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Science and the Spook by George Owen and Victor Sims

We spoke by telephone to her Grace's daughter Miss Aynes Milinaire (aged 19) in Paris. She frequently comes to stay with her mother and sleeps in the Rose Room. Miss Milinaire said:

There have been times when I have been lying in bed and felt the presence of someone in the room without seeing anything. On several occasions the door has opened and shut as though by itself, although there was no one there. When I was in bed with flu this happened several times late at night. I called out to my mother thinking that she was coming in and going out. But she assured me that she had not touched the door. Whenever it happened, I always expected to see someone, but never did. They all think I am telling a story, but it is true. Something very strange goes on in that room. I am not frightened by it, but I would like an explanation.

Her Grace told us that Agnes's experience was typical of that of several lady guests in the Rose Room but male guests had been undisturbed. As a result she had had the lock changed. We examined the lock. Though elegant and of Regency style it seemed perfectly functional. As far as we could see there was no tendency for the door to come unfastened when closed but not locked, and still less when the key was turned.

Shaking the floor by walking around had no effect. Mr Paul Getty when he slept in the Green Room made a more drastic test by jumping up and down, but the door failed to burst open.