Who Do You Think You Are? - Harriet Walter

 

Harriet's ancestor, Marie Carandini;
National Library of Australia / Wikimedia Commons

Last Thursday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured actress Harriet Walter, whose family are undeniably posh.

Much of this episode featured on the exploits of an Italian ancestor — the son of a noble family, who had the grandest of educations, but was drawn to ballet and the stage.

He traversed the world, meaning well, but somehow always getting into scrapes; through exile and showbusiness, he ended up in Australia, where he married an opera singer.

Not only an opera singer, but, as far as the early Australian operatic scene was concerned, Marie Carandini (nee. Maria Burgess,) was the opera singer.

This part of the episode is intriguing — not least because it has more than a little resemblance to the plot of an opera in itself — but for me it was overshadowed by the first part of the episode.

The first part of the episode focuses on Harriet’s mother, Xandra Carandini Lee, who was in military intelligence during the Second World War.

Clearly, she took her legal obligations regarding secrecy extremely seriously — and did not reveal a thing about her work to her family.

Harriet reports that not one but two of Xandra’s husbands belittled her and her intelligence, treating her as someone who was incapable of being logical and capable.

In reality, Xandra played a pivotal role in admiralty intelligence, leading a section involved in the meticulous planning of the D-day landings. 

Her job was high-pressured, complex, analytical, and vital to the ending of World War 2 — this was not a role for someone illogal and incapable.

It’s truly sad that she was unable to tell anyone — especially those who belittled her — just how impressive and formidable a person she was.

If I have one criticism of this episode, though, it’s that one notable fact was left out — that Xandra’s little brother was the legendary actor, Christopher Lee. 

Unless I somehow missed it, it was never mentioned, which just feels like a slightly odd thing to leave out.

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