When you head to Highclere Castle, as I did on a patchy spring day in May, you expect to see your fair share of stately furniture. There's Napoleon’s desk and chair in the Music Room, a van Dyck painting in the dining room and – let me just check my notes, yes, that’s right – an Ikea side table in the bedroom on the top floor.
‘I've definitely got Billy Bookcases in the estate office. Nothing wrong with that,’ the 8th Countess of Carnarvon and co-owner of Highclere, says. We’re sitting in the tea rooms on the Highclere estate on spray-painted spindle back chairs. ‘I'm not afraid of using Ikea on the one hand, and a more expensive fabric from Robert Kine for a small puff in front of a sofa on the other,’ she says.
We’re here to talk about Highclere Castle, which many may know as a stand-in for Downton Abbey. Walking through the castle, it’s like stepping into your TV set. You pass the Great Hall where Mary and Matthew first danced, walk up the stairs where Lavinia saw them and wander along the corridor past the infamous Mr Pamuk’s room.
It’s a house so large and so country-esque that members of the team use walkie-talkies to communicate. It has historic furniture, no showers and a lot of very low sinks. Lady Carnarvon and her husband, Geordie, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, don’t actually live in the castle most of the time. With 1,200 people visiting daily in the summer, they opt for the quieter Field House instead.
The castle has hosted everyone from acting royalty (George Clooney) to literal royalty (Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip). Maggie Smith was left ‘pissed off’ after a fire alarm triggered an evacuation. Joan Rivers wrote profanities in Highclere’s visitors’ book. Prince Philip, apparently, had an ‘amazing sense of humour’. It can all be read about in Lady Carnarvon’s book, A Year At Highclere: Secrets and Stories from the Real Downton Abbey.
But if you think it’s all TV sets and Lady Mary-esque soirées, think again. ‘It's not just, you know, floating around in a pretty chiffon dress, from one cup of tea to another,’ Lady Carnarvon tells me. ‘I think the advantage of social media is people can actually see that – well, I can pick up a hoover.’
We spoke to Lady Carnarvon about life at Highclere Castle, from her disinterest in glamour to the mourning letters she received when characters from Downton Abbey died. She gave us her top tips for hosting royalty, tells us her favourite Highclere guest (bar the Queen) and shares her simple way of turning Ikea side tables into Highclere-appropriate furniture.
Many of us know Highclere from the TV show Downton Abbey. Is life at the castle really as glamorous as it seems?
LC: I don't know. I'm not really focusing on the word ‘glamour’. I think from time to time, it's amazing fun to dress up, and welcome friends, and to have a cocktail – without a doubt. But I think what matters to me is the people I work with, the sense of family, the community. That's the everyday world.
Are you not that interested in the glamorous side of it?
LC: I’m more interested in the gardening side of it. If I had a choice between going out to do some gardening or having to dress up, I'd go and garden.
We all know about the opulence of Highclere but I’m wondering, does anything here come from a surprising retailer? Is there a secret M&S lamp you've got tucked away somewhere?
LC: I bought some Ikea side tables, which were in bedrooms on the top floor, and I just painted them wacky colours. I like mixing it [up]. I think, in hotels, things are quite symmetrical and matchy-matchy. I think the joy of a country house is that it's not.
What models were the side tables?
LC: It may be a Tonstad one. [She gets out her phone and searches.] The Gullaberg looks quite familiar. That’s a nice plain, simple table, £89.
Adding it to my wishlist as we speak…
LC: But you then paint it a kind of cooking apple green, put a nice lamp and lampshade on it and you’re away.
You’ve decorated the lodges on the Highclere estate in a very classic style. What are your tips for achieving that look?
LC: Paint is less expensive than wallpaper, so you can wallpaper a small room, like a loo. The loo in London Lodge is wallpapered.
The rooms are painted, and they go from one to another. You don't have to do them all the same, but you need to figure out what your scheme is, and then you can highlight it.
There are prints of owls on the wall in London Lodge because you're outside in nature. There's a fun-coloured, bright rug because that's where the colour comes in. Just through a stripy, fun rug, which you could also get from Ikea or somewhere like that.
Obviously, we have to talk about Downtown. In your book, you talk about Maggie Smith’s presence on set. What was it like to have such a legend in your home?
LC: It's funny, because looking back, it was such an honour to welcome Maggie Smith here. I think, fatally, you often realise what an honour it is when they're no longer here. I just remember watching her, and seeing how she played it when she came in. She was amazing.
I loved the story about her being evacuated from Highclere after the fire alarm went off – and the look she had on her face.
LC: She was really p*ssed off with John [Gundill, the Castle's manager]. So funny. I wish he were here, actually, because I think she did give him very short shrift. But it was her look. He was standing, and she gave him this stare, which, if a look would have reduced you to a tiny thing on the floor, that was it.
Was she anything like the dowager?
LC: She expected everyone to be on the ball and working. To my mind, from the little I saw compared to many others, she wasn't interested in the red carpet or the clown of celebrity. She was an actor. She loved her craft. She loved her trade.
Which cast member was most like their character, do you think?
LC: I think she was probably quite like her character. I mean, the thing about acting is you're acting. You're putting across a character and you're leaving your own body and life to be that character.
You also had Shirley MacLaine, another legend, come on set and ask for a bottle of wine. Did you have any other unusual requests?
LC: I think most requests aren't particularly unusual, but it's such a relief if it's easy to fill, for instance, ‘Have you got red wine?’ Yes! I think the glass of red wine was very restorative. I mean, she was amazing coming on set, having just landed. Phenomenal.
I also know that when Matthew died, you received letters of condolence from the public. Did anyone else send anything strange throughout the series?
LC: I think I probably had letters of condolence when Sybil died, too.
Really? What did you think about that?
LC: I don't know, I just find it a bit freaky, and I'm afraid I get rid of them. I just think it's, um… pretty odd. I try to reply to everybody, but I cannot reply to something like that.
You’ve also written about when George Clooney came. What was that like?
LC: Well, there must have been every single lady who worked in ITV there, so I would have thought it was hysterical.
Did you get to meet him?
LC: No, I decided not to. I'm lucky, I get to meet lovely people anyway, and probably, the greatest honour for me was to meet the late Queen. So that I would have gone to the front of the queue for.
But George Clooney less so...
LC: Well, there were so many other people who did want to meet him. It really meant something to them. And, you know, I wasn't going to be in their way.
It was an honour, obviously, that he came down for a charitable cause, which was great. I like Joanna Lumley a lot [who was on the set for the same Text Santa skit]. I think she's really cool. She's a proper person – and a kind person.
That's an interesting phrase, ‘a proper person.’ What do you mean by that?
LC: A sense of values in the right direction, without all the faff of celeb, I guess.
You’ve mentioned how the Queen was another guest. You describe your reaction in the book and just the excitement...
LC: ...And the fear.
Were you scared?
LC: Yes, but I didn't have enough time to be scared. Looking back, it just seems completely extraordinary now – it still does.
Now, that you’ve done it, do you have any top tips for hosting royalty?
LC: Plan and prepare.
In the book, Philip calls someone out for saying their full stomach was going to ‘quietly explode’. I was wondering if you would add avoiding that to your list?
LC: Oh, well, that was my sister, actually – so, that's her learning curve. That was funny. I remember her saying that, and then Prince Philip was sort of just there, and I was, thinking, ‘Okay, what is she gonna do next? How's my sister gonna cope with that one?’
Do you think Prince Philip had a good sense of humour?
LC: Amazing sense of humour. Very, very smart man – amazing man. They were the most extraordinary team, he and the late queen. They were amazing companions.
Was the Queen your favourite guest?
LC: I think she would be the most extraordinary guest I have ever welcomed here. And the second person would probably be Dame Mary Berry. We all fell in love with her. I mean, everybody in this castle, of all the people who have come here, apart from the Queen and Prince Philip, would say they loved Mary Berry.
What was it about her?
LC: Her courtesy, kindness, professionalism, a proper person again. Somehow, those essential intrinsic values and culture – the ones of which we often think, where are they? Sometimes you meet somebody and, you know, they're really special.
And you used to sing her songs at Highclere? How did that come about?
LC: I didn't know how much of it comes about, really. It just comes about.
Did she appreciate the songs?
LC: Yes, she did. She was hysterical.
I'm just imagining flicking through the pages of Highclere’s visitor’s book – so many great names. Did Joan Rivers really write profanities in it?
LC: About Shirley McLean.
I mean, is it completely unrepeatable?
LC: Yes. It's very Joan Rivers. So funny.
• A Year At Highclere: Secrets and Stories from the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon is out now
