Duckadilly

London Graves

In my first years as a correspondent in England, I was in London almost every day. I used the hours between appointments to explore new parts of the city. That's how I came to visit Kensal Green Cemetery to see a headstone carved by the artist Eric Gill.

It was only when I stood in front of the grave that I realised it was the headstone of Marigold Churchill, the prime minister's daughter, who died very young. I had read about this grave before. Churchill went there at regular intervals throughout his busy life to think about his daughter. He sat on a bench behind the grave. He was not to be disturbed under any circumstances.

Marigold was the third daughter and fourth child of Winston and his wife, Clementine. During a summer holiday at the seaside in Broadstairs in August 1921, she fell ill. The nanny on duty thought it a bit excessive to warn Clementine, who was visiting the Duke and Duchess of Westminster in Cheshire. Winston was still working as the Colonial Secretary.

Marigold, whom Winston called Duckadilly, got worse. A few days later, Clementine and Winston rushed to Broadstairs. After Clementine arrived, it was clear that Marigold was seriously ill. She had a form of diphtheria, which, in the days before vaccinations and antibiotics, was often fatal.

On the evening of her death, Marigold asked her mother to sing the song "Bubbles," This is according Marigold’s younger sister Mary (who never knew Marigold) in her mother’s biography. Winston and Clementine were sitting together at her bedside when Marigold died on August 23. The girl was buried a few days later in Kensal Green Cemetery. It's a beautiful headstone; leave that to Gill. Marigold's remains were moved a few years ago, at Mary's request, to Blandon, near Blenheim Palace, where Winston, Clementine, and the rest of the children are buried. According to Mary, it was her father's wish to have all his children near him.

Moving the grave proved difficult. The headstone Gill made is a monument, after all, and moving it was not permitted. Incidentally, the present stone is not the original. Gill had carved a beautiful, much larger, ornate crucifix on an eight-sided pillar, but this was stolen at some point. The current headstone is a reproduction based on the original design.

Churchill was deeply affected by his daughter's death. In a letter a month after she died, he wrote to "my sweet cat" Clemmie that he "sadly feels the pain of the Duckadilly."

On Clementine's first visit to the grave with her children, she saw a butterfly land on one of the flowers. It was as if her daughter had come to greet her. When I walked around there fifteen years ago, I saw a very healthy red fox by the grave. No, I didn't think of Churchill.