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The Ambassador’s Room Welcome to the Ambassador’s Room. This room is named in honour of a very important foreign dignitary, the Austrian Ambassador Albert Count von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Diestrichstein. The Ambassador was due to visit Croft in the summer of 1914 and this room was painstakingly prepared for his stay. However, on 28th June 1914 the heir to the throne of Austria Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated while on a visit to Sarajevo. Not only did this throw the Ambassador’s country into turmoil, but it also triered a chain of events that led to the start of World War One. The Ambassador and his would-be British hosts were now on opposing sides. The Austrian Ambassador left Britain on 12th August 1914 and never made his planned visit to Croft. The Ambassador’s Room never welcomed its namesake. Nothing at Croft, across the country, and all around the world would ever be the same again. The room you see today was decorated by a cousin of the present Lord Croft, Edward Croft-Murray. He was Keeper (Director of the department) of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum for twenty years. He selected the wallpaper and friends were entertained in this room by string quartets. The chimneypiece is another fine example of the work of Thomas Farnolls Pritchard and the gold embossed overmantel mirror above was created by Thomas Chippendale.
