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Hill-Stead Museum Announces…an Encore Event with The Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon

Due to overwhelming popularity, Hill-Stead has secured The Countess of Carnarvon for a second speaking engagement in May, this time on the topic of Entertaining at Highclere.

The Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon resides at Highclere Castle, the primary filming location for the Emmy Award-winning PBS television series Downton Abbey. On Friday, May 27, Lady Carnarvon will share stories on entertaining at Highclere, and the Castle’s decor and ongoing restoration. A book signing will follow the event, with copies of Lady Carnarvon’s best-selling books available for purchase.

Hill-Stead Museum is the perfect backdrop for The Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon’s lectures, as her family story and its Downton Abbey references coincide with the life story of Hill-Stead’s founder, Theodate Pope Riddle.

For more information, see Search entertaining The Countess of Carnarvon: Entertaining at Highclere.

Tickets and seating

• $100 per person.
• Seating is limited and will be assigned based on the order of purchase.
• Up to 10 tickets may be purchased with each transaction, and individuals purchasing 10 tickets in a single transaction will be assigned their own table.
• We will attempt to keep tickets purchased in blocks less than 10 together at the same table, but tickets bought individually will be seated in the order of purchase.
• Admission to the museum is included in the cost of tickets, and there will be an Open House format for visitors to tour the period rooms from 11 am to 1 pm that day.

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On Thursday, May 26, The Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon will be the Guest of Honor at Hill-Stead’s Monet’s Circle patron’s reception, of which she serves as Honorary Chair this year. Following the reception, Lady Carnarvon will attend the museum’s dinner auction gala, Hill-Stead’s largest annual fundraising event. For more information or to purchase tickets to this event, see The Grand Tour Benefit Dinner Auction in our calendar.

Highclere Castle is one of England’s most beautiful Victorian castles, set amidst 1,000 acres of spectacular parkland. The Carnarvon family has lived at Highclere since 1679, and the current castle stands on the site of an earlier house, which in turn was built on the foundations of the medieval palace owned by the Bishops of Winchester for some 800 years.

 Lady Carnarvon is married to George Herbert, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, thus making her the 8th Countess. The Countess has already had a fulfilling career encompassing a number of positions and professions. A former auditor at Coopers & Lybrand, Lady Carnarvon is perfectly suited to run the affairs at Highclere Castle, where she and the Earl of Carnarvon reside. Their guardianship of the estate extends to its grounds, gardens and events.

A celebrated author, Lady Carnarvon has written four books chronicling her family’s history, drawing on a rich store of materials from Highclere Castle’s archives, including diaries, letters, and photographs. The first two books are focused on the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb with Howard Carter in 1922. Through discovery and purchase, Lord Carnarvon amassed one of the most extraordinary Egyptian collections in the world. Following his death in 1923, the collection was sold by his widow to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in order to pay death duties. The Egyptian Exhibition at Highclere Castle celebrates the 5th Earl’s achievements.

Lady Carnarvon’s third book, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere, was a New York Times Bestseller. Lord Julian Fellowes, the writer and creator of Downton Abbey, was moved by the remarkable life of Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon and inspiration for Downton Abbey’s Cora Crawley. Lady Carnarvon’s 2013 companion publication, Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey, tells the story of the spirited American woman who marries into the Carnarvon family in the 1920’s.

Tickets are non-refundable