Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey

Catherine Wendell, a charismatic and charming American girl, caught the eye of Lord Porchester when she was just 20, marrying him in 1922. Less than a year later his father, Lord Carnarvon, died, and she found herself the chatelaine of Highclere Castle, the setting for the massively popular drama Downton Abbey. Drawing on private archives and beautiful period photographs, the present Countess tells Catherine's story, transporting us back to a vanished world of magnificent banquets and weekend house parties.