Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle - Tapa blanda

Comfort reading for fans eagerly awaiting the next instalment of Downtown Abbey to appear on our TV screens. -- Vogue Highclere Castle, setting for the TV series Downtown Abbey, has a rich history and the current chatelaine Lady Fiona Carnarvon writes about a predecessor, Lady Almina Carnarvon, the illegitimate daughter of banker Alfred de Rothschild. -- North Shore Times Fans of superb and addictive UK drama, Downtown Abbey will be fascinated by the true stories behind Highclere Castle. -- Womans Day (Australia) The perfect gift for lovers of the TV series. Almina's journey from debutante to society lady and, later wartime nurse is fascinating. -- The Australian Women's Weekly A plainly written, enjoyable tale of wealth and privilege in the late 1800s. -- Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Herald Sun If you want to know what life was like for the aristocracy, then here, meticulously researched, is the true story of Lady Almina written by the current resident of Highclere, Lady Fiona Carnarvon. A well-written account. -- Sydney Morning Herald A well written account of a world that was once banquets and dancing and then, in 1914, was changed utterly by the war effort. -- Bendigo Advertiser

Lady Fiona Carnarvon became the chatelaine of Highclere Castle - the setting of the hit series Downton Abbey - eight years ago. In that time she's become fascinated by the rich history of Highclere, and by the extraordinary people who lived there over the centuries. One person particularly captured Fiona's imagination - Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Almina was the illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon Alfred de Rothschild. She was his only daughter and he doted on her. She married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, at 19, with an enormous dowry. At first, life at Highclere was a dizzying mix of sumptuous banquets for 500 and even the occasional royal visitor. Almina oversaw 80 members of staff - many of whom came from families who had worked at Highclere for generations. But when the First World War broke out, life at Highclere changed forever. History intervened and Almina and the staff of Highclere were thrown into one of the most turbulent times of the last century. Almina was forced to draw on her deepest reserves of courage in order to ensure her family, the staff and the castle survived. This is the remarkable story of a lost time. But Highclere remains and in this book, Fiona weaves Almina's journey and those of her family into the heritage and history of one of England's most exquisite Victorian castles.