As the Commonwealth prepares for King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation tonight, Te Kakenga Kawiti-Bishara talks with Whanganui resident Sorley McDonnell, great-grandson of the Countess of Antrim, Lady Louisa McDonnell (1855-1949). Lady Louisa served both Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra as a lady-in-waiting and was a daughter of the
King Charles’ coronation: The Whanganui man with ties to British royal history
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Whanganui resident Sorley McDonnell is surrounded by memorabilia of his aristocratic heritage. Photo / Bevan Conley
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With his sister in tow, Sorley was escorted through the magnificent building to the upper floor, where they watched the Commonwealth procession.
“We went into this large room and were then taken on to a balcony overseeing The Mall and the oncoming parade heading towards Westminster Abbey.”
“One of the first international figureheads we caught sight of was Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga. She was quite extraordinary and arrived in a carriage flanked by her own Tongan soldiers. We were in total awe of her presence,” Sorley said.
The uniformed Tongan soldiers were also dressed in traditional fine mats, a stark difference from the rest of the military attire on parade.
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Once the procession had passed Carlton House Terrace, Sorley recalls watching the live broadcast of the coronation ceremony on a wall inside the building and seeing what was happening down the road.
“What was extraordinary was there was a large projector, quite advanced technology for the time, displaying the coronation live on a wall. The machine was extraordinarily large, I couldn’t believe it.”
He recalled a later time when he shook hands with the Queen while he was a student at Eton College, near Windsor.
Eton is a prestigious private school where Princes William and Harry and former British prime minister Boris Johnson were educated.
“We were introduced at Windsor Castle at a polo match. Myself and the other boys went to watch.
“Whilst most of the lads fell head over heels for Princess Margaret, I was proud of myself, I ignored her. I went straight to the Queen instead, said whatever we were supposed to say to her and shook her hand.
“She was a gracious Queen.”
An aristocratic heritage
Sorley McDonnell has some diaries of his great-grandmother, Lady Louisa McDonnell, as well as written accounts and photos of Lady Louisa picked up over the years that provide details of her aristocratic heritage.
Lady Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim, was a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Victoria from 1890 until 1901 and served briefly as acting mistress of the robes in 1894.
A book Louisa: Lady In Waiting records: ”Born Louisa Jane Grey at St James’s Palace in London, England, on February 15, 1855, she was the granddaughter of The Right Honourable Charles Gray, former prime minister of the United Kingdom and daughter of The Honorable Charles Grey and Caroline Farquhar.”
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“Ladies of the bedchamber were always wives of peers,” Sorley said. “Only one lady of the bedchamber was in waiting at a time. She was always ready to attend to the Queen.
“The lady-in-waiting attended all state occasions and presided over the household table when the mistress of the robes was not in residence. A lady of the bedchamber had two to three waits a year from 12 to 30 days at a time.”
Louisa’s early life was spent very close to the royal circles, as her father served as private secretary to Prince Albert from 1849 until the prince died in 1861, and then as private secretary to Queen Victoria until he died in 1870.
Born and educated in England, Sorley spent 24 years there before being sent to New Zealand.
“My father was a cousin to Lady [Laura] Fergusson, the wife of former governor-general Sir Bernard Fergusson, and he wanted to travel elsewhere. I remember arriving with £20,” Sorley said.
“When I arrived in Wellington, a chap in a very dark uniform and black cap came to me and next moment I was in a chauffeured car.”
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Sorley was taken to Government House, where he found a schedule beside his bed and a note advising him to be invisible.
Lady Fergusson’s lady-in-waiting, Virginia, was an artistic woman and gave the young man helpful advice. With that £20 still in his back pocket, Sorley decamped from Government House and got a job in a wool store.
“I went off and found digs and stayed with some very nice people in Island Bay.”
He recalls meeting the late Mei Ngawaiata McDonnell (nee Bishara Wanikau), of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, at a function in Wellington. Ngāti Pōneke, a kapa haka group in Wellington, had put on a show that evening.
“We have got this English boy and we can’t get a word out of him,” said a friend of Mei’s, who had invited Sorley.
After marrying Mei shortly after, the couple left to live in England, where Sorley stayed for 30 years.
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In 2001 he returned to New Zealand and he and Mei opened a tāonga, jewellery and collectables store in Bulls, then Marton, where they moved in 2004.
They had been selling jewellery and other collectables for more than 40 years.
Sorley then took up te reo Māori studies at Te Wānanga O Aotearoa in Whanganui.
He now lives on St John’s Hill in Whanganui, surrounded by his heritage and memorabilia.
* The Royal Whanganui Opera House and Whanganui War Memorial Centre will be lit in purple this weekend to celebrate the coronation.
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