Downton Abby

Downton Abbey is the name of the series I am now watching on Netflix and I love it.

I used to love watching British comedies

- As time goes by.

- Keeping up Appearances

- Last of the summer wine

And there may be more, that I can't think of at the moment.

So I decided to start watching this series and I am on and off watching it all day long. I can hardly leave it alone.

For anyone who watches it, pease answer a couple questions for me....

Did the Upper Crust really live like that? Having a maid dress you, ironing of the newspaper, measuring how close to the dining table the chairs are, etc etc.

I think I would like to live like that for a month and see how it feels, I think I would fit right in....I can put on Airs when I have to. hahaha....or I could even work in the servants quarters, cooking....

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I bet they do. I'm sure the Queen of England couldn't dress herself without help!

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We enjoyed 'Downton Abbey', and were sorry when the series came to an end.

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Not so sure about that carol...up til last November she walked forward and up the Cenotaph steps to lay the wreath, never faltered, never placed a hand on one knee to steady herself as she leant forward, then backwards down those steps never once glancing back to check where the steps were...

And when did you ever ever see her accepting a helping hand going up or down steps, or a steadying hand getting in or out of a car or carriage?!

If she can do all that at her age when women half her age need a hand, then she can surely get dressed on her own!

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Yes I know she could if she wanted to but the ladies in Downton had maids to help them dress & brush their hair for them - even the younger ones, so I imagine the Queen does. Isn't it what the aristocracy do?

At the very least I imagine the Queen would have a maid to lay out all her clothes even if they didn't lace her corset up for her!!

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Its amazing what you can find out when you've time on your hands!!

The Queen has somone called 'The Mistress of the Robes' and she is the senior lady of the British Royal Household.

In times past its was she who was responsible for the Queen's clothes and jewellery. These days the Mistress of Robes post has the responsibility for arranging the rota of attendance of the Ladies in Waiting on the Queen.

Our Queen has only had two Mistresses of the Robes in more than fifty years' reign:

1953-1967: Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
1967-present: Fortune FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton

So, for clothes Queen Elizabeth has someone called a 'Dresser'. Currently this is a woman called Angela Kelly who was born in a terraced Liverpool council house and still has a Liverpool accent.

She holds the titles of 'Personal Assistant, Adviser and Curator to Her Majesty the Queen' (Jewellery, Insignias and Wardrobe).

Miss Kelly is in charge of a four-strong team of dressers and advises her on clothes and jewellery.

There is more about her here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1...


To summarise, its the dressers under the supervision of Angela Kelly who look after the clothes but they would only be needed to help her dress on formal occasions when she needs it. In her everyday clothes she would, like any normal person, dress herself.


Edited: please please will someone take pity on the thread title and put the e in Abbey!!!

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I have tried everything to get that e in there, but can't do it for some reason.

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I can assure you that Downton Abbey is realistic to how things used to be.

The Queen certainly has the same sort of arrangements. There's no doubt that she has her own military guard in presence at Buck House anyway! I watched a documentary recently which showed exactly how the state dining room was laid out, including measuring the distance between plates, glasses, cutlery, etc! And there have even been reports that Charlie-boy has one servant who spreads his toothpaste on his toothbrush! Perhaps that last one is a bit of exaggeration, though, but who knows?

I'm not sure whether other 'nobs' (nobility) have similar arrangements. Almost certainly, the number of servants has been reduced enormously (as they can't afford so many these days), although I shouldn't be at all surprised if at least some of the 'upper crust' still employ servants of some sort.

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That's good to know JBR. I really enjoy watching it, and I just wondered if it is just a movie with a lot of things not real, or if they are.....

Some of the men are called Footmen. Some are Butlers, and even the men dress the upper class men....

It is just awesome...

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Yes perfectly true.

Incidentally, the word 'butler' (the head of all the serving staff) stems from 'bottler', the man who was in charge of the 'cellar' (= the booze!).

Not a lot of people know that!