UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS
In the new Downton Abbey film, veteran housekeeper Mrs Hughes is unequivocal in briefing staff: “I want every surface in this house to gleam and sparkle,” she tells them, and this, says Dr Mac Graham, historian of Holkham Hall, is exactly the effect that the grand Norfolk home is after today.
The parallels don’t stop there. While the staff of Downton Abbey prepare for a royal visit, Holkham Hall, seat of the Earls of Leicester, has hosted many a royal guest, starting with a young Queen Victoria. Just 16 and still a princess, Victoria visited as part of a tour, arranged by her mother, of what would soon be her realm.
In the film, staff find their noses put out
