Julie Montagu Talks Caroline Stanbury and Proves Ladies of London Can Throw Shade, Too
The #LadiesOfLondon mom gets to the bottom of their tense relationship.
Ladies of London has been something of a royal rumble this season as Julie Montagu and Caroline Stanbury have both asserted their authority. That really shone through as Julie laid down some ground rules for the ladies when she hosted them at her family's estate, Mapperton, and Caroline was not having it.
But the Mapperton holiday ended on a positive note for the friends, who seemed to have a ton of tenseion between them when the season kicked off. However, this sneak peek shows that the peace between Julie and Caroline may not have lasted.
Julie gave her take on why she and Caroline just can't seem to get along this season during an interview with The Daily Dish (clip above). "Caroline and I, I think we're both big personalities, and I believe we're totally opposite in every way. She's basically rebelling against what I'm just about to take on," Julie explained, referring to her and her husband Luke Montagu taking over the running of Mapperton last year. "So I think that rubs her the wrong way, not in the sense, 'Do I think she's jealous of me?' No. But I think it's something that she ran away from, that she doesn't like. And so even stepping foot on Mapperton makes her feel incredibly uncomfortable."
The fact that Julie is close friends with Caroline's sister-in-law Sophie Stanbury, with whom Caroline has also had a falling out this season, hasn't exactly helped the situation, the Ladies of London aristocrat said. "But right now, we're fine," Julie said. "Do we speak to each other every day? No. Do we speak to each other often? No. Do we very occasionally send each other a decently nice text? Yes."
Many Ladies of London fans think that the problems between Julie and Caroline stem from Julie trying to take the Queen Bee title from her this season. "It's the weirdest thing I've ever heard of in my entire life," Julie said of the viewers' label this season. "I'm totally myself. I don't know how I could be Queen Bee. I mean, I've been called 'nerdy' and 'geeky' by people and 'no style.'"
In fact, Julie is perfectly fine with Caroline keeping that title. "She can keep her Queen Bee status if that's what she wants," she said. "Listen, I'm very content and happy where I am. I'm certainly not trying to pull a crown off of anybody's head because, listen, I already have one. I am gonna be the Countess of Sandwich. There is actually a family tiara that I wore on my wedding, so I actually do have a real one. So I'm fine with the one that I already have."
One might think that someone in Julie's position would be quick to paint Caroline as jealous of her current title of Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, which could also be the root of their beef, but she said she wouldn't go that far. "I hate to use the word 'jealous,'" Julie said. "But parking that — and I think Caroline knows this as well — when you have a title in England, it's like extra-credit points. There are special benefits to having a title. There are special circumstances that you would get over anybody else because you have a title."
Julie said some of those benefits include getting into restaurants one normally wouldn't be able to, getting instantly upgraded in almost everything, and receiving "automatic respect." In England's class system, only those with a title can be considered upper class as well, Julie explained. "It's the weirdest thing ever, but there is still this sense of glamorizing people who do have a title. You do sometimes get special treatment because of it," she said. "So maybe that's it."
Well, we have to say that both of these ladies reign supreme in our eyes.
Relive one of Julie and Caroline's epic duels from this season, below.
