It's a beautiful spring day in London's Fitzrovia and Lady Violet Manners – now Viscountess Garnock – exudes radiance as she poses in an elegant Richard Quinn dress outside the luxury Charlotte Street Hotel. In the second trimester of her pregnancy – and visibly glowing – Violet and her husband, William Lindesay-Bethune, Viscount Garnock, are full of excitement as they await the arrival of their first child together, due in early July.
"I'm feeling really good," Violet says. "I've just started getting kicks – it's exciting." Violet, 32, the daughter of the 11th Duke of Rutland and the Duchess of Rutland, and William, 35, the son of the 16th Earl of Lindsay and the Countess of Lindsay, shared the news with HELLO! in March.
Now, they open up about the "shock" and joy of this new chapter in their lives. Violet, who is the CEO and founder of the heritage experiences platform HeritageXplore and the host of the Hidden Heritage podcast, says: "The first few weeks I was in shock because I couldn't believe it happened so quickly, but now I'm ready to go! It's the next step, isn't it, after you get married. That's naturally where you want to head next."
"I'm excited," says William, who is the co-founder of the alcohol-free distilled spirit Feragaia. "I'm 35, so I've had a very fun life in lots of different parts of the world, but always looking out for myself. I'm now excited to start a family and create a world for the next generation to come through."
"I like quite wacky names, but William wants more traditional names; he loves all the kings of Scotland names"
Family reactions
The couple married in June last year, celebrating their nuptials at Violet's family seat of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. Their baby will be the first grandchild for her parents, Emma and David Manners. "Dad was funny because I think he was genuinely so surprised, then so excited," Violet says. "He came up to me quietly and said, 'Well done Violety!' It was so sweet."
"Mum definitely is quite intuitive. She was in India, and she messaged out of the blue saying something about babies. I was like, 'That's so weird, she doesn't know yet.' Then she came home and I told her, and she said, 'I told you I knew.’ They're both so excited.”
For William's parents, the Conservative politician James Lindesay-Bethune, the 16th Earl of Lindsay, and Diana, the Countess, the new arrival will add to their growing group of grandchildren.
"This will be my parents' tenth grandchild," he says. "Violet and I are both one of five, and my four siblings have all got children. We've had three boys and six girls in a row, so everyone's wondering whether this will be the first boy again."
© @stewbrydenHave they found out the gender? "No, we haven't. We just don't want to know; it's a fun thing to wait for. Lots of people seem to think it could be a boy. My mum thinks it's a girl, so who knows? I have no idea." Some believe that cravings give an indication of a baby's gender, but Violet isn't sure. "I've had random spurts where I've wanted a pain au chocolat for two weeks, then pasta, and now fruit is a big craving."
The mother-to-be is thankful that she has had a good pregnancy. "I haven't had that horrible morning sickness, so physically I've been feeling really good." She's a fan of the Tracey Anderson Method workouts, which she avoided in her first trimester but is back to doing now, she says, while William has been for a morning run before our photoshoot. “I run 5k every morning, except on weekends,” he reveals.
Choosing baby names
Nicknamed the Caledonian Cowboy owing to his connections to Texas, where he lived for several years, William’s passion for all things western could influence their baby name choice.
"I sent you a list of the top 20 cowboy names," William laughs, with Violet admitting that the couple had “picked one that we did like”. "I like quite wacky names, but William wants more traditional names; he loves all the kings of Scotland names," Violet says. "I've had so much fun rattling off these really strange elaborate girls' names. We'll see. We won't go too wild."
Of course, their child will have a title. "If it's a boy, he'll be Master of Garnock,” William says. "Master of Garnock is such a fun title," says Violet. If it's a girl, she'll have "The Honourable" before her name.
© @stewbrydenTheir siblings are full of joy at their pregnancy news. "My sisters are amazing with kids, so they'll be total naturals,” says Violet. "I think everyone's going to get quite stuck in with the little one.
"My brother Charles gave us two dresses at Christmas. William asked me, 'Does he know something I don't?' I was like, 'No!' Charles thinks it's a girl for some reason, so he bought girls' clothes, which is very funny."
Growing up in Belvoir Castle, Violet says her family's home is "like a child's paradise". "It's like being in Alice in Wonderland. Games like hide-and-seek that I've played so much with my siblings… to watch our children do that at Christmas in the future is going to be hilarious."
William adds: “I grew up by the sea, on the east coast of Fife. The beach is only a mile away.. We used to go down there all day. It's a beautiful, serene part of the world.”
Their Scottish home
William's family seat is the magnificent Lahill House in Fife, and his and Violet's new home sits on the outskirts of the estate.
"I always knew that's where I'd end up with him, because he's got an estate to go back to and run alongside his business, but we're a long way off doing that," Violet explains. "It's so beautiful. We can see Edinburgh from our house, but we're in the middle of nowhere at the same time. I'm blown away by the people, the place and the energy. St Andrews is 15 minutes from us."
© @stewbrydenThe nursery is the next room to be decorated, with a gender-neutral colour scheme planned. “I love the wooden style, so I think that'll work quite well in that room.”Envisaging their child's upbringing in Scotland, William says: "We want our children to have that spirit of curiosity, risk, adventure, but then also as parents to put clear boundaries down when it comes to dos and don'ts."
"My childhood was quite liberal," Violet adds. "We had lots of nannies and stuff, but Mum and Dad were amazing. We had quite a long lead, which I loved as a kid. "I've meditated for years and I hope that I can instill a bit of that self-respect and self-love into the child, then boundaries that wrap around them. I like kids that are a bit naughty and feral. It's so wonderful to see those free spirits."
As a keen meditator, it's perhaps no surprise that Violet is hoping for a relaxed birth. "We had our first hypnobirthing class at the weekend," she reveals. "I'd love it to be as uncomplicated as possible, and a natural birth."
As for attending antenatal classes together: "I haven't looked into anything yet. William might well faint potentially, so I'm not putting him through too much!"
"We had our first hypnobirthing class at the weekend. I'd love it to be as uncomplicated as possible, and a natural birth"
Fairytale wedding
Wearing her breathtaking diamond engagement ring at our photoshoot, which belonged to William's grandmother Mary-Clare, the newlyweds reminisce over their wedding day at Violet’s family seat and share never-seen-before pictures with hello!.
"It was a real celebration of life between our two worlds," William says, with Violet adding: "Everything about it was just magical." Violet wore a stunning Phillipa Lepley gown and the beautiful 18th-century Rutland Tiara.
© James Whatling"I was nervous while getting ready because it felt like a really big occasion. We hadn't had a family wedding for so long and the tiara hadn't been seen in 33 years,” Violet says. "I was amazed how light it was. You have to really stitch and pin it in, but it was so cool.
“I'm obsessed with the lineage of things and I remember thinking, 'I can't believe it's me that gets to wear this now.'"
Violet's Wild West-themed hen party, she reveals, featured both cowgirl hats and dancing on chairs as well as rock-climbing and meditation on a Derbyshire moor. William's stag party was held at his best man's castle in West Scotland. "We ate venison off the hill, oysters from the beach and drank whisky."
Their honeymoon was a safari in South Africa followed by a stay on an island off the coast of Mozambique.
© James WhatlingEntrepreneurial couple
Violet is passionate about her business HeritageXplore, which helps people to discover stately homes. "I think we live in an increasingly crowded world, and I love the idea of these historic houses – they're the rural heartbeats of their areas,” she says. “I think they can perform a much bigger role for many more people. That next generation in particular – I really want us to be the National Trust of their generation."
She adds: “We've launched high-end tours which I've called Heritage Xplore Luxe, where you are hosted by the owners and hear about the family history. We're about to embark on our first Luxe tour of this year in May.”
On the subject of maternity leave, Violet shares that she doesn’t really know what that will look like for her. “I've got such a small team,” she says. “It'll be interesting to see how much time we can siphon off."
© @stewbrydenWilliam's work with Feragaia takes him to the US every six weeks, for two weeks at a time, and the couple are also in London each month. A career in the drinks industry was a natural progression for the Viscount, whose family have grown barley and wheat for the whisky industry for "hundreds of years".
"I felt that there was a real need for a true top-shelf-quality product for people who didn't want to drink," he says. Feragaia is produced in Scotland at the country’s first alcohol-free distillery and it has been The New York Times's best non-alcoholic spirit for two years running.
Family future
Looking to the future, the Garnocks can't wait to "build their own wolf pack", as William describes it. He adds: “Having four siblings is having four people who are always looking out for you.”
As the couple look forward to their new arrival in July, they are enjoying Violet's pregnancy. "People say having a child is like having your heart living outside of yourself,” Violet says. “And I can see why – it's a part of you for nine months."
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