Ceawlin Thynn (London, 51 years old) and his wife Emma Thynn (London, 39 years old), eighth Marquesses of Bath, continue to make history in the British aristocracy. Ella, former model and former contestant of realities television, she became the first black marchioness in the history of the United Kingdom in 2020; Previously, she had also been the first black viscountess. The couple, who married in 2013, had been involved for some time with their little son, Henry, 9 years old, born by surrogate in the United States in 2016, an illegal practice in the United Kingdom, as well as in Spain. And now justice has ruled them right.
Their objective was to ensure that the youngest of the family was included in the three family trusts, since these are governed by “the meanings of common law prior to 1970.” In other words, the British laws in this regard predate any surrogacy process, so Henry would not be considered a legitimate child to be able to access the inheritance. However, the Bristol High Court has supported the marriage request, as reported by the media or .
The Marquis of Bath requested the court’s approval to find out whether his son met the historical definition of a legitimate son, since there was an “uncertainty” in this regard: “The Marquis and his wife consider that it would be unfair and unfortunate for their second son and his offspring to be excluded from the benefit,” the court ruled in a previous hearing, which has now confirmed that Henry has the right to inherit his father’s fortune, valued at 200 million pounds.
The couple had their second child by surrogate after the Marchioness suffered hypophysitis, an inflammation of the pituitary gland, during her first pregnancy. She was warned at the time that a second birth could put her life in danger. The judge who handled the case has declared, according to The Telegraphbeing “satisfied” that the court decided to grant the marquis the possibility of adding his second son as a beneficiary. “Henry is the son of the Marquises of Bath. Not only is he treated by them, and will be treated by the world in general, as a son of the marriage, but he is also their biological son. It would be unfair for them to treat the latter as if he were not their son,” he added.
“It is a marvel of modern science that the Longleat Bath family has been completed (at least for now) with this much-loved son that Emma and I have had, crucially helped by a wonderful surrogate mother in California,” said the Marquis after Henry’s birth, two years after having his first-born, John. “We are elated. His arrival has completed our little family and has brought us a lot of happiness,” stated the Marchioness.
The Marquesses own the Longleat estate and family home, one of the largest estates of the British aristocracy where, in addition to extensive land, the art collections are a heritage in themselves. Currently, the only ones that do not survive are the erotic works painted by the 7th Marquess of Bath, Ceawlin Thynn’s father, which were removed by the couple when they acquired the estate in 2010, resulting in his snub. The marquis’s father went down in history for his eccentric standard of living, but his wife, the Hungarian-British Anna Abigail Thynn, did so for her racism. In 2015, two years after marrying, Ceawlin Thynn revealed details of a family feud in which his mother suggested his marriage to a half-Nigerian woman would ruin “400 years of lineage.” After her words, she was banned from the wedding and was prohibited from seeing her eldest grandson.
But the current Marchioness of Bath also suffered racism from other people. “There is the class question and then there is the racial question. It is a jungle, and I am going through it and discovering it as I grow,” he said in an interview in the magazine Tatler in 2021. And she added: “I see my role as something practical: as a wife, mother and responsible for maintaining this incredible property. I aspire to a future where [el color de mi piel] is not a defining characteristic.”
