Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by Fiona Carnarvon

In association with The Capital London, the festival’s London hotel. In this transporting companion piece to the New York Times bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, Catherine, a beautiful and spirited American woman who married Lady Almina’s son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon, presides over the grand estate during a tumultuous time for the British aristocracy. Both books draw on the rich archive of period photographs held at Highclere, home to the current Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, and give an insight into life at the real Downton Abbey. Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey follows Lady Carnarvon’s bestselling Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey. Lady Fiona, the Earl of Carnarvon ’s second wife, has asked his children to leave Highclere Castle the country seat of. And when World War II broke out, Highclere was transformed into an American airbase. THE real-life Downton Abbey family has been hit by a bitter rift. The story of the real Downton Abbey, told by Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle where the phenomentally successful TV series was filmed. Porchy, however, turned out to be a rogue, squandering his money and pursuing movie stars. In this history, the current Countess of Carnarvon portrays her ancestress-by-marriage as a rich and lovely arriviste who married the fifth Earl of Carnarvon in 1895.

She was only 19 and had to quickly learn how to organise and host the lavish banquets her husband loved and to manage the more than 80 staff under her command at Highclere. Few viewers know that Downton’s American chatelaine, Cora Crawley, was inspired by the real-life fifth Countess of Carnarvon, Almina Wombwell.

The glamorous and wealthy Catherine was the talk of London society when she moved to Britain in 1920 to marry ‘Porchy’, the Earl of Porchester. The Countess of Carnarvon tells the extraordinary story of Lady Catherine, a beautiful American heiress who lived at Highclere Castle, the setting for the award-winning ITV drama Downton Abbey. A former auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, Lady Carnarvon is the wife of George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by Fiona Carnarvon