Duchess Kate Middleton Brings Real-Life Royalty to “Downton Abbey” Set
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Chris Jackson – WPA Pool/Getty Images(LONDON) — Behold, fans of Downton Abbey: On Thursday morning, a real-life royal visited the show’s set and got an exclusive sneak peek at season six of the blockbuster TV series.
Duchess Kate, 33, paid a visit to Ealing Studios in London, where the show about the Crawley family is filmed.
Kate, eight months pregnant with her second child, was dressed in a cream coat as she met with the show’s “upstairs” cast of lords and ladies. She even ventured downstairs to hang out with the help.
Joanne Froggatt, who plays lady’s maid Anna Bates, tweeted about her excitement over Kate’s visit:
Ooooo, we’ve got an exciting day ahead on the Downton set, a very special visitor is popping in….. X
— Joanne Froggatt (@JoFroggatt) March 12, 2015
The duchess, who was greeted on Thursday by a young boy with a bouquet of flowers, saw the cast’s hair and makeup being done and met with the show’s costume designers. She also got to watch the cast film a scene from their upcoming sixth season. Season five of Downton Abbey premiered in January in the U.S. on PBS.
Kate’s high-profile visit is not the first time a member of Britain’s royal family has hobnobbed with the Downton Abbey cast. In October, Queen Elizabeth honored Dame Maggie Smith, who plays Lady Violet, dowager countess of Grantham.
In another meeting, Kate’s husband, Prince William, made the cast giggle.
“We were all giggling,” Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith Crawley, said of the cast’s meeting with William. “What do you do and what shall we say but he was so kind and calm.”
“He’s very sweet about our show and we were very excited,” Carmichael said of William.
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