Last Christmas I visited Harewood House in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to see their Christmas decorations.
Harewood House is one of my favourite places to visit in Yorkshire. It’s always stunning at any time of year. Here is the view from the library window over the terrace in summer, with the lake in the background:
If you’ve seen the recent Downton Abbey film, you’ll know some of the scenes were shot at Harewood House. This view is over the same terrace where Tom Branson dances – you’ll catch a glimpse of that scene in this trailer. And the film’s magnificent ball was also at Harewood. Well worth going to see the film for the costumes alone!
Princess Mary married Lord Lascelles, later Earl of Harewood, in the 1920s, and the couple feature in the film, too. Princess Mary was very popular in Yorkshire. Lord Lascelles was fifteen years older than his bride. He’s made out to be irritable and cold in the film, and in real life it was rumoured at the time that he proposed to Princess Mary after a bet at his club, and that she married him because of pressure from her family. According to the curators of Harewood, this makes for an interesting story, but there was actually a great deal of affection between the two.
If you visit Harewood, you can see the little outfits worn by Princess Mary’s sons. They look cute – but some of them must have been restricting!
The house last year was decorated on a theme around the two boys in the 1920s. It all looked fabulous, and I wish my photos did justice to it.
The fictional Downton Abbey is situated in Yorkshire in the TV series, but in real life the stately home used for filming is Highclere Castle in Kent. It looks a wonderful place to visit, too, and I’d love to go one day!
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I hope you enjoyed my photos, and I only wish they did Harewood House justice. Have you ever visited it yourself? And have you ever been to Highclere Castle? If you have any comments at all, I’d love to hear from you!
Helena Fairfax 
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