Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon. Damian Collins

frequent guests included older friends like Marie Belloc Lowndes and Alice Dudeney, as well as his cousin David Gubbay, who had taken over the running of the London office of David Sassoon & Co., and his wife Hannah. Alice Dudeney recorded her first visit to Lympne in the summer of 1919 in her diary: ‘The house most lovely and luxurious. I seem to be staying with a fairy prince. While I was in my bath before dressing for dinner he came knocking at the door. “Mrs Dudeney, are you in your bath? Get dressed and come down quick. I am dying to see you.” All very boyish and gay and much emphasised.’²¹

      The estate was also conveniently located, less than 70 miles from London and close to the Channel ports, and Philip particularly encouraged friends to stay when on their way to or from the continent. Duff Cooper, a contemporary of Philip’s at Eton, and his wife Diana spent the first two nights of their honeymoon at Port Lympne before continuing their journey to France. Patrick Shaw Stewart had been Duff’s rival for Diana’s affections before he was killed at Cambrai in 1917, and under different circumstances Philip would no doubt have welcomed his lost friend to Lympne. Duff thought the house ‘charming – almost ideal for a honeymoon … the decorations are ultra modern – might not perhaps do to live with but perfect to stay in. The luxury and comfort are beyond reproach.’²²