Wined and dined for Downton

The Countess of Carnarvon
Marquee at Phyllis Court
Saturday, October 11

MILLIONS of people around the world are as familiar with Highclere Castle as they are with their own front doors.

Or maybe not quite as familiar, since Highclere has many doors and somewhere between 250 and 300 rooms.

Highclere is of course, in telly world, Downton Abbey. It has been the location for dozens of episodes of the drama on ITV and three feature films in the cinema.

Lady Fiona Carnarvon told a packed audience how she had wined and dined the show’s creators, including writer Julian Fellowes, to persuade them to choose her home over many competitors as the right place to make the series.

It wasn’t only the money that filming would bring but the increased public awareness of one of the most prestigious stately homes in the country.

But the money is useful too. The countess touched on the ongoing programme of restoration required to maintain the house and the extensive estate surrounding it.

She had anecdotes about the filming of the series as well as talking warmly of the many people who work to preserve the heritage of Highclere, her love of dogs and the occasional presence of a ghost on the uppermost floor of the house.

This was an affable session though perhaps a little heavy on the Downton side of things. I would have welcomed hearing a bit about the Carnarvon connection with Tutankhamun, since the current earl is a descendant of one of the excavators of the tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and Highclere hosts an exhibition on the discovery.

Philip Gooden