You might have heard of the popular TV series Downton Abbey. The period drama starring Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Rose Leslie, and Elizabeth McGovern became an unexpected hit in the 2010s, won numerous awards, and spawned two feature films. The series tells the story of the English noble family the Crawleys headed by Robert, Lord Grantham, and their servants, and is set during the reign of King George V between 1912 and 1926. The iconic castle that served as the Crawley home became such a well-known structure that you can buy novelty Christmas Tree ornaments in the shape of the building. I had one myself until it fell off the tree and broke a few years ago.

Downton Abbey is not a real place and the Crawleys were not a real family, but the castle that served as Lord Grantham’s home does exist and has an interesting history on its own.

The real Downton Abbey is Highclere Castle. It’s not located in Yorkshire, as the series suggested, but rather in northern Hampshire, about an hour west of London. Built in the 17th Century and renovated in the middle of the 19th, it has been the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, one of England’s many noble titles, since 1769. It was at Highclere Castle in 1866, that the 4th Earl of Carnarvon, Henry Herbert IV, drafted legislation that created the nation of Canada.

But the castle is best known in real life as the home of Herbert’s great-grandson, also named Henry, the 7th Earl of Carnarvon. Also holding the title of Lord Porchester, Henry, or Porchey as he was called, was a close friend – some suggest best friend – of Queen Elizabeth II. He served as the queen’s “racing manager” from 1969 until his death, and the two bonded over their mutual love of horse racing.

Porchey was born a century ago in 1924 (interestingly during what would’ve been the fifth season of Downton Abbey). He died at Highclere Castle, the future “Downton Abbey,” on September 11, 2001; the same day Al Qaeda attacked the United States and killed nearly 3,000 people.

As the story goes, Porchey, age 77 at the time, was watching the news of the attacks in the castle. A few hours later, or while still watching the news coverage – depending on which source you cite – Porchey collapsed from a myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack. He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Winchester, but he was dead on arrival. Some sources suggest he was immensely shocked and upset by the attacks because his mother, Catherine, was an American born in New York City a century earlier, and that’s what triggered the heart attack. His wife Jean was also an American, born and raised in rural Wyoming and they married in New York City in 1956.

Porchey is a minor character in the Netflix series The Crown. In the first season, his friendship with the queen sparks some jealousy from Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. He reappears in Season Three when he and the queen travel to Kentucky to discuss breeding horses and their trip is cut short when she is forced to return to London where her uncle-in-law Lord Mountbatten is pondering a coup d’etat. Porchey’s death is mentioned in the Season Six episode, “Ritz”, when Elizabeth II’s sister Princess Margaret, in failing health after a series of strokes, overhears news coverage of 9/11 over the radio. Later, her lady-in-waiting and best friend, Anne Tennant, Lady Glenconner, after sharing a sad story about a 9/11 victim, informs her that Porchey has died. Margaret then grieves alongside her sister, noting that the queen had lost her best friend and would soon lose her mother and sister as well. Indeed, both Margaret and the Queen Mother would die within six months of Porchey.

Eight years later, with Highclere Castle in disrepair, Porchey’s son, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, allowed it to be used as the setting for Downton Abbey. The attention the show brought to the castle helped raise funds for the repairs and the castle has become a tourist attraction and is open to the public when the current Earl of Carnarvon and his family are not in residence.

Another fun fact: Highclere Castle is home to a significant museum of Egyptian artifacts stemming from the time of Porchey’s grandfather, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon. He patronized the expedition that discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922 and was in Luxor, Egypt when the tomb was first opened.

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