8:50am Monday 18th August 2008
GAMBLING, politics, love and deception – lived out for real in the 18th century – are the ingredients of the thrilling story surrounding one of Chatsworth’s most famous daughters.
The fascinating Duchess Georgiana – who married from the Spencer family into Chatsworth’s Devonshire family in the 18th century – has been brought to life by Keira Knightley in ‘The Duchess’, a major film due for release on September 5. Chatsworth – which was home to the Duchess - is one of the locations seen in the film.
Now Chatsworth is staging a special exhibition – Georgiana Duchess - from August 1 to October 31 2008 to give visitors the chance to find out more about this remarkable woman. The exhibition – free upon entrance to the house – includes several portraits of the Duchess, including one by Gainsborough that still captivates visitors today and another by Maria Cosway, from the private collection, which depicts Georgiana as the goddess Diana. Other paintings show the 5th Duke and his mistress Elizabeth Foster who made up the ménage a trois.
Items on show for the first time include some of her letters; gambling bills and a lock of her hair; images of Keira Knightley from the film and some of the costumes she wore and the chance to see trailers of the film.
Already a figure of controversy, the film exploring Georgiana’s fascinating and sometimes desperate life looks set to create a storm. Visitors to Chatsworth, Derbyshire’s Palace of the Peak, can make up their own mind about this 18th century girl about town when they visit the family home.
Chatsworth certainly made an impact with the cast and crew. Keira Knightley said: "It made a huge difference actually being in the houses, in the actual spaces, knowing how cold they are. You really get a sense of where these people were, of the scale that they lived in and their reality and they are absolutely stunning."
It wasn't just the actors who felt this. Producer Gaby Tana comments: "We shot in these incredible mansions throughout England and you felt as if you really were re-creating and re-living something.
"These characters actually walked through these halls and these things happened in these rooms. There's something very visceral and exciting about that."
Stepping into centuries of history gave the cast a valuable sense of their characters' backgrounds.
Ralph Fiennes, who plays the fifth Duke, explains, "I think to shoot in real locations and to have the actual fabric of the times around you is fantastic.
"Aside from the room you are shooting in, all around you are bookshelves, corridors, paintings, gardens, vistas, ceilings. You soak all this up. Just being in the space that someone of that standing lived their life in does something to you imaginatively.
"It's all instinctive stuff. You immediately take on the confidence and the assurance of the place.
"Chatsworth was inherited and trying to get your head around inheriting a lot of land, a lot of people even, servants, requires such a different mentality from today's life so it helps to be in the actual place."
The present Duke of Devonshire, speaking about his ancestor, said: “She was a woman of huge charm, attraction and interest. A compulsive gambler, she was also very political and part of a society that revolved around parties and the politics that was done there.
“She had a rather sad life and was treated poorly by her husband and also had a difficult relationship with her mother, also a gambler. We hope that people who are intrigued when they see the film will make the trip to Chatsworth to discover more about the woman that still holds our interest some 200 years after she died.”
Born into the Spencer family, Georgiana married the fifth Duke of Devonshire. Famously charming, she bewitched and scandalised Georgian society, while at the same time being a compulsive gambler, sharing her husband with her best friend and playing a significant role in the politics of her day.
Personal items including a letter written in her own blood to her six-year-old son will form part of the larger scale permanent Georgiana exhibition to be staged at Chatsworth from spring 2009.
To celebrate the launch of the 'The Duchess', Chatsworth has created a fabulous ‘Georgiana Day’ package for visitors during September and October.
The package includes a visit to the House and Garden to take in the special display about Georgiana and the film, a decadent afternoon tea in the newly refurbished Cavendish rooms, and an afternoon of retail therapy in Chatsworth’s beautiful gift shops with a 10 percent shopping discount voucher. The Georgiana Day package costs £25 and can be booked by calling 01246 565 300.
Pathe films shot many scenes for ‘The Duchess’ at other Derbyshire locations, including Kedleston Hall (National Trust). For details of other film-related displays and promotions in the region, see www.visittheduchess.co.uk For more on the film please see www.theduchessmovie.co.uk or visit www.chatsworth.org for more information.
Chatsworth is open every day until December 23. From November 1 the rooms on the lower floors of the house will be open and decorated for Christmas. For opening times, admission prices and details of other forthcoming events and attractions, including Alan Titchmarsh at the August Country Fair, visit www.chatsworth.org
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