would sit between filming rather than
head back out to their trailers.
The dining room, where many scenes
of Downton Abbey were filmed, was
redecorated by the 7th Countess, who
introduced warm yellow silks to the
room, highlighting its opulence and
grandeur of the "Stuart revival" style of
interior decoration by Sir Charles Barry. It
is dominated by Van Dyck's equestrian
portrait of Charles I and portraits of the
Herbert ancestors lining the wall.
The heart of the house is The Saloon,
designed in Gothic style and completed in
the 1860s. It includes the coat of arms of
the Carnarvon family with painted heraldic
shields of the Herberts. With a stone
fireplace, the wall coverings are in gilt
leather. The impressive carved oak staircase
fills the tall Italianate tower which took a
year to build and install in 1842, leading to
an upper-level gallery overlooking the
Saloon, from which the main guest
bedrooms are accessed.
The 8th Earl of Carnarvon, George
Herbert (his godmother is the late Queen
Elizabeth), inherited the 300 -room castle
in Hampshire from his father, upon the
latter's death in 2001. Lady Carnarvon says
she is "trying to declutter, having decided
less is more. I spend so much time looking
for things. And then when I think I have
found it, I find something in a brown box
that I've been looking for, for two years.
It's exhausting and there are always
renovation projects, too."
Lady Carnarvon is godmother to a
Viking river ship called the Viking Skadi
and ocean ship Viking Mars; her husband is
godfather to the Viking Osiris which sails
the River Nile, while their son Edward
christened the Viking Hathor during a
sunset ceremony on the Nile at Luxor.
"It has just been a joy to watch my son
begin to understand and enjoy being in
Egypt," she says. "There is nothing better
than our partnership with Viking. It began
with a personal friendship with Karine
Hagen and her father [Viking founder]
Torstein, and it has developed into a very
special collaboration." She says her son
loves to travel and explore different
countries, so it was a great honour that
he was asked to be a godfather.
Highclere, she says, is a family
business valuing kindness, hard work,
honesty and humour.
"e impressive carved oak staircase fills
the tall Italianate tower which took a year
to build and install in 1842."
GETTING THERE: Add a Highclere
Castle extension to a number of
Viking ocean or river voyages.
viking.com | 36
Lady Carnarvon and
Karine Hagen inside
Highclere Castle.
Opposite page from
top: Highclere Castle
dining room; Highclere
Castle drawing room.
Inside Highclere Castle Library
S P R I N G I S S U E 2 7
