The Duchess of Northumberland

Mar 8 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A passion for people, poison and looking at things with a "twist", Karen Dent meets the Duchess of Northumberland - and discovers why she believes that, ultimately, success comes down to sandwiches

The Questionnaire

What car do you drive?
Audi S4.

What’s your favourite restaurant?
The Treehouse at Alnwick Garden and Harry’s Bar in London.

Who or what makes you laugh?
People who take themselves seriously. Steve Coogan – I love Alan Partridge.

What’s your favourite book?
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.

What’s your favourite film?
Hot Fuzz and The English Patient.

What was the last album you bought?
Soldiers of Love – Sade.
Florence and the Machine – Lungs.

What’s your greatest fear?
Dying without completing the Alnwick Garden.

What’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?
Poor sandwiches are a sign of an illness.

And the worst?
Don’t waste your time thinking about detail (detail creates the bigger picture).

What’s your poison?
Mojitos. In terms of real poison I would go for Datura – a great killer.

How much was your first pay packet and what was it for?
I was working in a tea room at Traquair House at 14/15 and got £15 for making and serving sandwiches.

What’s your most irritating habit?
Playing with my iPhone.

What’s your biggest extravagance?
Taxidermy. I collect anything unusual, but especially stuffed dogs.

Which historical or fictional character do you most identify with or admire?
My great uncle Max Woosnam (no relation to the boxer). He captained Manchester City to victory in the FA Cup, scored a century at Lords and beat Charlie Chaplin at table tennis while playing with a butter knife.

Which four famous people would you most like to dine with?
Lucretia Borgia, the old Lord Lambton, Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde.

How would you like to be remembered?
I am planning to have some of my ashes scattered on the Poison Garden so I can come back and haunt it once a year and contribute to the garden once I’m dead. I’ll be a nasty spirit if they’re not doing their job properly!