A son treated his father to an 80th birthday that “helped restore his dignity” as they visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where their ancestor was commissioned to create paintings for the building more than 350 years ago.
Pierre de Wet, 46, and his father, Pieter Eduard de Wet, travelled to the palace in Edinburgh on October 19, a day ahead of the latter’s 80th birthday.
The paintings, found in the Great Gallery in the palace, were commissioned in 1673 and the painter spent around a decade creating them.
He later painted the pictures inside the chapel at Glamis Castle in Angus, in the late 1680s, which the family also visited.
Pierre and Peter, originally from South Africa, both now live in Cambridgeshire, with Pierre having moved there in 2002, and his father joining in 2021 alongside his wife Heila, and his other son, Jacques.
In what was described as a “small family gathering”, they travelled as a family to Holyroodhouse alongside Pierre’s wife, Laurence, sister and brother-in-law Sucille and Paul, and his niece and nephew, Adoree and Leandre – the latter four having travelled from the Netherlands where they now live.
Pieter made sure to take plenty of photos to send back to his brother and sister in South Africa.
Pieter De Wet, stood before one of his ancestor’s paintings that line the walls of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. (David Cheskin/PA)
For the family, Pierre says it was less a holiday and more of a family pilgrimage to learn about their history, adding he was first made aware of their ancestor when working in a sandwich shop when he first arrived in the UK.
He said: “My colleagues asked about my history, and I realised how little I knew about it.
“That’s when I started doing some research. I asked my dad, asked my mum, and they also didn’t really know too much.
“At that time the internet was quite different to what we have now, so there wasn’t much information on it.
“Several years passed when one day I found a de Wet family member on LinkedIn, living in Norfolk somewhere. I reached out to him and he told me about the Palace of Holyroodhouse.”
He added: “He was a painter and decorator, and he said to me he told all his clients about our heritage.
“So I started doing some further research and that’s when I found a book that dates back the family by around 300 years.”
In 2023, Pierre went to see the palace for himself, and, ahead of his father’s 80th, he and his brother decided it would make for a nice birthday memory.
Pierre said: “We really thought long and hard about what we could give him.
“It was clear that giving somebody something at that age is probably not as important as giving them an experience, and of course, involving the family in the experience too.”
Pieter (L) and Pierre (R), pictured before one of their ancestor’s paintings at Glamis Castle, Angus. (David Cheskin/PA)
Pieter had moved to the UK largely because of his age, and Pierre says he noticed a positive difference in him after seeing the paintings.
He said: “In 2021, my parents and brother relocated to the UK because life had become very hard.
“My dad got very old and more frail and, therefore, had to be more careful and work was quite tough for him.
“My aunt sent me some photos when they were leaving the airport for the UK, and I saw how life had taken some dignity away from him after how hard he worked in South Africa.
“To see him stand there by those paintings, and for the staff to make such an effort and make him feel special and feel somebody, was lovely.”
He added: “Not because he was a nobody, but because he was there to visit the work of his ancestor and my ancestors.
“Seeing him there was somewhat of a moment where that dignity was given back to him, looking up at those paintings, seeing how he looked at it, and what it meant for him.”
The de Wet family extended their thanks to the palace’s staff, especially Joanne, Bart and Emma, who they said “went over and above” for them.
Pierre has said he hopes the family’s story inspires others to look up their ancestry.
He said: “I want to make sure this isn’t a look at us – it’s not about that.
“I just hope somebody can take inspiration and do the same.”
