04 July 2024
Why a painting of King Charles I at Highclere once propped up a barn door
3 minutes
King Charles I on horseback by Anthony Van Dyck is a painting which everybody who watches Downton Abbey is always going to remember when they visit my home at Highclere Castle, where the period drama is filmed.
It's a masterpiece and Van Dyck painted several of them as a homage to the King at the gates of Paris. This one was painted around 1633 and there is so much detail and drama, projecting the image of a wise leader, a powerful warrior and one who embodies the divine right to rule.
In reality, King Charles I was not so wise because he failed to listen and compromise, which catapulted England into civil war – 16 years later he became the first and only English King to be executed by his subjects.
Thereafter, the ability to collect taxes and raise an army became separated from the crown. Today the UK retains a constitutional monarchy which the writer Walter Bagehot (a weekend guest at Highclere Castle), says ‘allowed the King or Queen the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn but no more’.
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What's extraordinary is that this painting hangs in a dining room and not a gallery. We sit and eat in there with the King looking over us! It is displayed in an intimate way rather than hanging on a wall for people to walk by. It was painted to be seen and is certainly part of our everyday lives. It was originally at Wilton House, Salisbury – but at the time when King Charles I was executed, nobody wanted paintings of him in their house for fear of reprisal from Thomas Cromwell and the Parliamentarians. So the painting was taken down and propped up a barn door for many years before Robert Herbert, an ancestor of my husband George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnavon, brought it here to Highclere. He presumably unfurled it and put it on a wall. He would have known, that earlier, it would not have been sensible to show an allegiance because it was a very bitter civil war with everybody telling stories and spying on each other. Being painted on horseback made the King seem very grand and very much looking down as his divine right. So it’s all in that painting and it is all the same debate we have today about who judges the judge, who judges the King, who judges our judges, too. If King Charles I were able to appear by magic out of his portrait today, he would find all the same challenges present. Plus ça change – as the French say. Of course, people left England during the civil war seeking refuge in the New World, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, hoping for stability of property, morality, law and peace. Catherine, the 6th Countess of Carnarvon’s ancestors, made her way to Virginia at this time. I hope she would be amused that some of her descendants are sitting under the Van Dyck portrait in the dining room. |
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The painting is in rather good condition and that is probably because we don't have much heating. We don’t change the temperature but even so it is quite incredible that the painting has survived without any damage.
Actually, most of what our ancestors built survives quite well, it’s just us in the 21st century who don't always build well and throw away things!
And my favourite family portrait...
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When it comes to family portraits I love the one of Lord Carnarvon’s grandmother Almina in the morning room. It’s just a beautiful portrait of a beautiful woman. She is wearing a green dress and it's just magic. I'm very conscious of sitting where she was when writing and reading her letters. It's quite powerful and you can understand what she went through when her husband, George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, suffered an untimely death six months after discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Downton Abbey 3 filming began in May 2024. The sequel to ‘A New Era’ is expected to be set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1930s. To visit and go behind the scenes at Highclere Castle, Newbury, book advance tickets at highclerecastleshop.co.uk |
Insurance advice
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