Our exhibition in 2009 focused on the filming of the blockbuster movie 'The Duchess' starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Set in the late eighteenth century, 'The Duchess' is based on the life of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.

Pathé Productions began filming in October 2007 for two weeks, after Holkham Hall was selected as one of the country houses to be used to recreate the interior of Devonshire House, the London residence of the Duke of Devonshire, a building which no longer exists. The film was released in autumn 2008.

Interpretation panels setting the scene and giving a brief synopsis of the story were used to give a flavour to our visitors of how the hall was used as the film location. To enhance the display, we also hired from Cosprop, a London-based film costumier, the original costumes worn by Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes and children, as shown in the photograph above.

Click here to view a PDF showing the information panels displayed during the exhibition.