5 Fun Facts About Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is one of my family's favorite shows. We've watched it through more times than I care to count, and I've even found myself mouthing out lines as they're being said. Needless to say, Downton means a lot to me, in fact "It's my third parent and my fourth child." (Sorry I just couldn't resist quoting Robert. Extra points if you remember that scene.) So here are five fun facts about everyone's favorite show.

1. The upstairs bedrooms are all the same.

Apparently they only used one bedroom as the sets for Cora's, Mary's, and Edith's bedrooms. The production team simply redecorated every few days of shooting which made for walls thick with paint and wallpaper by the end of the season. And if you want proof I'm not lying to you just look out the windows of the bedrooms next time you're watching the show, it's always the same view.

2. There was more truth in certain storylines than you'd think.

I'm sure we all remember when Downton was turned into a really cool convalescent home during the second season, but I bet you didn't know that it actually happened. The 5th Countess of Carnarvon really did turn Highclere Castle (the real life name of the castle where Downton was filmed) into a recovery hospital for soldiers during the first world war. Poor Mr. Pamuk's storyline had some truth in it as well. Julian Fellowes said that he was inspired by a friend's great aunt's diary entry which told a similar tale. You know the old classic: diplomat sneaks into a single lady's bedroom, dies, and is carried back to his bedroom.

3. A mother-daughter band?

It turns out that Cora and Mary could've very well started a band, if it hadn't of been early 20th century England and all that. In real life Michelle Dockery and Elizabeth McGovern have musical backgrounds. Dockery is a trained singer that once performed at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club for their 50th anniversary. Elizabeth McGovern is the lead singer of a band called Sadie and the Hotheads. And actually Dockery has been known to perform with the band on occasion.

4. Mr. Carson hates Harry Potter.

Okay so not really, but he is married to Imelda Staunton in real life and she played none other than the monster in pink, Dolores Umbridge. And let's be honest, Mr. Carson doesn't seem like he's the wizarding type. And Jim Carter isn't the only Downton character to have a spouse in the movies. His on-screen wife Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) is married to Kevin McNally who famously played Mr. Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. So Mrs Hughes is married to a pirate... my world is crumbling.

5. Some people think one of Highclere castle's former residents was cursed.

Highclere Castle has been home to the Herbert family since 1679, and in 1922 George Herbert participated in finding the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun better known as King Tut. A few months later, Herbert died after receiving a mosquito bite and developing blood poisoning. Although there are scientific reasons behind his death, some people believe it had to do with the "Curse of the Pharaohs". They believe that anyone who disturbs a pharaoh's tomb is sentenced to death courtesy of the curse. And even though it's probably a coincidence many of the people involved in finding Tut's tomb did die shortly afterwards therefore fueling the rumors. And Downton Abbey payed homage to Highclere's past connection with Egypt by naming Robert's dogs Pharaoh and Isis.