A period piece isn’t a period piece unless it gets a visit from real royalty. A fan (Prince William also watches the show), Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, visited the set of Downton Abbey last Thursday. Hugh Bonneville, who is Robert Crawley/Lord Grantham on the show, said “Kate wanted to know everything about the show and how it was filmed.” It sounds like the princess is a true fangirl with Bonneville adding “She told me I was her favourite character…but I feel she may have said that to everyone.”
Given a special treatment, Kate greeted and chatted with the cast and crew (sadly Maggie Smith was unable to make it), toured around the set including the kitchen, and visited the wardrobe, hair and makeup department. On top of this fan experience, she also sat in to watch a scene being filmed (season six is currently in production). Sophie McShera and Lesley Nicol (Daisy and Mrs. Patmore) were in character and baked a chocolate cake with the Downton Abbey logo for Kate, much to the princess’s delight.
The visit was closely observed by the Kensington Palace and Downton Abbey Twitter accounts using the hashtag “DuchessAtDownton”. It’s unknown if there would be a cameo of the royal in the show or a possibility of her making one in the future. However, since Princess Beatrice made a cameo in The Young Victoria and Kate is a fan of the show…
