Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tour Of The U.K.
When Donald Trump arrives in Britain on Thursday 12 July he will embark on a tour of some of Britain’s best real estate.
He won’t be visiting the new U.S. Embassy in Nine Elms, South West London, a building he described as a “bad deal" in an “off-pitch” location.
According to Bloomberg, as much of his itinerary as possible is taking place outside of London, to avoid huge protests planned in the capital.
Here are the prime, historic pieces of British real estate he will be visiting.
Winfield House
Trump arrives late on Thursday 12 July and will be in London only fleetingly. He will stay at Winfield House, the 1930s mansion which is the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to the U.K. It is within the grounds of Regent’s Park in North London, one of London’s royal parks, and the 12 acres in which it is set are the second largest private gardens in central London after Buckingham Palace.
Blenheim Palace
Trump will attend a black-tie dinner with various business bigwigs at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, west of London. The country house was built in the early 18th century, having been gifted to the 1st Duke of Marlborough as a reward for his exploits at the battle of Blenheim in 1704. The Dukes of Marlborough still live there, though it is also a UNESCO world heritage site partly open to the public. It is also famous as the birthplace of Winston Churchill. Blenheim Palace has an American link preceding Trump’s visit — the palace was saved from ruin in the late 19th century by the marriage of the 9th Duke of Marlborough to railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle has been a seat of the U.K. monarchy for almost 1,000 years, and earlier this year one of its chapels was the venue for the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The first castle was built in the 11th century by the Norman conquerers of Britain, and it is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Trump will travel there to meet the Queen, who uses it as one of her weekend homes.
Chequers
Chequers has been in the headlines recently as the venue of a meeting about Brexit strategy that ultimately led to the resignation of two members of Theresa May’s cabinet, and the Prime Minister will meet Trump there, hoping for a break from domestic political turmoil. The 16th century manor house, about 40 miles north west of London, has been the weekend retreat of every U.K. prime minister since 1917. Again there is a U.S. link. Arthur Lee and his American heiress wife Ruth gifted the house to the nation because, after the First World War, politicians were no longer guaranteed to be from the landed classes and thus have their own country pad.
Trump Turnberry
It wouldn’t be a Trump trip to the U.K. without a visit to Scotland for a round of golf, and Trump will visit Turnberry, one of the hotel and golf courses he owns in the country, for a few rounds. He will not be visiting the course he built near Aberdeen, which caused multiple protests from local residents and spawned two documentaries.
