Blenheim Palace

Yeah.

and his brother started the america's cup and his sister married the duke of marlborough i mean and saved blenheim palace i mean it's great history but it's real

johnny would love to have an event at klaus von bulow's house what could we do

walter

He returned to London in December and led a triumphal procession to Westminster Palace.

Queen Anne allocated money to build a palatial estate, Blenheim Palace, as a reward for his deed.

It would be the high point of his career.

The campaign of 1705 was not nearly as successful for Marlborough, as he was stymied by French resistance and the reluctance of the Dutch to leave their border defenses to attack the French.

King George I was crowned, the Jacobites were defeated when they rose in rebellion, and all seemed well for the Marlboroughs.

But in 1716, the Duke had the first of a series of strokes that would sap his health and force him to retire from public life.

He watched as his enemy Robert Harley was stripped of his officers and briefly imprisoned, and oversaw the construction of Blenheim Palace on June 16, 1722, following another stroke.

He died aged 72.

I know them both so well that if my quiet depended upon either of them I should be most miserable.

And again, while I live I will meddle with no business but what belongs to the army and from henceforward shall nevermore use the expression of being of no party but shall certainly not care what any party thinks of me he was much troubled by the state of affairs in spain where the duke of schaumburg far from showing himself equal to his famous father had effected nothing and had spent his time in quarreling with the dutch and portuguese commanders so that the duke of berwick had been able to carry on a successful war in portugal the only success in that quarter had been the surprise on the fourth of august by the english fleet under the prince of hesse-darmstadt and sir george rooke of the rock of gibraltar which since then has always remained in the english possession its importance was hardly realized at that time and it was little thought that this small spot would be the one permanent acquisition gained by england from a war distinguished by such victories as that of blenheim gibraltar gives england the command of the mediterranean sea the spaniards repeatedly tried to get it back but the english people clung to it first because they considered it due to the national honour to keep this prize the sole thing that remained to recall a long and victorious war afterwards because its position made it important for the security of the road to india from italy too the news was bad the small army of victor amadeus was completely hemmed in by the french under vandomme one of louis the fourteenth's most able generals and there were fears lest he should not be able to defend his capital he sent urgent messages to marlborough for help which were echoed by the emperor leopold who was most anxious to drive the french from italy marlborough felt that help must be sent to victor amadeus and determined to try and persuade the king of prussia to allow eight thousand of his soldiers to go to italy in the pay of the english for this purpose having settled his troops in winter quarters on the moselle he undertook a fatiguing journey to berlin at the very worst time of the year he knew that only by flattering the king of prussia's vanity could he hope to get anything out of him and he could do this best by word of mouth during his journey he heard at last of the fall of landau which he had expected most impatiently he reached berlin on the twenty-second of november seventeen oh four after a most troublesome journey during which owing to the badness of the roads he was obliged to travel for fourteen or fifteen hours a day at berlin his persuasive words were entirely successful i am very well contented he writes at the pains i have taken in coming here it is not to be expressed the civilities and honours they have done me here it was not long before the eight thousand men were on their way to the relief of the duke of savoy marlborough travelled home by way of the hague and at last reached england on the fourteenth december bringing with him marshal tallard and his most distinguished prisoners and the chief standards which he had taken from the french he was greeted with the greatest rapture by all classes on the next day he took a seat in the house of lords and received a warm address of congratulation on the third of january there was a solemn procession of the trophies of war from the tower to westminster hall first came companies of the horse and foot guards together with many distinguished persons and then a hundred and twenty-eight pikemen each carrying a captured standard the procession passed through the streets amidst the exalting shouts of the people who were ready to laud marlborough to the skies on the sixth the lord mayor and town council gave a magnificent banquet to marlborough in the goldsmiths' hall he went there in one of the royal carriages accompanied by godolphin the duke of somerset and the prince of hesse-darmstadt and followed by a long cavalcade of carriages at temple bar he was received in state by the city marshals crowds thronged every street filled the windows and covered the house-tops as he passed that they might catch a glimpse of his face the commons of their own accord presented an address to the queen begging her to suggest some fit means for perpetuating the memory of the great services of the duke of marlborough anne joyfully agreed and proposed to convey to the duke and his heirs the royal manor of woodstock a bill for the purpose passed without opposition and anne not satisfied with this reward joined to the grant an order to the board of works to build at the royal expense a splendid palace in the park at woodstock which was to be called blenheim palace and to be a perpetual memory of the victory the architect chosen for this great building was sir john vanbrugh who was looked upon as one of the first architects of the day the queen approved his model which she kept in the palace at kensington and the works were begun at once in the campaign of seventeen oh five marlborough hoped to reap the effect of his successes in seventeen oh four he intended to invade france from the moselle where in treves and trauerbach he had capital magazines for ammunitions and stores it was the most vulnerable side of france and he hoped to have a successful campaign in lorraine where he believed that the people would welcome him with open arms for they inclined much more to the rule of the empire than to that of france Marlborough went to The Hague in April, and after discussions which lasted three weeks, got the consent of the States to his projected campaign.

He reached Koblenz by the 17th of May, and was disgusted by the backward conditions of the preparations.

The Margrave of Baden was slow as usual, and complained that a wound which he had got at the Schellenberg made it impossible for him to move from his palace at Rastatt.

The greatness of his work is not diminished by the fact that the motives were not entirely worthy.

Marlborough left behind him a great fortune, which proves the care with which he and the Duchess amassed money during the years of his power.

By his will he left the Duchess fifteen thousand pounds a year for life, as well as Blenheim Palace and Marlborough House.

The remainder of his money was left to his different grandchildren.

A fascinating account of some macabre and wonderfully named sapsuckers, ivy broom rape, devil's guts and toothwort from Dr Chris Thorogood.

Well, if vampire plants, witches' brooms and deadly toxic species aren't Halloweeny enough for you, how about this episode from 2010, recorded at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, an historic site with a few ghost stories of its own.

GQT audience member Dan was looking for some wicked inspiration to give his garden a creepy makeover.

Hi, I'm Dan Selinger.

Good variety.

Grey among acts named for Palace Festival.

Lennon Palace Festival has revealed the first headline artists to grace its stage next year.

Multi-platinum contemporary musician David Gray will play alongside special guest Jack Savaretti at the Palace's festival in Woodstock.

Jack is hugely popular locally and lives in West Oxfordshire.

Also announced is American pop star Alex Warren.

In August 2026, he released his second album, Wildchild, Oh no, sorry.

Which topped charts in both UK and US.

The wonderful world of Japanese maples comes under the spotlight as a mother and daughter share their love of these beautiful trees.

And Adderley Richmond delves into the colourful history behind the gardens at Blenheim Palace.

Yes! We were at Blenheim Palace this summer, weren't we? We were.

So that'll be a fun one to watch.

Fantastic.