Downton Abbey’s true story revealed at Kenilworth talk

Next week Lady Fiona Carnarvon - the eighth countess, who lives at Highclere Castle where the period drama is filmed, is coming to Kenilworth to give people an insight into her new book, Lady Almina and the Story of the Real Downton Abbey.

Lady Almina moved in to the castle in 1894 at the age of 19 when she married into the Carnavon family. The illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon, Alfred de Rothschild, was lonely and miserable at first, but she gradually won over society and her husband with her wit, brave spirit and fabulous dresses.

When the First World War broke out, Highclere lost many of the men whose families had worked there for generations.

Lady Almina persuaded her husband to allow her to turn the castle into a hospital for wounded soldiers and personally saw that they received the highest standard of care. She also funded and supported her husband, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, in his expeditions to Egypt. He went on to discover the tomb of Tutankhamen.

The book, which includes photographs, recipes, seating plans and instructions to the servants, spans the time period covered by the first two series of Downton Abbey.

Lady Carnarvon’s talk takes place at the Methodist Church in Kenilworth on Wednesday at 7pm. Tickets cost £6 (£5 concessions) and are available from Kenilworth Books in Talisman Square, Kenilworth, and Warwick Books in Market Place, Warwick, or call 499939 or 855784.