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Millions of people across the world would have settled in to a pint of Guinness this weekend as they celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.
The stout, synonymous with Ireland, was first made in Dublin in the 1700s by Arthur Guinness.
But, it’s not all been easy for the family, who are said to have been hit by a ‘Guinness curse’ after a series of suicides, assassinations and tragic early deaths.
Netflix has announced new show – ‘House of Guinness’ – which will explore the history of the family behind the famous brewery.
The streaming giant’s newest project was announced at London ‘s Next On Netflix event last week and is currently in the early stages of development – with both the cast and release date yet to be announced.
It will be set between Dublin and New York during the 19th century, beginning after the death of Benjamin Guinness – who is credited with the brewery’s early success.
The show from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will chronicle the extraordinary success of the family behind the famous Irish brewery, which was founded back in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.
But behind the story of wealth and prosperity lies a tragic tale of seemingly endless misfortune for the family.
As Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s announces new Netflix series House Of Guinness, FEMAIL takes a look at the ‘curse’ behind the family
The personal losses faced by the Guinnesses have become so infamous that it is thought to be ‘cursed’, despite holding a fortune of over £900million today. Pictured: Guinness brewery in Dublin city centre
From Tara Browne, who died following a car crash in South Kensington, to scandalous affairs and divorces and the tragic drowning of Honor Uloth aged just 19 in 2020, the family seems to have been dealt a series of devastating blows.
The personal losses faced by the Guinnesses have become so infamous that it is thought to be ‘cursed’, despite holding a fortune of over £900million today.
Creator Steven Knight commented: ‘The Guinness dynasty is known the world over – wealth, poverty, power, influence, and great tragedy are all intertwined to create a rich tapestry of material to draw from.
‘I’ve always been fascinated by their stories and am excited to bring the characters to life for the world to see.’
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the Guinness ‘curse’ ahead of the Netflix series – which, with its depiction of families and power, could be the giant’s answer to Succession .
Tragic beginnings
In 1759 Arthur Guinness used the £100 inheritance left to him by his godfather to found the family business at St James’s Gate in Dublin.
In the 1770s he began to brew ‘porter’, which became known as Guinness in the 1840s, and by his death in 1803, he was the richest man in Ireland.
You may think that this meant the Guinness family was off to a prosperous start, but in fact Arthur’s personal life was marred by tragedy.
He fathered 21 children – but 10 of them died before him.
Assassination in Egypt
Lord Moyne, Walter Edward Guinness was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman – but for many he marks the true start of the Guinness curse.
The Guinness family member was a close friend of Winston Churchill, with the two becoming political allies.
He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assassinated by the terror group the Stern Gang in Cairo.
Lord Moyne, Walter Edward Guinness was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman – but for many he marks the true start of the Guinness curse
The funeral procession of British Minister Resident in the Middle East, Walter Edward Guinness in 1944
The shocking attack was planned as members of the group waited near his home, killing his chauffeur first.
Lord Moyne was then shot three times: once just above the clavicle, one bullet penetrated his abdomen while the third went through his chest.
Despite being given blood transfusions, he died of his injuries aged 64.
After his death, Churchill wrote in a letter about the loss of ‘a great friend of mine in public and private’ and ‘a great and wise servant’.
Tragic suicide
Lady Henrietta Guinness jumped off a bridge in Umbria, Italy, in 1978 after never recovering from an Aston Martin car crash in the French Riviera.
She is known to have said once: ‘If I had been poor, I would have been happy,’ seeming to reference the idea that the lives of the Guinnesses have been marred by misfortune and tragic circumstance.
The legacy of Henrietta’s death was followed by another example of the curse that same year – as four-year-old Peter Guinness tragically died in a car crash.
Mrs David Nugent (Elizabeth Nugent) is pictured with her sister Lady Henrietta Guinness (right)
‘LSD-induced’ car crash that inspired a Beatles song
London-based socialite and Guinness heir Tara Browne was the driver of a Lotus Elan when it smashed into another car in South Kensington in December 1966.
Browne died of his injuries two hours later, aged just 21.
His passenger, girlfriend Suki Potier, later claimed that Browne wasn’t going particularly fast.
Browne was friends with the Beatles and is said to have introduced Paul McCartney to LSD in 1966 – and his story inspired their hit tune A Day In A Life.
London-based socialite and Guinness heir Tara Browne was the driver of a Lotus Elan when it smashed into another car in South Kensington in December 1966
The wreckage of the crash, which inspired The Beatles’s ‘A Day In The Life’
‘I read the news today, oh boy,’ Lennon wrote in A Day In The Life. ‘About a lucky man who made the grade/. . . he blew his mind out in a car.
It has never been concluded for certain whether Browne was high on drugs or drunk while driving, but he crashed when he failed to see a red traffic light.
Browne’s mother, Oonagh, was a member of the immensely rich Irish brewing dynasty, while his father was Dominick, an aristocrat.
Heiress drowning
Honor – a history of art student at Oxford Brookes university – was the eldest daughter of Lady Louisa Jane Guinness, and her husband Rupert Uloth, the former editor of Country Life Magazine.
A coroner ruled her death was a tragic accident after she was found at the bottom of the pool during a family barbecue.
Honor Uloth, the 19-year-old heiress who tragically drowned in 2020
Her 15-year-old brother Rufus dived in to help her and she died in hospital six days later, an inquest heard later.
Honor had expressed wishes for her organs to be donated – and her family later revealed her actions had saved four lives, and turned around the lives of ten more.
Her family said at the time: ‘We have lost a daughter and sister who brought untold light and joy into our lives. She was so full of fun, laughter, kindness and adventure.
‘She had this knack of bringing people together and making them feel good.’
Death from unspecified illness
The most recent tragedy is that of Henry Channon, who passed away in 2021 aged 51 from an ‘unspecified illness’.
Henry – the grandson or Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Cannon – was a publisher in London.
His untimely death was not the first time he had faced misfortune; he was only 16 when his sister Olivia died of a drugs overdose in Oxford.
Affairs and divorces
An affair kept secret for 30 years revealed that the children of author J.P. Donleavy and Mary Wilson Price were actually fathered by two brothers of the Guinness Brewing Dynasty.
The couple welcomed babies Rebecca and Rory while married.
Rebecca’s father was actually Kieran Guinness, while Rory’s was Kieran’s brother Finn.
Finn and Mary eventually married in 1989, and Rebecca and Rory took the Guinness name.
Meanwhile in 2021, the Guinness family made headlines once more when the Countess of Iveagh split from Edward Guinness.
Mary is now married to Finn Guinness (pictured together) after a scandalous affair
The Reading-born interior designer’s split from the head of the Guinness family signified one of Britain’s biggest ever divorces – with more than £900million at stake.
A friend close to the Countess and Earl of Iveagh said at the time: ‘Clare and Ned were a great couple but she has been unhappy for several years and doesn’t feel their marriage has been a priority for him for a long time.’
Meanwhile, a person familiar with the running of the 22,500-acre Elveden Estate claimed: ‘His lordship is is often seen in the company of women.
‘Word in the village is that he hosted one of them in the local pub.’
Dodging the curse?
Mary Charteris seems to have emerged from the grip of the family curse.
The socialite is the youngest child and only daughter of James Charteris and his first wife Catherine, who is the daughter of Guinness heir Jonathan Guinness, 3rd Baron Moyne.
Lady Mary has modelled for the likes of Tatler, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Love, and is now best known as a DJ and member of electronic rock band The Big Pink.
Her mother Catherine Guinness, of the Guinness dynasty, who was the daughter of Diana Mitford, once worked for Andy Warhol, and her father Jamie is the 13th Earl of Wemyss and 9th Earl of March. As a teenager, the Earl was Page of Honour to the Queen Mother.
As a child, Lady Mary was educated at Francis Holland, an all-girls private school in west London, which counts Poppy and Cara Delevingne and The Ecclestone sisters among its alumni.
Lady Mary Charteris, 36,seems to be avoiding the curse of the Guinness family (pictured on holiday last summer)
The socialite has modelled for Tatler, Vanity Fair and Vogue and is now a DJ
It was in her teens that she got into modelling after being introduced to the world famous agency Storm Models by the magazine editor and fashion muse Isabella Blow, who was an old family friend.
In her early twenties, Lady Mary met Robbie Furze from the band The Big Pink and the couple quickly became joined at the hip. Soon she was joining the group on their tours, selling T-shirts and helping with lighting.
Then in 2012, the couple married at her family estate in Stanway in Gloucestershire, in a bespoke Pam Hogg dress that featured cutaway panels to below her belly button.
Since then Lady Mary has become a permanent fixture in the Big Pink, replacing bandmate Dave McCracken when he left – Robbie wanted a female singer on some tracks and, having heard Mary sing in the car one day, suggested she had a go.
Once known as a wild party girl, the model/DJ/singer/IT Girl, who is mostly based in Los Angeles with her husband, has been sober for years.
Like many other grown-up society beauties, Lady Mary spent part of the Covid pandemic in the UK at her father’s estate of Stanway House, in Gloucestershire.
She welcomed her daughter Wilde Jessie Furze on May 21 2021 and is often snapped soaking up the sun on glamorous getaways – seeming to mark the turning point in the family’s misfortune.
