In June 2013, Ceawlin Thynn, the Viscount Weymouth, an heir to the marquisate of Bath, in Somerset, England, banned his mother from his wedding and put “security on standby” in fear that she might turn up and make a scene.
Ceawlin said his action is explained by the fact that his mother allegedly suggested that marrying his half-Nigerian wife would damage the bloodline of their aristocratic family.
Emma McQuiston, Ceawlin’s 29-year-old wife, is the daughter of Nigerian oil tycoon, Chief Oladipo (Ladi) Jadesimi, a founder and the executive chairman of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) company. The firm is famous for partnering with Samsung Heavy Industries of Korea in 2013 to win a multi-million dollar contract for the construction of a Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel for Total Oil’s deep water Egina oil field off Nigeria’s coast.
Emma and Ceawlin flanked by the bride’s parents
The Telegraph UK reports that Emma will become Britain’s first marchioness of African origin when her husband, who currently runs the 10,000-acre estate and safari park in Wiltshire, inherits his father’s title.
The Bath’s family have been known to McQuiston since she was a child, but when the couple announced their engagement the 41-year-old viscount, said his mother wondered: “Are you sure about what you’re doing to 400 years of bloodline?”
This statement was initially not taken seriously but when the current marchioness repeated it, then the viscount took measures to ensure that his wedding to the daughter of the Nigerian multi-millionaire was in no way tampered with.
However, in her defense, the marchioness said she had promised her children she would tell them what she thought about their “serious partners”, adding: “Then I would never mention it again. That is what I did with my son.”
Emma the Viscountess had previously spoken of racism in the British aristocratic circles in which she now finds herself. She once told Tatler magazine: “There has been some snobbishness, particularly among the much older generation. There’s class and then there’s the racial thing.”
There are reports that the marchioness and the viscountess do not exchange greetings when they meet in the courts of the estate. According to Emma, whenever the two women walked towards each other, a tension builds and when she says hello to her husband’s mother, the reply goes: “Oh sorry, I didn’t recognise you” and they walk on.
The viscount and the viscountess
