The Duchess of Cambridge will today meet the cast and crew of the popular drama Downton Abbey.
Kate will tour the world famous Ealing Studios in west London where parts of the series are filmed.
On set will be a number of the cast including Dame Maggie Smith (Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham), Phyllis Logan (Mrs Hughes), Robert James-Collier (Thomas Barrow), Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore) and Sophie McShera (Daisy Mason).
Scenes in the kitchen, servants’ quarters and working areas of Downton Abbey, and some of the upstairs bedrooms, are filmed at Ealing Studios.
Highclere Castle in Hampshire is used for exterior shots of Downton Abbey and other interior filming.
Kate will get the chance to watch one take of a scene being filmed in the servants’ quarters for the latest series, the sixth, and a second take of the scene via a monitor in the Video Village area.
In the servants’ hall she will join cast members, writers and producers for an official photograph.
The Duchess will see different areas of the production process, escorted by executive producer Liz Trubridge, from watching make-up artists at work to meeting costume designers, seamstresses and cutters in the workshop and seeing the design and production process of set scenery and props.
After walking through a covered walkway showing the history of Ealing Studios, Kate will attend a brief reception and meet production, editorial and Ealing Studios’ staff, and more cast members including Hugh Bonneville (Earl of Grantham) and Elizabeth McGovern (Countess of Grantham), before unveiling a plaque to commemorate the visit.
