THEATRE OF DREAMS

Entrepreneur Eliane Astor reveals the family connection that inspired her to stage a new musical about Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle – where the queen was wooed by Henry VIII

- JACKIE BROWN

As the future Lady Astor of Hever, Eliane Astor understandably feels a strong connection to Hever Castle and its most famous inhabitant, Anne Boleyn.

This summer, the Belgian princess, who is married to Charles Astor, is staging Anne Boleyn: The Musical in the grounds of the castle in Kent where Anne grew up and was later wooed by Henry VIII. The showstopping biopic charts the rise and fall of one of England’s most tragic queens, with Henry’s second wife, Anne, played by Emily Lane, who has starred in Hello, Dolly! and Frozen in the West End.

It’s a very personal project for Eliane. “I feel as if I’m walking in Anne’s footsteps,” she tells HELLO! in this exclusive interview and photoshoot. “The feeling of Anne is very prominent at Hever and really echoes in the walls. What a privilege it is to be able to tell her story in the place where her journey began.”

The show, in front of an audience of 1,800, will be the first outdoor production at Hever, and its producers are making the most of the surroundings by using the 13th-century castle as a backdrop.

It will be an immersive experience using binaural sound, through which spectators, wearing headsets, will hear the music and dialogue as if they are next to the performers.

It is staged by Historalia Productions, which was set up by Eliane and her brothers, Simon, Thierry and Edouard.

Their passion for the past can be linked to their regal ancestry: their parents are Prince Leonel and Princess Regine de Merode of Belgium’s Westerlo Castle. Like Hever, it dates back more than 700 years, and is where Simon now lives.

The desire to find new ways of generating income for Westerlo led to the idea of Historalia. “We were thinking that if the walls of the castle could speak, we would learn so much about the history that happened in the rooms,” Eliane says.

“That’s where the idea of setting a musical about historical figures around historic houses came from.”