Churchill's Women: Clementine. Sentence

According to Mary Soames herself, from her father she inherited a deep sense of social duty and love for cigars. Lady Soams became a kind of "last of the Magicans" who had to answer questions about her father until her death.

According to her, a typical example of such questions was "Did Winston Churchill like spinach?". To him, Mary always answered the same way: "Well, once my father threw a bowl of spinach at my mother."

Although Lady Soames claimed to have inherited a sense of social duty from her father, she received the greatest public appreciation for writing a biography of her mother, Clementine Churchill, with whom she had a less than simple relationship as a child.

Churchill's children were expected to have a "noble, valiant outlook on life", and they, in turn, never expected any of their parents to come to school for prizes and diplomas or sports competitions. As Mary Soames said, "history constantly interferes with our family life."

Mary Soames always spoke of her childhood as exceptionally happy. Most of a positive atmosphere was created in Chartwell, bought in the year of her birth.

Together with numerous politicians and statesmen, such special characters as Charlie Chaplin were invited to the table in the Churchill house, for the sake of whose arrival the then 9-year-old Mary was allowed to stay up late.

Dinner parties and dinners were fondly remembered by Lady Soames, in particular because of the conversations at the table and the monologues of her father. Lunch or dinner often turned into a three-hour discussion with Shakespeare's poetry, songs and language.

“Being his child was an enrichment for me beyond compare,” said Lady Soames.

As for Clementine's mother, Mary spoke of her as "wife first, mother second." However, in her children, Clementine always evoked a feeling of admiration and respect. Churchill's wife treated children with a mixture of tenderness and severity.

Lady Soames wrote a biography of her mother over a long period. Started in the mid-1960s, it was not published until 1979, two years after Clementine's death. The work of Mary Soams was appreciated. The author was awarded two literary prizes, and the book itself became a bestseller.

This success was followed by a series of memoirs: The Churchill Family Album (1982), a biography of the 5th Duke of Marlborough, The Dissolute Duke (1987), Winston Churchill, His Life as an Artist (1990), and a self-explanatory personal correspondence Winston with Clementine Churchill (1998).

Mary Soames was born in London. She attended Limpsfield School near Chartwell. She left school at 17 and worked for the Red Cross during the first two years of the war. In 1941, she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British Army, and rose to the rank of junior commander (similar to the rank of captain).

As an adjutant, Mary accompanied her father on many foreign trips, including to Potsdam for a conference of the heads of the three great powers.

She met her future husband, Christopher Soames, while staying at the British Embassy in Paris. "I think he fell in love with me right away and I quickly did the same," Mary recalled. During next month the couple got engaged.

When asked by the press whether she would pursue a career or take care of her family, Mary replied "Family, of course", adding that this work requires full dedication.

Mary's husband later became British Ambassador and British President of the European Community in Brussels. Lady Soames herself visited schools, hospitals, boarding schools and refugee camps. She has received great recognition around the world.

She was made a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter in 2005.

Lord and Lady Soams have three sons and two daughters.

No one believed that Winston Churchill would ever marry. Nobody believed that Clementine Hozier would agree to become his wife. But everything in the life of the great Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine, did not happen at all as it was seen by most of their entourage.

The future great English politician Winston Churchill was born at a secular ball. His mother, a secular beauty, even being on demolitions, decided to have fun. When she began to give birth prematurely, she only managed to run to the room, where the guests' outerwear was piled up like a mountain. On this pile of coats, in November 1874, a newborn seven-month-old boy saw the light: red, terribly ugly, with a flattened bulldog nose. In appearance - a typical Duke of Marlborough (his father belonged to this ancient and noble family).

Randolph Churchill, the father of the one who many years later, according to polls, was named the most prominent Briton, remarked that his son, apart from an excellent memory and interest in history, had no special abilities for anything. Ultimately, Winston was sent to study at a cavalry school.

born military

A military career was given to him quite easily: he was brave, prudent and smart. But Churchill quickly got bored with the officer's path. And he chose military journalism for himself. And he has been very successful in this field. His book "War on the River", which tells about the conquest of Sudan, became a bestseller.

And then Churchill became interested in politics. And I realized: this is his true calling. In 1908, he took the rather modest and low-paid post of Minister of Commerce. But the Cabinet member's ambitions stretched much further. All in all, his career took off.

But personal life did not get better. There were various assumptions about this. Some said: Winston, accustomed to a single life, is not adapted to family life. Others suggested that he was too clumsy in dealing with women. Still others thought: Churchill simply does not need a family and wants to die a bachelor.

In fact, the brave warrior was simply insanely afraid of women. He couldn't dance. He didn't know how to flirt. And he considered himself outwardly very unattractive.

About Clementine Hozier in the world held directly a different opinion. Many considered her beautiful girl in the world. Her profile was considered the most beautiful in Britain. Clemmie was not of the same high birth as Winston, but good manners and aristocracy she was not to occupy. Graceful, restrained, educated - she, despite the fact that she belonged to a practically ruined family, was considered one of the most enviable brides. But, nevertheless, Clemmie refused several suitors.

Clementine's mother was friendly with Churchill's mother, a well-known socialite. So the young people met at one of the receptions back in 1904. And what? But nothing: nineteen-year-old Clementine, in her opinion, made absolutely no impression on Winston. During the conversation, he did not say a couple of phrases to her. Miss Hozier was wrong: the young politician was simply speechless from her beauty...

Another four years have passed. And they met again. By this point, the clumsy Churchill, despite the ridicule of his friends, had made a firm decision to marry. And ... received several refusals. Neither his post nor his high birth could make a proper impression on potential brides.

Victory Name - Clementine

In the case of Clementine, he decided to go to the bitter end. Although this decision did not give Winston gallantry. And, nevertheless, Miss Hozier for some reason was imbued with sympathy for the timid gentleman. Why? Most likely, a smart girl managed to discern in him what the whole world later noticed. She realized that his straightforwardness speaks of courage. His lack of gallantry speaks of his seriousness and lack of the habit of dragging behind every skirt. And short temper does not speak of anger, but of a choleric temperament.

During the rain, Winston and Clementine hid in the gazebo. On that day, the girl made a wish: if he does not propose to her, then she will stop all relations with Churchill. He made an offer.

Their wedding in September 1908 was one of the most high-profile events. Secular rakes made bets on how long this marriage would last. The terms were from six months to a year. Clementine and Churchill were married for fifty-seven years. full world and consent.

During parting, they exchanged letters. There are about two thousand messages that the Churchill spouses wrote to each other.

“My dear, my tender kitty Clemm ... for all the years that we have been together, many times I caught myself thinking that I love you too much, so much that it seemed impossible to love more,” in fact, there is nothing surprising in such a message loving husband wife. If Winston Churchill had not written this letter after forty years of marriage, in which five children were born.

Their eldest daughter Diana was born in 1909. It was a child of passion. From honeymoon trip Winston wrote a letter to his mother-in-law, which shocked even the far from chaste Mrs. Hozier (she was known as one of the most unfaithful wives in London's high society) with her frankness: “We make love a lot. I find this occupation serious and delightfully pleasant. In this recognition, the key word should be considered "serious". Spouses from the first days considered their union a rather serious decision. They remained faithful to each other all their lives: neither one nor the other even thought of betrayal could come to mind.

What was Clemmie and Winnie's marriage based on? On his mind and on her peace of mind. His career knew both ups and downs. The Churchills lived both richly and not very well. In 1921 they experienced a tragedy. Died them youngest daughter Marigold is the fourth child and the third girl born in this marriage. There was no limit to Clementine's grief. She screamed like a wounded animal. Winston experienced loss in his own way. He closed himself in a room with whiskey and cigars. And what about the wife? She - the mother - was the first to pull herself together and forced her husband to come out of captivity. Born next year last child of this couple is Mary's daughter.

In general, Clementine was perfectly able to stop attacks of both her husband's anger and his depression. During the recessions of his political career, Churchill "under the guidance" of his wife indulged in other pursuits. He drew quite well and was as happy as a child when he managed to sell one of his paintings a painting. In 1953 Winston Churchill received Nobel Prize on literature.

"You're just impossible!"

He was first elected Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940. Churchill was then sixty-five - the time of his retirement. He smoked a dozen cigars a day and could drink a bottle of cognac. The husband did not like this way of life for the husband. But she never tried to change him. As well as he - her. Much more, Clementine was worried that her husband could become arrogant and corrupted by power. She wrote to him: “You are simply impossible!” And the husband moderated his imperious ardor. However, if the relationship of the couple can be called serene, then in terms of raising children, they were pursued by continuous failures. Their only son became a social rake, who was most interested in drinking and entertainment. He, unlike his father, alcohol prevented to take place in life. Daughter Sarah turned into a drunken alcoholic. Diana committed suicide due to disorder in her personal life. Only the youngest daughter - Mary - became not only a happy mother and wife, but also a famous biographer of her parents. Clementine was very worried about the children. And Winston consoled her with characteristic irony: it is easier to rule a nation than to raise four children. He believed that children can be controlled only while they are in the womb. When Churchill turned eighty, a group was quietly created on English television, which began to prepare documentary to his demise. Team members also had to film the funeral of a great politician. No one doubted the imminent death of the great Winston: he had health problems. And smoking and drinking did not make him stronger physically. But the man-paradox "deceived" the nation in this too. He died in 1965 at the age of ninety, outliving many of the crew members. Clementine lived for ninety-two years and passed away in 1977. When asked about the promise of a happy marriage, Clementine replied: - Never force husbands to agree with you. You will achieve much more by continuing to calmly adhere to your beliefs, and after a while you yourself will see how your spouse will imperceptibly come to the conclusion that you are right.

Good sons who love and respect their mother become good husbands. So thought Lady Blanche, blessing her daughter Clementine to marry Winston Churchill. And she was not mistaken - this happy marriage, which became a model of loyalty and devotion, lasted more than half a century.

great british

Winston Churchill, a descendant of the eminent 16th-century sea pirate Sir Francis Drake and commander the Duke of Marlborough, was born into the family of a famous British politician. Having received a prestigious military education at that time, the young man became interested in journalism.

He took part in the Anglo-Boer War and, having escaped from captivity, returned to his homeland. national hero. Winston wrote a book about the heroism of the English soldiers, which became a bestseller. By the time he met his future wife, Churchill was already a rising politician.

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The refined taste of the representative of the "blue blood" elevated her to the icon of British style for long years. In addition, Clem was witty, had an excellent sense of humor, and was well versed in politics. Since her family was not rich, after graduating from the Sorbonne, she had to earn extra money - she gave French lessons.

At the age of 23, this lady was quite prudent and picky, refusing three gentlemen who proposed to her. Probably, fate was destined to meet that long-awaited and only ...

First meeting

Clem singled out this sweet and clumsy man from the crowd, but a sense of tact did not allow the girl to take the first step. Since that time, the memory of him settled in her soul. Their next meeting was destined to take place only after four long years.

Offer at the Temple of Diana

Churchill was also invited to another social event, but his uncle persuaded Winston to keep him company. This is how sometimes accidents give birth to a long and happy fate.

By that time, Churchill was already a deputy minister, learned to behave uninhibitedly and was known as an interesting interlocutor. This time, he not only invited Clem to dance, but also managed to interest her in an entertaining conversation. And the girl saw in him a kind, gentle, and most importantly, a promising contender for her hand and heart.

The young man invited Miss Hozier to stay at the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. Guessing that Winston was primarily concerned with a tete-a-tete conversation, and not a noisy ball at Blenheim Palace, Clementine agreed.

For several days, the lovers walked around the picturesque surroundings of Oxfordshire, admiring nature and philosophizing about politics, but they did not dare to confess the most important thing to each other. The girl was already thinking of returning back to London, but Winston Churchill made an extreme attempt, going with her lover to the temple of Diana, where the rose garden was located. According to contemporaries, at that moment a thunderstorm broke out. Nature itself contributed to the explanation: streams of water, lightning, the scent of flowers... As a token of the future marriage, Winston gave future bride incredibly beautiful ring with a huge red ruby ​​and two diamonds.

The celebration, scheduled for mid-September, was kept secret for some time, but by some miracle, the whole of Blenheim became aware of the secret.

Closer to the night, Clemmy sent the first romantic message to the groom - a heart with the inscription "Winston" inside. When the couple was visiting the Duke of Marlborough, they, unable to contain their feelings, exchanged messages to each other, which the servants delivered every minute throughout the palace: " My dear, how are you? I send you my high feelings. I recently woke up, do not want to walk with me after breakfast in the rose garden. Forever yours,."

"My darling, I'm absolutely fine and would love to walk the rose garden with you. Yours forever, Clementine."

And the high society believed that the union would not last even six months. Many smirked: "Churchill was not born for married life. His only love is politics." But, fortunately, the forecast did not come true.

The story of eternal love

They married in the parish church of the House of Commons in Westminster. She was 24, he was 33. If in his youth Winston was fond of polo and fencing, now the words known to the whole world have become his motto: "Five or six cigars a day, three or four servings of whiskey and no sports!" Now he was building a career, writing books, putting things in order in the country, declaring himself with loud speeches. But bad habits also appeared: he spent his nights in the casino, losing and winning fortunes. Mornings started with cognac, the day ended with whiskey. There were legends about his weakness for Cuban cigars: Sir Churchill could fall asleep without a cigar, burning through his clothes and showering ashes all around. And he was known as a gourmet and never limited himself in his passion.

Clementine, oddly enough, never made any attempt to change her husband's bad temper. She was the perfect wife wise woman. She had a special approach to happiness. Later, speaking to Oxford students, the lady said, "You don't have to force your husbands to agree with you. You will gain more by forgoing your arguments, and after a while you will notice how your husband will understand that you are right."

Clem accepted her husband for who he was. And only next to such a woman did the obstinate and uncompromising politician turn into an obedient husband. His wife became Winston's support, first adviser and close friend. It was insanely difficult with him, but there was no need to be bored. Later great politician writes: "Clemmy, you gave me heavenly enjoyment of life."

In his free time, Churchill learned the trade of a bricklayer and raised piglets. He liked to study the press, but categorically did not recognize television, calling it a "lantern for fools." The wife of the greatest Briton coped with the upbringing of four children and was fond of the public. During the war, Mrs. Churchill founded and headed the "Red Cross Fund for Aid to Russia", and Stalin himself, as a token of special gratitude, presented her with a diamond ring. On May 9, 1945, Clementine spent in Moscow.

Notable orator of the century and eminent statesman died at ninety. His wife survived him by twelve years. These people were completely different, like “water and stone, ice and fire”, but they lived and breathed in unison, thanking life for every moment they lived together.

No wonder Sir Churchill called his marriage to Clementine the best gift of fate: “My beloved, in my whole life with you, I often thought that I madly adore you, so much that, perhaps, it is impossible to love more strongly”.

And another wonderful British couple -.

Volumes have been written about him, and he himself told a lot about himself. But today it is not about him, or rather not only about him. There was a woman in the world who had been by his side for fifty-seven years. This is his wife Clementine Churchill, née Heuser, from the noble Scottish family of Airlie.

She was born on April 01, 1885 and was 11 years younger than Winston. Clementine was fluent in German and French, had a sharp mind and a subtle sense of humor, was interested in politics. The family was not rich, and Clementine gave French lessons. But at 23, the girl was also picky, she ruined as many as three engagements.

And Churchill at this time, already a little settled down, apparently decided that it was time to get married. But Winston was one of those people whose shortcomings were immediately visible, and whose virtues were discovered a little later. And although life experience he was already rich, with women Winston was a bear a bear: no beautiful courtship for you, no compliments for you.

He was above all a warrior, and too straightforward to be considered a gentleman. And for two recent years he has already received three rejections. In addition, the brides understood that main woman for this applicant there will always be Her Majesty Politics.

Let's not stir up the past of those unfortunates who could not discern such a wonderful party in this wayward and conceited gentleman.

And once again, Churchill almost blundered. The fact is that he was invited to an appointment with a lady who ten years ago helped the young lieutenant join the Sudanese expedition. Winston did not want to go, but thanks to the fact that the secretary shamed his boss, he still got an appointment with Lady St. Helier, who turned out to be Clementine's aunt.

The niece, they write, also did not want to attend the reception, since she did not have fashionable dress. But the sky ordered - and they met! This happened in March 1908. It turns out that fate had already brought them together four years ago at the same ball, but since Churchill still did not know how to dance, then a certain nimble gentleman took the beauty away from him.

Already in August of the same year, he proposed to Clementine. The groom for that time was very extravagant and peculiar, and therefore Clementine again almost refused! But it did happen: on August 15, 1908, then Deputy Minister Churchill announced his wedding.

The high society issued a summary: this marriage will last six months, no more, and the marriage will fall apart simply because Churchill was completely uncreated for family life.

But it turned out differently: they lived 57 years in love and fidelity!

Roy Jenkins wrote: "It is simply phenomenal that Winston and Clementine - these offspring of windy ladies - created one of the most famous marriage unions in world history, known both for their happiness and their fidelity."

Churchill's biographers write that he was often lucky, but most of all he was lucky with his wife!

And began family life. What he just didn’t get up to: wrote books, learned to fly a plane, spent nights away in a casino, losing and winning back fortunes, led political life country, drank an exorbitant amount of whiskey, smoked Havana cigars endlessly, devoured kilogram dishes!

But Clementine did not try to curb her husband, correct his shortcomings and remake his character, as a less intelligent woman would try to do. She accepted him for who he was.

An uncompromising and stubborn politician near his wife became a meek youth. And she became for him an ally, the first adviser and true friend. Yes, she was not easy with him, but she was never bored with him.

Churchill talked a lot, never listening to anyone and sometimes not even hearing. So she found a wonderful way to communicate with him. The wife wrote letters to her husband. In total, about 1700 letters and postcards were written. And then their youngest daughter Marie published these lines of love.

I must also say that the wife was a lark, and her husband was an owl. This is partly why they never had breakfast together. Churchill once said that having breakfast together is a test that no one can withstand. family union. They rested most often apart: she loved the tropics, and he preferred extreme sports.

One gets the impression that a wise wife did not flicker before her husband's eyes, did not reshape him in her own way, but was always there when he wanted it.

And in the house, for the sake of justice, it must be said, his calling was very often heard: “Clemmy!”. By the way, they also slept in different bedrooms.

Once, speaking to Oxford students, Clementine said: “Never force your husbands to agree with you. You will achieve much more by continuing to calmly adhere to your beliefs, and after a while you will see how your spouse will quietly come to the conclusion that you are right.

They plunged into crises, became poor and became rich again, but their union was never questioned, and their spiritual closeness only grew stronger over the years.

In September 1941, Clementine appealed to the British to support the USSR: "We are amazed at the power of Russian resistance!" From 1941 to 1946, she, as president of the Red Cross Fund for Aid to Russia, made the first contribution, and then members of her husband's government did so.

At first, the Russian Relief Fund planned to raise 1 million, but managed to raise many times more: about 8 million pounds. No “non-liquid” or second-hand, everything is only of high quality and the most necessary: ​​equipment for hospitals, food, clothes, prostheses for the disabled.

Before the very victory, Clementine spent a whole month and a half, from April 2 to mid-May, in the Soviet Union. She visited many cities - in particular, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don. She was also in the house-museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta.

Having met Victory Day in Moscow, Clementine spoke on Moscow radio with an open message from Winston Churchill. For her work in helping our country, Clementine was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. She also met with Stalin, who gave her a gold ring with a diamond.

Until now, historians are perplexed why Clementine was in the Soviet Union for so long. After the war, Winston Churchill published a six-volume work on World War II, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953.

I admit that Churchill, in order not to sin against the truth, instructed his wife to look at the consequences of the war with her own eyes, for Winston trusted no one in his life more than her. She, of course, did not collect facts: others did, but her opinion for the prime minister was always decisive.

After her husband's death, Clementine became a member of the House of Lords and a life peer as Baroness Spencer-Churchill-Chartwell. This amazing woman died on December 12, 1977, having lived for 92 years.

Winston Churchill and Clementine Hozier lived together for 57 years. They were perfect couple. The secret of their marital happiness is simple. "Never force your husband to do THIS!" - once opened family secret Clementine.

13:21 13.05.2015

He was not ideal husband. First, he constantly grumbled when he returned from work. Secondly, he smoked endlessly, not releasing a cigar from his fleshy lips. He smoked at the table, in the car, on the go and even in the bedroom. He was distracted and dropped ashes everywhere: on carpets, antique furniture, on his prominent belly - falling asleep with an outstanding cigar, he burned through shirts and trousers.

Too perfect for men

Clementine Ogilvie Hozier was born into an aristocratic London family on April 1, 1885.

She was distinguished by amazing restraint and not girlishly serious disposition, she was diligent, she never was impudent to teachers, she did not idle talk. Among her peers, she stood out for her courtesy, obeyed her parents and always kept her word. In addition, Clem had stunning beauty, which for some reason she never used.

Clementine was too perfect to be loved, and therefore she was lonely. However, the guardians of morality were able to find stains on her crystal clear reputation.

Classmates whispered behind her back that Sir Henry Hozier was not her father at all. Say, her mother, the frivolous Lady Henrietta, gave birth to a daughter from one of her lovers. Clementine pretended not to hear, but her treacherous blush betrayed her girlish secrets.

After the Sorbonne, while her prosperous peers fluttered from party to party, she plowed like hell, giving lessons.

The indefatigable appetites of Lady Henrietta had a disgusting effect on the budget of the Hozier family, and therefore their noble daughter was forced to earn French lessons. However, she did not grumble about her fate, she did not complain about her parents - perhaps that is why fortune had mercy on the girl, giving her a meeting with ... Mr. Churchill.

Strange cavalier

Surprisingly, it is a fact: the same Churchill, known as an unsurpassed orator and author of immortal aphorisms, a brilliant politician and statesman, in secular life was clumsy and stingy with words.

By the time he met Clementine Hozier, 29-year-old Winston had already been rejected by actress Mabel Love, with whom he was in love with no memory; proud beauty Pamela Plowden, with whom he even managed to witness the engagement; the heiress of the tanker empire, Muriel Wilson, who answered him with a decisive refusal; as well as the American Ethel Barrymore, known for her tough temper.

None of the secular beauties considered in this boring young politician no special prospects: he doesn’t know how to care, he doesn’t talk about love, he doesn’t show perseverance and always mumbles about some kind of party subventions. “No, this rokhla should not be a worthy husband or a promising politician!” the women sighed, not realizing how fatally wrong they were.

Everyone failed, except for one - the one who, behind her baggy appearance, managed to discern his passionate nature. Clementine met Winston at a social reception. She was introduced to Churchill as an aspiring politician, a man of extraordinary intelligence and heir to the noble family of the Dukes of Marlborough. She held out her hand - he kissed him, was silent for a while, and, embarrassedly pulling his head into his shoulders, stepped back deep into the hall. All evening he looked at her from his hiding place and finally dared to ask her to dance. Winston stood up abruptly, strode over to Clementine and, as soon as she smiled reassuringly, turned abruptly and hurriedly fled to his secluded corner.

“He acted so strangely,” Clementine later recalled. - He never asked me to dance, although the other gentlemen were much more agile. I have never met such shy young people before. Then I thought that being so constrained for politician just indecent…”

Four years passed before they met again. This happened in March 1908. At a gala dinner, where the most powerful people, Winston Churchill (already undersecretary for the colonies) did not want to go. But loyal secretary Eddie Marsh persuaded the chief to spend a couple of hours on small talk - solely for the purpose of getting to know the voters.

He reluctantly gave in. Came. He was formally led into the hall. Seated. He flopped down on a chair, turned the knife and fork in his hands, then lazily turned his head ... and met the eyes of Clementine - the very girl whom he once never dared to invite to the dance. Winston blushed. He muttered something unintelligible and fell silent. For a long time. When the silence became indecent, she had to speak for herself. About weather? - No, he is silent. About the latest fashion? - Sniffles and sluggishly assents. About politics? - Finally! He instantly changed: his haggard back straightened, his eyes shone feverishly, his speech became bright and contagious - at that moment he was beautiful.

“It seems that I fell in love,” Clementine will later say to her sister, and she will immediately believe her.
“Success is the ability to move from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm,” he will later declare to all of humanity, and for some reason it will not argue with him either.

Winston was more agile

Six months later, he invited her to Blenheim Palace, the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. Everyone knew for sure: Winston had called Clementine to propose. For two days he took the girl around the well-groomed estate, talking with inspiration about politics and admiring nature. He talked about anything but the most important things. In the end, the indecisive Winston was so exhausted that he hid in bed, as in a lair, and refused to come out even for tea. But the Duke of Marlborough still convinced his nephew to confess everything to Clementine. "I'm afraid you won't get that opportunity again," he reasoned.

Winston obeyed. He took Clementine by the hand and ... silently led her for a walk around the neighborhood of Blenheim Palace. Again - fine weather, crappy politics, ancient history... But then, like in a movie, the sky suddenly darkened, and a terrible thunderstorm broke out.

They took refuge in the temple of Diana - a small stone gazebo located on a hill near the lake. The storm has passed. Five minutes have passed. Winston was silent. Ten is silence. Half an hour later Clem got up, was about to leave - but suddenly she saw a huge beetle slowly dragging itself along the railing. If this beetle crawls to the crack and Winston never proposes to me, then he will never propose to me, she thought. Winston was quicker, ahead of the beetle by only a couple of minutes ...

“I got married in September 1908 and have lived happily ever since,” Winston Churchill would later write in his memoirs, and this would be the purest truth.

"Power is a drug"

They lived together for 57 years. Clementine turned out perfect wife. Winston made a career, wrote books, saved the country from war, made fiery speeches, spent nights in casinos, drank excessively, smoked (the whole world remembers his famous phrase: “Five or six cigars a day, three or four glasses of whiskey and no physical education!”), besides, he liked to eat well and never limited himself.

It was not easy with him. Another, perhaps, would have tried to tame such a savage: not to drink, not to smoke, to come back for dinner, to read a book under a night lampshade, and then peacefully fall asleep with his wife in a warm bed. But Clementine never tried to remake it. Didn't change his character. Didn't teach you how to live. On the contrary, she accepted Winston for who he was: her husband seemed perfect to her.

However, one day she pulled him back. In the early 1940s, when Churchill was dizzy from the omnipotence that came with the post of Prime Minister, Clem wrote her husband an extremely harsh letter. "You're just impossible!" she began without any preamble. Clementine wrote that it became difficult to communicate with him, that he did not pay attention to others, that he needed to be more attentive to people. This letter sobered him - intoxication with power did not occur.

In all other respects, Clementine always supported her husband. She was involved in charity work, spoke with appeals to English women, and indeed became for Winston best friend: many political decisions Churchill accepted only after consulting with his wife.

She bore him four children - three girls and a boy. He did not nurse them, did not educate them, but he was attached to the children by some kind of tight ringing thread. “It is easier to govern a nation than to raise four children,” he once said with a gentle smile. When Clem gave birth to her fifth child, a girl, he was beside himself with happiness - little Marigold turned out to be surprisingly similar to her mother. But in 1921, the family suffered a terrible blow: the girl fell ill and died a few days later. Churchill, this all-powerful politician, a prominent statesman and thinker on a planetary scale, suddenly broke down overnight. For days on end he sat in his office, smoking cigar after cigar, drinking whiskey and cognac, receiving no one, talking to no one. Except Clem.

She saved him. Grey, haggard, with sunken cheeks and dry, unseeing eyes, she walked around the house like a shadow. Her daughter's death bent her but did not break her. One day, she softly knocked on her husband's office, entered and calmly said: "We will have a baby!"

"Girl," Winston said confidently. “And she will look like our Marigold!” He guessed. In 1921, Clementine gave birth to a daughter, who was named Mary.

For 57 years of marriage, they wrote each other 1,700 letters, postcards, telegrams, notes: “I love you ...” - “My beloved pug ...” - “My tender kitty ...” - “I miss you. ..” - “I am waiting for your letters, I am rereading them again...”

“My dear, for all the years that we have been together, I have caught myself many times thinking that I love you too much, so much that it seems impossible to love more,” she received such a letter 40 years after the wedding. This was written by her husband - the same clumsy Winston, who once could not even connect two words about love. And now he was a brilliant speaker, a brilliant politician, a predictor of the main milestones in the development of history, Nobel Laureate in the field of literature, the most great person in the history of Britain, who led his country through the Second World War.

His wife was constantly pestered with one banal question: “What is the secret of your family happiness?” Clementine laughed it off, denied it - did everything to get away from the answer. But one day, when she was speaking to Oxford students, a young girl stood up and said: “I am not married yet. But I want to find that man with whom once - and for life ... - She stumbled, unable to cope with excitement. And after a couple of seconds she quietly added: - How to make me ... so that he ... so that we are happy? Clementine looked at her, smiled and replied: "It's simple: never force a husband ... to agree with you."

Afterword He was not a perfect husband. First, he constantly grumbled when he returned from work. Secondly, he smoked endlessly, not releasing a cigar from his fleshy lips. He smoked at the table, in the car, on the go and even in the bedroom. He was distracted and dropped ashes everywhere: on carpets, antique furniture, on his prominent belly - falling asleep with an outstanding cigar, he burned through shirts and trousers.

He was prone to gluttony, ate a lot, and drank even more. He started the day with the French “Napoleon”, skipped a couple of glasses of Scotch whiskey for lunch, and could end the evening with the Armenian “Dvin” skate. A couple of times the wife tried to instill secular manners in her husband and even sat him down for a common breakfast. Alas ... "My wife and I two or three times in 40 years life together we tried to have breakfast together, but it turned out to be so unpleasant that we had to stop,” he said simply and cynically.

Yes, he was a cynic, a prideful, epicurean, besides an avid gambler, who disappeared all night in the casino. Nobody could curb him. And only she, his wife, dear cat Clem, knew exactly how to turn this imposing bumpkin into a real genius - the one whom his compatriots would call the greatest Briton in history.