All were in a festive mood Wednesday evening last at The Knole, Stony Hill, for the launch of Edward Charles Hanna’s homage to his mother Olga, exquisitely packaged in a pictorial aptly titled The Knole — a hardback collection of images of the celebrated great house by photographer Nathan Patrick Haddad with recollected childhood memories, narrated by Edward Charles Hanna and penned by Janice Casserly. “A year in the making,” this according to Hanna, “The Knole was written primarily as a tribute to my mother, Olga, and wherein I also pay my respects to my father Edward Rasheed Hanna.”

There was nostalgia for many with each turn of the page, but more so for Edward Charles Hanna’s childhood friend MacMillan Advertising Limited Chairman Robert MacMillan, who took guests back several decades to The Knole, where socialite Olga Hanna resided. “When we were young Paul, Charles and I were like the three musketeers,” he shared. He then went on to explain how he was sworn to secrecy by Charles and taken to a room filled to capacity with gifts artfully wrapped by Mrs Hanna for the children of her employees. “Years later, I asked him to show me the room, but not to open the door, as I wanted to be left alone with my childhood recollections. I adored your mother, and I congratulate you on this fitting tribute to a true aristocratic queen.”

Couples Resorts Deputy Chairman Paul Issa, the third musketeer, shared his most poignant memory. “Sixty years ago, I came here for the first time. I was seven years old, and was invited to the house by Charles after we had met at a wedding. I came from a pretty substantial home myself so I wasn’t easily impressed, but I was completely blown away by the aesthetics of this house. We didn’t have television or much technology but it was an absolutely fertile ground for creativity and innovation.” Issa also spoke of his admiration of Olga Hanna and expressed his joy that the book would now immortalise the house. “I am very pleased that Charles has gone through the trouble of having this book written, simply because it’s a tribute not only to this home but to Olga Hanna, an extraordinary woman,” he said.

Recollections over, Hanna welcomed all and expressed his appreciation for the turnout. He was particularly delighted that former prime minister Edward Seaga and his wife Carla were in attendance.

Naturally, he too hailed the publishing of the book. “The idea of this book originated with the photographer Nathan Patrick Haddad, who lives here in one of the cottages, and it’s almost a matter of serendipity and a strange sort of connection, because Nathan’s grandfather was actually my father’s first financial controller in the ’30s and ’40s.

“The house was finely built in 1938, mainly by Italian prisoners who were detained here during World War II. I’ve lived here in excess of seven decades, and it’s been a tremendous pleasure. It was really my mother who kept the household going and I am really appreciative of her efforts to manage a house of this type,” he noted. He then implored his guests to relish the house’s eclectic collection of paintings and enjoy the libations. The classical musical stylings of pianist Kayo Yoshida made the evening that much more enchanting.