No, it’s not the Addams Family. It’s the modern-day House of Guinness! Star watchers were more than a little intrigued recently when photos appeared of the London premiere of Netflix’s new offering, House of Guinness.
Tracing the fortunes of the world’s most famous brewing family, the eight-part period drama set in the late 1800s. It has been described as an edgy Downton Abbey with F-words, complete with rather a lot of illicit goings-on and a helping of Succession-worthy sibling rivalry.
It wasn’t the appearance of the show’s stars, however, that turned heads at the event. Rather, it was the line-up of current-day Guinness heirs. In the 300 years since the first pint of Ireland’s famous black brew was poured, the Guinness family has had more than its fair share of real-life dramas: An assassination, a kidnapping, a drowning and more than one drug overdose to name but a few.
It has also boasted a plethora of wild and colourful characters. This includes the eccentric Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, who wore a false male member on the end of her nose as a party trick. She also once dressed up as an Irish maid when the Queen Mother came to dine.
Throughout it all, however, the Guinness fortune – estimated today to be worth around $1.9 billion – has continued on.
“Many of the Guinnesses have had sad lives, but not many of them have been poor,” notes an observer.
“And if they were destitute, it was only because they had squandered their inheritance.”
The six Guinness heirs who have shown their support for the family biopic are no less colourful than their predecessors.
We take a pint-sized peek…
Lady Mary Charteris
Rose-haired Lady Mary had the audacity to wear a sheer dress to the premiere that showcased her expensive underwear.
The model/DJ, 38, is married to Robbie Furze, the frontman of rock band The Big Pink. Her party girl ways have landed her in trouble in the past. Back in 2013, Kate Moss didn’t take it well when Mary flirted with her then-husband Jamie Hince at a party. The supermodel allegedly pushed the Guinness heiress into the swimming pool.
Daphne Guinness
Avant-garde fashion designer Daphne mesmerised fans with her gravity-defying blonde beehive and military-style coat. She grew up in a former monastery in Spain with artist Salvador Dalí as a neighbour. At the age of five, she was taken hostage at knifepoint by a violent schizophrenic and was saved by the housekeeper. In addition to her Guinness lineage, Daphne, 57, is also the granddaughter of one of the famous Mitford sisters. Their unconventional lives have been documented in the Neon series Outrageous.
Lord Ned Iveagh
Lord Iveagh, 56, is a direct descendant of Edward Cecil Guinness, who is played in the Netflix drama by Louis Partridge, 22. He inherited his father’s title in 1992, aged just 23. He owns an estate in the British countryside that has been used as a filming location several times, including for Netflix blockbuster The Crown. His ex-wife Clare recently came under scrutiny for flying on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane, “The Lolita Express”, 32 times, although she is not suspected of any crime.
Ivana Lowell
Ivana pitched the idea of a Guinness family biopic to Netflix after watching Downton Abbey and realising her own family was much “juicier”. Despite the family fortune, Ivana’s mother Lady Caroline Blackwood chose a bohemian life, and Ivana, 59, recalls a grim childhood.
“We never had any food.”
Ivana says writer Paul Theroux, who once stayed with the family, bumped into her 30 years later and said, “Thank God, you’re still alive! I never thought you’d make it.”
Jasmine Guinness
Designer and model Jasmine grew up in Ireland’s 12th-century Leixlip Castle, which has been in Guinness hands since 1958. The 48-year-old has modelled for the likes of Armani and Jaeger-LeCoultre. Her picture, taken by Princess Diana’s favourite photographer Mario Testino, hangs in Britain’s National Portrait Gallery.
Celeste Guinness
Celeste – Jasmine’s half-sister – brought a rebel element to the Guinness family line-up in a punk jacket that not-so-subtly revealed she was wearing nothing underneath. Celeste, 35, plays with all-female, post-punk band Deep Tan, with Osama bin Laden’s niece Wafah Dufour. (Wafah has publicly denounced her infamous uncle.) She’s been involved in organising the British capital’s lesbian visibility event Dyke March.
Hour of Guinness is available to stream on Netflix.
