Two Downton Abbey fans will soon get the chance to live like a Crawley for a night when Highclere Castle, the main filming location for the Emmy Award-winning drama, lists on Airbnb.
As a promotion for the premiere of the film on Friday in the US, the estate in Hampshire, England, is opening its doors to two guests for a one-night stay on Nov. 26.
George Herbert, the 8th Earl of Carnavon, and his wife, Countess Fiona, live at the castle when it is not open to the public.
Photo: AFP
They will invite the guests for cocktails in the saloon, followed by dinner in the state dining room, where they will be served by the castle’s butler.
Then they will receive coffee in the library before retiring to one of the principal bedrooms, with views of the rolling hills.
In the morning, the guests will receive a private tour of the castle grounds, which include gardens of roses and lavender, along with beech and oak woodlands.
“It’s an absolute privilege and pleasure to call Highclere Castle my home, and I am delighted to be able to share it on Airbnb for a truly unique stay,” Lady Carnarvon said in a statement announcing the listing.
Booking is to open on Oct. 1 at 12pm BST and will cost £150 (US$186.40).
The history of Highclere dates to 749, when an Anglo-Saxon king gave the estate to the bishops of Winchester, who built a medieval palace and gardens.
In 1679, the palace was rebuilt after being purchased by Robert Sawyer, a direct grandfather of the current earl, and then was transformed into Highclere Castle with renovations in 1842.
During the summer months, the castle opens its doors to about 1,200 visitors per day, five days a week.
While Downton Abbey aired from 2010 to 2015, the castle’s great hall, library, music room, drawing room, saloon, dining room and bedrooms were used for filming.
The series followed Lord and Lady Grantham as they navigated Edwardian England with their family and servants from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 until 1925.
It was nominated for 69 Emmys and won 15.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number