Secrets of the Manor House (Includes Highclere Castle - The Setting for Downton Abbey)

The real upstairs/downstairs stories of four of Britain's most majestic stately homes.

Secrets of Highclere Castle.
It may be more famous now than any time in its 300-year history as the setting of Downton Abbey, but Highclere Castle has its own stories to tell. Discover how the inhabitants of Highclere lived, from the aristocrats who enjoyed a life of luxury to the army of servants toiling "below stairs".

Secrets of Henry VIII's Palace

Built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in 1514, Hampton Court is the ultimate royal pleasure palace embodying an indulgent and grandiose lifestyle. Its many rooms chart Henry VIII's decline from fit young warrior to bloated womaniser, and they tell the vivid stories of the ladies who became his queens.

Secrets of Althorp - The Spencers
Step inside the family home of Diana, Princess of Wales. Nestled on over 14,000 acres, nineteen generations of Spencers, one of Britain's most eminent aristocratic dynasties have lived there for over 500 years. Earl Spencer leads a personal tour around this noble manor that is to him, above all, still very much a family home.

Secrets of Chatsworth
On an estate the size of Washington, DC sits Chatsworth, home to the Dukes of Devonshire. The tales of intrigue, tragedy, and scandal of this great family are inextricably intertwined with those of the house itself, from the decadent life of the shockingly glamorous Duchess Georgiana, to the tumultuous love story between JFK's favourite sister Kathleen Kennedy and heir Billy Cavendish.