Lord Bath acknowledged his grandfather’s vision was “a gamble”.
“But it was a little bit more than that,” he added. “It was a huge mountain to climb, a huge endeavour, and one he managed to push over the line. My grandfather really created an entire new industry that hadn’t existed before.
“He was eccentric for sure,” he added. “The grandpa I knew was a very mellowed man, so I got to experience more of the charm side.
“I think he would be proud on multiple fronts – that Longleat’s grown, the attendance has grown so much and that Longleat has really become a national institution.”
After opening Longleat, Henry Thynne became known as a collector of Nazi-era relics.
He amassed the largest collection of paintings by Adolf Hitler, which were exhibited at Longleat.
