I'm not racist, says the Marchioness of Bath after she denies allegations she warned her son not to marry half-Nigerian wife

  • Lady Bath, 71, refutes claims of racism against daughter-on-law Emma 
  • Emma, 29, married Lord and Lady Bath's son Ceawlin, 41, in June 2013 
  • Will become Britain's first black marchioness when Ceawlin inherits estate
  • Emma's mother Suzanna described Lady Bath as 'racist' and just 'ghastly'

Denial: Lady Bath, 71, said she had ‘absolutely nothing’ against her daughter-in-law Emma

Denial: Lady Bath, 71, said she had ‘absolutely nothing’ against her daughter-in-law Emma

She has stayed silent about the countless affairs of her eccentric husband the Marquess of Bath.

But the Marchioness of Bath has finally spoken out to deny allegations she is a racist who warned her son against marrying his half-Nigerian fiancee.

Lady Bath, who has been living awkwardly alongside her son Ceawlin Thynn at the family stately home of Longleat in Wiltshire, said yesterday she had ‘absolutely nothing’ against her daughter-in-law.

Born Anna Gael in Hungary, Lady Bath, 71, spoke out a week after her 41-year-old son Viscount Weymouth, heir to Longleat, denounced her as a ‘nightmare’ who told him his 2013 marriage to 29-year-old Emma McQuiston would ruin ‘400 years of bloodline’.

He was subsequently said to have banned her from the wedding, hiring security guards to keep her away, and stopped her from seeing her 11-month-old grandson John to stop the child being ‘contaminated’ by her racism.

The already toxic mix was added to yesterday when Emma McQuiston’s mother, Suzanna, branded Lady Bath ‘ghastly’, a ‘b***h’ and ‘racist’, and said she stirred up trouble whenever she arrived at Longleat from her permanent home in Paris.

Mrs McQuiston, 71, from London, supported her son-in-law’s claims, adding: ‘Ceawlin wouldn’t lie. He’s been pushed to the very limit. He and Emma spoke out to set the record straight.’

But yesterday Lady Bath, who until his recent death had lived with her own lover in France, ridiculed the claims of racism.

She accused him of seeking publicity for a documentary about Longleat – famous for its safari park as well as its owner’s colourful love life - due to be broadcast today (Monday).

In an interview in the Longleat library, Lady Bath said: ‘What is all this about banned? And security guards? I mean, would I make an entrance saying “You are not to marry”? You get that in Hollywood movies. Bad Hollywood movies.’

She claimed she had never ignored her daughter-in-law - though referred to her as ‘what’s her name, Emma’ - and denied using the word ‘bloodine’.

Heir: Ceawlin Thynn, 41, Viscount Weymouth and heir to Longleat, married Emma McQuiston, 29, in 2013

Heir: Ceawlin Thynn, 41, Viscount Weymouth and heir to Longleat, married Emma McQuiston, 29, in 2013

She insisted she was no racist, and any conversation she had about her daughter-in-law – whose father is a Nigerian oil tycoon - was ‘warm and friendly’.

Lady Bath went on: ‘I have not got a problem with racism.’

Any such claims came about through the ‘neurotic’ and ‘paranoid’ thoughts of her son and his wife, she said.

She added that she was upset her husband was being humiliated by their ‘misguided’ son.

Lady Bath said: ‘You know, poor little rich boy. It’s an exercise into how to humiliate your father and mother.’

She claims she and her husband failed to attend their son’s wedding not because they were banned and kept out by security, but because they had a prior engagement elsewhere.

Accusations: Emma McQuiston’s mother, Suzanna,  pictured right during her daughter's wedding to Ceawlin, branded Lady Bath ‘ghastly’, a ‘b***h’ and ‘racist’, on Sunday

Accusations: Emma McQuiston’s mother, Suzanna,  pictured right during her daughter's wedding to Ceawlin, branded Lady Bath ‘ghastly’, a ‘b***h’ and ‘racist’, on Sunday

Lady Bath also suggested that she was mystified why her son had chosen to live cheek-by-jowl with his parents in the main Longleat mansion, when like most heirs he could have lived in one of numerous houses on the estate, and complained that he had taken down one of her artistic husband’s infamous murals.

The murals famously depict his ‘wifelet’ lovers, and are eye poppingly sexually graphic.

Displaying the turmoil caused by her husband being so open about his affairs, Lady Bath said: ‘OK, right, he painted his girlfriends. It’s my problem, nobody else’s. OK? And if I managed to live through and still love him, it’s my problem, OK?

‘I’m so used to it, you know. When you’re 20, when I got married, you suffer. A lot. It was ... very, very hard. But when you are my age, it’s not the same.

‘My husband and I get on incredibly well. We have deep affection for each other, and trust. We love each other.

‘I’m not going to dwell on whatever it does to me. Odd? That is a very mild word. You know, one copes.’ 

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