William Cross, author of Lordy! Tutankhamun’s Patron As A Young Man and the biographer of Almina, 5th Countess of Carnarvon as well as sketches of the 4th and 6th Countesses of Carnarvon enlarges his appraisal of the often topsy- turvey relationship between Almina’s first husband, George Herbert and his side-kick Howard Carter, co-discoverers in 1922 of the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
What are the last remaining untold truths about their comradeship, the master-servant relationship between the patron and the archeologist, both lonely, cheerless figures with the tempers of Nile crocodiles? What elements of their personal stories have been suppressed? Why are there still so many anomalies ( read lies ) in the historical account of the time-line of the great discovery of King Tutankhamun that cannot be acknowledged ?
Carnarvon - Carter - Tutankhamun- Revisited
Amongst the strange co-incidences ……
All three figures were affected by a major trauma at the age of 8 to 9
All three figures were born physically disabled
All three figures had learning difficulties
All three figures had tyrannical fathers
All three figures had ‘refrigerator’ mothers[i]
All three figures were immediately separated from their mothers at birth and fed by wet nurses
All three figures grew up to have their lives controlled by servants, siblings and relatives
All three figures were at the mercy of females, Tutankhamun by his step-mother Nefertiti, Carnarvon and Carter by maiden aunts
who did not like little boys
The early education of Carnarvon and Carter was patchy
The consequence of these pre-conditions was to damage development
Carnarvon was expelled from school and University and failed to measure up for the army
Carter did not attend school or University, lack of literacy affected his confidence; his books on Tutankhamun were co-written with A C Mace and his diaries edited by Percy White [ii]
[i]‘ Refrigerator Mother’ is a term used in the early history of autism to mean a mother who appears ‘cold’ or lacking warmth and appears distant towards her child/children. In the case of Martha Carter & Evelyn Herbert, although loving, pushed their children away to be fed by wet nurses and brought up by servants and relatives.
[ii] Arthur C Mace ( 1874-1828), Egyptologist. Percy White, a forgotten poet and novelist who taught at Cairo University. White became a travelling companion & assistant to Howard Carter in England and on lecture tours to the USA.