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Lady Carnarvon's Official PodcastAuthor: Highclere Media
My husband, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, and I have the enormous privilege and pleasure of living in, and taking care of, my husbands family home, Highclere Castle, which is better known to many people as the setting for the popular television programme Downton Abbey. Thanks to this series, our home has, over the last few years, become one of the most well-known and iconic houses in the world. My Podcast is my way of trying to share the stories and heritage of this wonderful building and estate, and all the people and animals that live and work here, so that you can get to know and love it as I do. Language: en-gb Genres: History, Places & Travel, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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The story behind the scenes: Lady Carnarvon and Emily Howes talk about the Painter's Daughters
Episode 94
Tuesday, 31 March, 2026
I’m delighted to welcome the novelist Emily Howes to the castle to talk about her book The Painter’s Daughters, inspired by Gainsborough’s portraits of his two girls and the striking shift from their lively childhood images to a stiffer, unhappier adulthood. Emily shares how she researched 18th-century Bath, its muddy, smelly, party-like medical culture, through visits and sources such as James Hamilton’s biography, Letters from Bath, and books on travel, while noting how little survives from the daughters’ own voices. We discuss Molly’s documented illness and Emily’s discovery of a possible porphyria link to the Prince of Wales, as well as Gainsborough’s finances, his wife’s hidden savings, and the sisters’ relationship, which Emily likens to Downton Abbey’s sister dynamics. Emily also previews her next novel, Mrs Dickens, exploring Catherine Dickens’s erasure after Dickens left her for Ellen Turner and the fate of their children.00:46 Why the Daughters03:20 Bath After Covid05:57 Money and Marriage08:18 Research and Sources09:27 Molly Illness Mystery12:21 Sisters and Downton16:05 Blue Boy and Imagination17:25 Gainsborough at Highclere22:23 Next Book Mrs Dickens24:35 Dickens Family Fallout27:53 Catherine After SeparationYou can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/New episodes are published on the first day of every month.
