THE Duchess of Cambridge is to visit the set of the award-winning TV series Downton Abbey, the programme that showcases Highclere Castle.
The Duchess will meet screenwriter Lord Fellowes and cast members Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Robert James-Collier on the set's Servants Hall at Ealing Studio.
She will also watch one take of a scene being filmed in the servants quarters for the programme's sixth series before posing with cast members and crew for photographs.
The studio visit on Thursday, March 12 will allow Her Royal Highness to see Downton Abbey's make-up artists, costume designers, seamstresses and cutters at work.
She is to be escorted around the set by series Executive Producer Liz Trubridge.
She will then unveil a plaque alongside Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham in the series, to commemorate the visit.
Other cast members who will meet the Duchess include Elizabeth McGovern, Lesley Nicol and Sophie McShera.
The kitchen, servants quarters and working areas of Downton Abbey are constructed and filmed at Ealing Studio, and have been since the show was created.
Films have been produced at the studio since 1902, making it among the oldest in the world.
Highclere Castle is used for exterior shots of Downton Abbey and other interior filming.
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