipoli Campaign

Both Winston and Clementine gave their services during World War I and World War 2. At the beginning of 1915, and not many years into his marriage, Winston, who was First Lord of the Admiralty, championed a second front by proposing to open up a sea passage between Europe and Asia. To do this, he suggested seizing control of Constantinople to gain a strategic control of the Gallipoli peninsular and Dardanelles waterway. The invasion failed at the loss of 44,000 Allied lives. Rightly or wrongly, Winston was made a scapegoat and resigned from the government, although remained as a Member of Parliament.

By the end of that same year, he came fighting back by turning from statesman into soldier. With the backing of Clementine to help revive his career, he became an infantry officer for the Royal Scots Fusiliers and fought for six months in the trenches on the Western Front.

As with any other soldier, he had to write a letter to his wife that was to be opened in the event of his death. Dated 17th July, 1915, the four neat handwritten pages outlined provisions he left for his wife and children. He also asked her to guard papers from his time in the Admiralty in the hope that one day he would be exonerated from blame for the Gallipoli Campaign. The tender and poignant letter also accentuated the deep love he had for his wife:

"Do not grieve for me too much. I am a spirit confident of my rights. Death is only an incident & not the most important which happens to us in this state of being. On the whole, especially since I met you my darling I have been happy, & you have taught me how noble a woman's heart can be. If there is anywhere else I shall be on the look out for you. Meanwhile look forward, feel free, rejoice in life, cherish the children, guard my memory. God bless you.

Good bye.

W."

Answer: Diana, Randolph, Sarah, Marigold and Mary

Diana (1909-1963)
The eldest Churchill daughter trained to become an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, although she did not take this career path any further. She had two failed marriages which resulted in three children, Julian, Edwina and Celia. She suffered from depression and committed suicide by overdose in 1963.

Randolph (1911-1968)
Initially educated at Oxford to become a journalist, Randolph followed his father into British politics by becoming a Member of Parliament, although not as successful. He married twice and had two children, Winston and Arabella. He was spoiled as a child and became an alcoholic during his adult years. He suffered a fatal heart attack in 1968.

Sarah (1914-1982)
Sarah married three times but had no children. She became an actress and her most noted role was as the love interest of Fred Astaire in the 1951 film, "Royal Wedding". Similar to her older brother, Sarah also became an alcoholic during her adult years. She died in 1982 after a short and undisclosed illness.

Marigold (1918-1921)
Known as Duckadilly by her family, young Marigold only lived for two and a half years. She succumbed to a short illness, initially thought to be a cold but which eventually turned into septicemia. Her parents were both heartbroken. The short inscription on her grave reads, "Here lies Marigold, dear child of Winston and Clementine Churchill. Born Nov 15th, 1918. Died Aug 23rd, 1921. R.I.P."

Mary (1922-2014)
Mary was the only child to outlive both her parents. She married Christopher Soames in 1947 which gave her the title of Baroness Soames, and together they had five children, Nicholas, Emma, Jeremy, Charlotte and Rupert. Much of the private life of Winston and Clementine Churchill can be found in their daughter's biographies, including the 2012 "A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston and Clementine Churchill's Youngest Child". Mary died in 2014 at the ripe old age of 91.

Answer: Chartwell Manor, Westerham, Kent

Winston and Clementine lived in many places together during their married life, including Chequers and 10 Downing Street, both the official residence of the British prime minister. With their growing family, they wanted a private retreat in the country they could call their own. It was when Clementine was expecting their fifth child that Winston secretly bought Chartwell Manor (commonly known as Chartwell) near the village of Westerham in Kent. It was only 25 miles from central London so was convenient to commute back and forth. The gardens were overgrown but overlooked stunning countryside across the Weald of Kent. Winston was later to say, "I bought Chartwell for that view."

Clementine was not pleased with his choice of house. They struggled with money due to having a large family, his drinking and reckless gambling habits, and their expensive holidays abroad. The house was run down and it took two years to make it habitable, needing continuous maintenance which ate into their budget. He purchased the house in 1922 for £5,000 but was to spend a further £30,000 on renovations. He loved it and over the years was able to partake in several hobbies including gardening, bricklaying, painting and keeping butterflies.

It remained empty during World War 2 due to its close proximity to the south-east coast, and a potential invasion by German forces. They could no longer afford its upkeep after the war and the house was purchased by a private consortium of businessmen, allowing the Churchill's to remain living there for a minimal rent until his death. It was presented to the National Trust a year after his death and still remains open to the public, attracting more than a quarter of a million visitors each year.

Answer: Miniature poodle

Chartwell was home to a varied collection of animals during the tenure of the Churchill family. Although Winston Churchill was often called a British bulldog due to his tenacious personality, he never actually owned a bulldog in real life. He loved dogs, but his preference was for two miniature poodles he called Rufus (d. 1947) and Rufus II (1947-1962). They could often be seen together when he travelled in his car visiting other places. The small canine would often eat in the dining room with a special cloth laid out on the carpet. Nobody was allowed to eat until Rufus had been served.

The family also owned feline pets over the years, especially a marmalade cat named Jock. When the National Trust took over Chartwell on the statesman's death, his family requested a ginger cat should always reside over the house. Jock VI took up residence in March 2014 from a local rescue centre and even has his own Facebook page.

Other pets at Chartwell included a budgerigar named Toby, the cats Mickey, Gabriel and Tango, black swans, fish, pigs, sheep and a collection of butterflies. Winston loved animals but Clementine just tolerated them. At one time, Clementine even bought a dove back from a visit to Bali, and when it died, she buried it in her rose garden and laid over it a sundial with the inscription, "Here lies the Bali dove".

Answer: Walt Disney (1949)

The visitors book at Chartwell listed most of the people who were guests from 1922 to just before Winston's death. It consisted of 224 pages with 2316 signatures. Not everyone made an entry but there were some notable visitors including T.E. Lawrence, Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Field Marshal Montgomery and Albert Einstein. Prime ministers, both present and past, also visited Chartwell including Arthur Balfour and David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath. French Prime Minister Leon Blum and American President Harry S. Truman also visited. There were also a great number of visitors to Chequers and 10 Downing Street.

Clementine provided tact and diplomacy at the dinner table with such an eclectic range of visitors, ranging from family members to social acquaintances, actors to professionals. She wined and dined admirals, generals and cabinet ministers, politicians and world leaders. It was said that she ran their country retreat with military efficiency. Walt Disney did visit England in 1949 to promote his film "Treasure Island" but he was never a visitor to Chartwell.

The great war leader's wife has been downplayed in much of history, but she provided a solid anchor and became her husband's rock and most trusted confidante. Apart from raising a family and organising several households, she was involved with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). Her most notable work came from when she was Chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund which raised £8 million during World War 2. At the end of the war, she visited the Soviet Union and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.

Winston Churchill once said that "she had made my life & any work I have done possible". His chief of staff, General 'Pug' Ismay, also quoted that without her "the history of Winston Churchill and of the world would have been a very different story".

Answer: Pug

Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature in 1953 "for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values". His way with words and penmanship became evident from early on in his marriage when he started writing his wife brief notes which Clementine soon started to reciprocate.

Full of love and sweet ramblings, the notes signed off with their nicknames for each other, including Clem Pussy Bird, Pig, Pug, Cat and Kat. The names reflected their different personalities with great accuracy. Clementine could miaow and show her claws, or gently purr in contentment, whereas Winston with his pug-like tenaciousness would do as he chose. Some of the notes were even decorated with a whimsical drawing of a cat or dog.

Their marriage was not always plain sailing. Their short-lived arguments were legendary and Winston once threw a plate of spinach at his wife! They spent a lot of time apart during their fifty seven years of marriage, often due to necessity when his work took over, and preferring to spend their holidays apart for long periods at a time. During their life together they accumulated 1,700 letters, notes, memos and telegrams they sent to each other.

Some of the quotes are listed below:

"Sweet cat--I kiss your vision as it rises before my mind. Your dear heart throbs often in my own. God bless you darling keep you safe & sound." (1909)

"Please be a good Pug and not destroy the good of your little open air holiday by smoking too many fat cigars." (1911)

"Time passes swiftly, but is it not joyous to see how great and growing is the treasure we have gathered together, amid the storms and stresses of so many eventful and to millions tragic and terrible years?" (1935)

"I must confess that I have noticed a deterioration in your manner & you are not so kind as you used to be." (1940)

"I cannot bear that those who serve the country and yourself should not love as well as admire and respect you. Beside you won't get the best results by irascibility & rudeness." (1940)

"All my thoughts are with you on this supreme day my darling. It could not have happened without you. All my love. Clemmie." (V.E. Day 1945)

Answer: St Martin's Church, Bladon, Oxfordshire

After fifty-seven years marriage, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill passed away on 24th January, 1965, at the age of 90. He had suffered with a stroke two weeks earlier and slipped into a deep sleep which he never woke from. It was exactly 70 years to the day since his father's own death. Clemmie and other family members were at his side. The news was announced at 8am and crowds soon started to gather outside his London home at Hyde Park Gate where he died. His body laid in state in Westminster Hall for three days and his funeral took place at St Paul's Cathedral on Saturday 30th January.

The funeral was watched on television by 350 million people. It was attended by representatives from 112 different nations. People lined the streets as the sombre horse-drawn procession travelled through the eerily quiet capital. 16 fighter planes took to the skies for a fly-past as his coffin travelled part-way along the River Thames on the ceremonial vessel, MV Havengore. At St James' Park and Tower Hill, artillery fired once every minute ninety times to commemorate each year of his life. He finished his final journey by train from Waterloo Station to Oxfordfordshire, pulled by a steam locomotive called "No. 34051 Winston Churchill". He was buried in the family plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon.

After her husband's death, Clementine chose never to sleep at Chartwell again. She spent her final years in London, socialising by visiting galleries and theatres with friends. She was made into a life peer, taking on the formal name of Baroness Spencer-Churchill, and serving for a short time as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords. She died of a sudden heart attack on 12th December 1977 aged 92. An extract of her marriage service was read out at her funeral, "There must be in the statesman's life many times when he depends on the love, the insight, the penetrating sympathy and devotion of his wife." She was buried alongside her husband at St Martin's Church.