“I worked in film for a long time,” says Lord Hinchingbrooke when asked whether he intended to become a social media star. “When I took over Mapperton, it was always my hope that I could combine the two in some way, though I didn’t realise it would be through YouTube.”
The Hinchingbrookes met at a party in 2003 and were married the following year – together they have two children and their blended family includes Julie’s two older children.
They took over running Mapperton in 2016, but it was a soft handover, and Lord Hinchingbrooke’s mother Caroline still oversees the gardens.
“It was the right time for them and I think it was the right time for me,” he says, “though I’m not sure there’s ever a good or bad time. Perhaps for my son I’ll suggest it a bit earlier so we can have more of a run up.”
Lord Hinchingbrooke, the eldest of his parents’ three children, had long known that Mapperton was his destiny.
“At an early age I was conscious that we had already downsized significantly, that there had been sales after the First World War, and after the Second World War we’d had to move from Hinchingbrooke,” he says.
“I knew Mapperton would need propping up, and that’s partly why I became an entrepreneur before taking it on. I didn’t want to go into the City, but it was important to make some money.” He had no choice but to accept his future responsibility, since the estate is entailed.
