Evelyn Beauchamp


Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Beauchamp was the daughter of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon. In November 1922, she, her father and the archaeologist Howard Carter were the first people in modern times to enter both the tomb and inner burial chamber of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. She later married Sir Brograve Beauchamp and had a daughter. Lady Evelyn died in 1980, at the age of 78.

Early life

Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert was born on 15 August 1901, the second child and only daughter of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon and Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon. Her older brother was Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon.
While seldom in the company of her parents as a child, Evelyn grew closer to her father as she grew older. From 1920, she accompanied him on his annual visit to Egypt. Journeying to Egypt in January 1923, the journalist Valentine Williams noted "the tender friendship" between father and daughter that was "delightful to watch", while Howard Carter referred to Evelyn as her father's "devoted companion in all his Egyptian work".
Lady Evelyn was launched as a debutante and presented at court in 1920, with her mother staging receptions for her, including at the British Residency in Cairo during their Egyptian stays in 1921 and 1922. It was during one of these receptions that she met her future husband, Brograve Beauchamp, the son of the Liberal MP Sir Edward Beauchamp, who continued to visit her when they both returned to England.

Tutankhamun's Tomb

Lord and Lady Carnarvon often spent the winter in Egypt, where they bought antiquities for their collection in England. In 1906 Lord Carnarvon obtained a concession to excavate a site near Luxor, and later one within the Valley of the Kings. From 1907, Lord Carnarvon employed Howard Carter to supervise the excavation work. By 1922 little of significance had been found and Lord Carnarvon decided this would be the final year he would fund the work.
However on 4 November 1922, Carter was able to send a telegram to Lord Carnarvon, in England at the time, saying:
"At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival; congratulations".
Lady Evelyn accompanied her father, and by 24 November 1922 both had arrived in Egypt and were present when the full extent of the stairway to the tomb was cleared and a seal containing the Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s cartouche was found over the doorway. This door was opened and the rubble filled corridor behind cleared, revealing the door to the main tomb. This door, and the main tomb, were to be officially opened under the supervision of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities on 29 November. However on the 26th and 27th, Carter, his assistant Arthur Callender, Lord Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn made one or more unauthorised visits inside the tomb, becoming the first people in modern times to enter it. Callender rigged up electric lighting, illuminating a jumble of items, including gilded couches, chests, thrones, and shrines. They also found two more sealed doorways, including one to the inner burial chamber, guarded by two life-size statues of Tutankhamun. A small hole was found in this doorway and Carter, Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn crawled through it into the inner burial chamber. The diary of Lord Carnarvon’s half-brother Mervyn Herbert, although not a first-hand account, notes that Evelyn, being the smallest of the party, was the first person to enter the burial chamber.
Lady Evelyn and her father travelled to England in December 1922, the two returning in January 1923 to be present at the official opening of the inner burial chamber on 16 February. The same month Brograve Beauchamp visited with his parents, Howard Carter providing a tour of Tutankhamun’s Tomb. Soon afterwards Lord Carnarvon contracted blood poisoning and died in Cairo on 5 April 1923. Lady Evelyn left Egypt to return to England with her brother, Lady Carnarvon following with Lord Carnarvon's remains a week later. This was Evelyn's last visit to Egypt. She did, however, maintain contact with Howard Carter and was present at his funeral at Putney Vale Cemetery in 1939.
Lady Evelyn attended the opening of the Tutankhamun 50th anniversary celebrations in 1972, including the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum, London, where she was presented to the Queen who was there to open the exhibition.

Marriage and later life

On 8 October 1923, Lady Evelyn Herbert married Brograve Beauchamp at St Margaret's Church, Westminster. They had one child, Patricia Evelyn Beauchamp.
Brograve became a baronet on the death of his father in February 1925. He served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Walthamstow East from 1931 to 1945, and died 25 August 1976 at the age of 79.
Like her father and brother, Lady Evelyn owned a number of racehorses and often attended race meetings, being described in the press as "petite, charming and immensely popular in racing circles". She was also closely involved in London Society and regularly appeared in Society publications like The Tatler. In July 1935 she was involved in a serious car accident on her way to Newmarket, Suffolk, recuperating in the London nursing home established by her mother during the First World War. She later suffered from a number of strokes.
Lady Evelyn died in London on 31 January 1980 aged 78, three years after Sir Brograve. She is buried beside her husband in Putney Vale Cemetery in South West London. Howard Carter is also buried at Putney Vale.

Relationship with Howard Carter

Lady Evelyn had known Howard Carter since she was a child, with Carter often visiting the Carnarvons' homes in London and Hampshire. From 1920, Evelyn began to accompany her father on his annual winter trips to Egypt, where she and Carter were on friendly terms. While there were later suggestions of a discreet romantic relationship between the two, there is no evidence of any rumour or gossip among those present at the time. Lady Evelyn denied the idea, later telling her daughter Patricia that "at first I was in awe of him, later I was rather frightened of him", she resenting Carter's "determination" to come between her and her father. More recently, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon dismissed the story, describing Carter as a "stoical loner".

In popular culture

Lady Evelyn Herbert has been portrayed in both films and television productions, with events portrayed with varying degrees of accuracy:
The German language novel Der König von Luxor by Philipp Vandenberg published in 2014 includes a largely fictionalised Lady Evelyn Beauchamp as one of the three principal characters.