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As 2021 gets underway Lady Carnarvon sits down with Lord Carnarvon to discuss their plans for the new year. From now on Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcast will be released monthly on the last Thursday of each month. 

It's Christmas Eve and Lord and Lady Carnarvon sit down to look back on festive celebrations at Highclere Castle down the years. They also reflect on a quite extraordinary year at the 'real' Downton Abbey, and discuss this year's quiet family Christmas. In Next week's episode they look forward to what they hope will be a more joyful 2021! For details of Lady Carnarvon's book 'Christmas at Highclere' follow this link: https://www.highclerecastle.co.uk/christmas-highclereHappy Christmas! 

Like Lord and Lady Carnarvon the Hon. William and Lady Ailsa Stonor look after an important historic house and estate. The Stonor family has lived at Stonor Park for more than 850 years. Situated around 40 miles to the north-east of Highclere Castle - near the Royal Regatta town of Henley - William and Ailsa have become friends of Lord and lady Carnarvon through their shared duty to protect and preserve their respective family homes for future generations. 

This week Lady Carnarvon turns the tables on a TV production team that has been shadowing the Highclere staff for an observational documentary to be broadcast on TV in the UK next week. 'Christmas at Highclere' will follow the Highclere Castle team as they prepare for the public events that lead up to the festive break. Amy and Brent talk to Lady Carnarvon about their experiences of becoming part of the 'Highclere family' and how they discovered for themselves what life is like at the 'real' Downton Abbey! You can find out more about the TV programme here: https://www.channel4.com/press/news/celebrate-christmas-two-uks-most-famous-castles

If you follow the Highclere Castle Instagram account you'll already know that a recent visitor here was the great great grandson of the novelist Charles Dickens. 177 years after it was first published 'A Christmas Carol' is still a best seller. Gerald came to Highclere in memory of  the charity of which Charles Dickens was the very first Chairman  https://www.trtf.com/theatrecommunityfund  which helps actors in hardship.  Like every actor, it has been a  challenging year and Gerald has put together a full length video http://www.geralddickens.com/films.html Make sure you also watch Gerald performing three staves from the book on the Highclere Castle Instagram account. 

Diana Mitchell is Highclere Castle's head guide. She leads a team of around thirty enthusiastic guides who help to ensure visitors to the 'real Downton Abbey' get the best out of their experience. Some of the guides she works with started back in 1988 when the castle first opened to the public. In this podcast Diana reflects on the impact of Downton Abbey and even the time when she was an extra in one particular episode. 

There's a bit of a change this week with Lord Carnarvon taking over with the questioning. His guest is Kate Adie CBE, DL  well known for her long service as the BBC's Chief News Correspondent.  Kate has travelled extensively during her BBC career. The two foreign assignments she is most often associated with are the  bombing of the Libyan capital Tripoli in 1986 and the Chinese authorities' killing of protestors in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989. She was on duty in London in 1980 when the siege of the Iranian Embassy was brought to an end by the SAS.   Nowadays Kate presents From Our Own Correspondent and makes occasional programmes for BBC television and Radio 4. Her conversation with Lord Carnarvon was part of the 'History at Highclere' weekend.

Robert Harris is the author of thirteen bestselling novels including the Cicero Trilogy, The Ghost, An Officer and a Spy, Conclave, Munich and The Second Sleep. He lives near to Highclere Castle with his wife, Gill Hornby. This podcast is the soundtrack to a video interview with Robert recorded in the castle ahead of Lady Carnarvon's charity weekend 'History at Highclere'. He joins her to discuss his latest novel 'V2'. 

Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell DFC AE FRICS RAF (retired) served in WW2 as a Mosquito Bomber Pilot. Celebrating his 100th Birthday next March, he talks all about his experiences as a pilot in WW2.  His flying training was carried out in 1941 in the United States and he stayed there serving as a flying instructor until 1943.  On his return to the United Kingdom in 1943 he converted to twin engine Mosquito Bombers and joined 608 Squadron (Pathfinder Group) based at Downham Market in Norfolk.  During his operational tours he carried out 50 bombing raids over Germany, 13 of them over Berlin.  He experienced much action and survived many close scrapes. This inspirational talk takes place in the Smoking Room at Highclere Castle, and was recorded for video as well as podcast as part of the History at Highclere weekend. 

The son of a Battle of Britain Pilot, Air Commodore Rick Peacock-Edwards CBE, AFC would say he has always been involved in aviation. A pilot for the RAF for 35 years, he has gained over 7000 hours flying fighter aircrafts including the Lightning, Phantom and Tornado. His latest book, ‘Rate of Climb’ is an inspiring insight into his career with the RAF. Rick's fun-loving approach to life is evident throughout his book as well as his conversation with Lady Carnarvon in the Smoking Room at Highclere Castle. This podcast was recorded on the eve of the 'History at Highclere' event. For more wonderful stories, be sure to buy Rick's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rate-Climb.../dp/1911621467

This week's episode is named after the radio call sign of the British Airways supersonic airliner Concorde. It was 17 years ago this week that the last commercial Concorde flights landed at London's Heathrow airport. The supersonic passenger age had ended, and it's yet to restart. Lady Carnarvon lives in a place of extraordinary history so it seems apt that she should host not one but three former Concorde pilots to reflect on this incredible and historic aircraft. An aircraft far ahead of its time. It's a discussion that takes place in the Music Room at Highclere Castle. Find out more:  Steve Bohill-Smith features in Episode 5, and you can hear about the Red Arrows in Episode 13. 

Lady Carnarvon's guest this week is Sally Popplewell who is responsible for the wonderful gift shop at Highclere Castle. 

In episode 6 of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcast (The Highclere Castle Shoot) she spoke to Eddie Hughes the recently retired head keeper. Eddie had worked on the estate for many decades and gave a fascinating insight into days gone by. This week we meet Ben Waite who has taken-over. It's not been an easy start for Ben, within a month of him beginning his new job the pandemic hit and the UK went in lockdown. But several months later with visitors enjoying afternoon tea quietly in the background Ben sits down with Lady Carnarvon to discuss their mutual love for the wonderful countryside around the 'real' Downton Abbey. 

It's ten years since Downton Abbey first aired on TV and to celebrate Lady Carnarvon welcomes back to Downton Abbey location manager Mark Ellis. 'Sparky' as he's known has been part of the production since day one and along with Lady Carnarvon and Highclere Castle manager John Gundill he's ensured the 'real' Downton Abbey has stayed in one piece during the rigours of filming. The big question is will 'sparky' be returning sooner rather than later for a new Downton Abbey film? Rumours abound as these three friends and occasional colleagues sit down to look back on an incredible decade that has made the 'real' Downton Abbey one of the most famous houses in the world. 

Whilst the beauty and majesty of the 'real' Downton Abbey grabs the spotlight there is of course much more to the place Lord and Lady Carnarvon call home. Highclere Castle is situated within an estate of almost 5000 acres made up of mixed woodland and agricultural land. Looking after the crops and the animals that surround the castle is Highclere Estate Farm Manager Simon Andrews.  

They say being in the right place at the right time is a key to success. That was certainly the case for James Hunter who found himself having a casual conversation with Lady Carnarvon whilst working as part of the catering team at Highclere. James had the initiative to ask for work experience and the rest as they say is history. Having just graduated he's now started a permanent role as an assistant land agent helping to run the estate alongside Lady Carnarvon. 

Mike Withers has been beekeeping for more than 60 years and when he hasn't been tending his hives he's been helping his wife Pat with the painting and decorating at Highclere Castle. You can hear Pat's story in episode 4 of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcast series - but this week it's Mike's turn to talk about his lifelong fascination with bees. The Hampshire honey they produce is sold in the Castle shop, and it really is superb.

In this episode Lady Carnarvon invites one of her neighbours in for a catch up. For 12 years Sir Nicholas Kenyon was responsible for the world famous BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Recorded before the recent controversy over 'Rule Britannia', Sir Nicholas looks back on a time when he made changes to the last night of the Proms. He also talks passionately about the crisis facing the arts following the covid-19 pandemic and shares his concerns for the future. 

In 2018 Lord and Lady Carnarvon staged an ambitious two-day event called 'Heroes at Highclere' to mark the 100 year anniversary of the First World War coming to an end.  It was a weekend to say thank you, to remember those who served and those who saved in conflicts across the world both in the past and present. One of the organisations that the weekend raised money for was the British Armed Forces charity SSAFA. In this week's podcast Lady Carnarvon speaks to Sir Andrew Gregory KBE CB the Controller of SSAFA. 

For the past 15 years John Gundill has worked side by side with Lord and Lady Carnarvon helping them shape their vision of how they want to operate Highclere Castle as a successful business. John was in the first meeting when a production team came looking for a location for a series called 'Downton Abbey'. Little did he or Lady Carnarvon know how that would go onto make Highclere Castle one of the most loved and recognisable buildings in the world. But, as we're about to find out, whether it's hosting the cast and crew of a TV and film production, or dealing with a burst pipe in the castle, there's rarely a dull day when you're the castle manager at the 'real' Downton Abbey.