IN some cases there are indeed titles that pass through the maternal line such is the case of Mountbatten of Burma Louis Mountbatten having no sons, his eldest daughter is recognized as Countess Mountbatten of Burma in the letters patent. Ill be awaiting them while munching on champagne-basted asparagus and Calvados-glazed duck. Crawley is the familys surname, Grantham is their title. I understand that they are called Lord and Lady Grantham, I just dont understand why they go by Violets last name. It cleared up my confusion about the names and titles. It's mentioned in series 4 (IIRC) - Lady Mary ask Anna to look after Rose while they are in London because they can't take Madge away from Lady Edith who is staying at Downton Abbey. Downton Place. Lady Ediths boss and lover Michael Gregson is the publisher of a London magazine, The Sketch. Despite its exhaustively polished veneer, Downton Abbey was always a soap opera. According to this theory, the miscarriage kicks off a curse of deadly pregnancies: Lady Sybil dies in childbirth; Matthew Crawley dies in a car accident soon after the birth of his son; and when the maid Ethel Parks becomes pregnant with Major Bryants child, he dies, too. As you may recall from science class, certain genes are dominant and others are recessive. Elizabeth McGovern as Lady Cora, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, and Dame Maggie Smith as Lady Violet. Dan Kois: Oh cmon, June. It's mentioned in series 4 (IIRC) - Lady Mary ask Anna to look after Rose while they are in London because they can't take Madge away from Lady Edith who is staying at Downton Abbey. Rosamund thought. All the named maids (Anna, Gwen, Lily, Edna, etc) have either been promoted or left, so Edith may be waited on by one of the unnamed maids, or she may have simply elected not to have a maid at all. The family would call them by their first name if it were known to them or perhaps nothing at all. By Dan Kois, Seth Stevenson, and June Thomas. I would like an explanation of the names used for the servants both at Downton and in Scotland. The two living daughters have to be addressed normally as Lady Mary and Lady Edith and by servants as Mi'Lady and not as you said: Your Ladyship, because that is only for the countess and . The film had a very crowded plot, with all the old characters plus a lot of new ones, all deserving some screen time. You said the son of Lord Grantham would have been called Lord Downtown, why was this not the case for Robert when his own father was the Lord Gratham? or when Anna (maid) became a ladys maid.. they asked if its OK to keep calling her Anna instead of Bates.I am so confused.Thank you for your time and help.All the best,Shirley. Remember, Lady Sibyls Fenian nuptials were also denied to us. In the Season 1 finale, tragedy strikes. But that means he would theoretically be 18 in the fall of 1939, which is exactly when World War II broke out in Europe. So the divorced Margaret had to settle for being styled Margaret, Duchess of Argyll. 11,875, This story has been shared 6,465 times. He hoped if her family got to know him, it would be easier for them to be on his side. Then, she found a sympathetic editor who soon became her lover. Or, are some, unfortunately, born with no decency? All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. The title may only be passed to an heir apparent, thus a son of the current Earl, as it is always possible for heir apparent to be born to the earl even up to 9 months after his death the heir presumptive would never be given the title. Another one suggests that Gregson was a British spy gathering intel on the insurgent Nazisand he might not have died at all. Why is the familys last name Crawley if that is Lord Granthams mothers last name? 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. I cannot resist: were the fictional Downton Abbey valet Mr. Bates to sire male issue, would the boy at some point be styled or called Master Bates?. Mr. Carson is Lady Mary's father. When Lord Grantham inherited the title Earl of Grantham, the title Viscount Downton, became his subsidiary title. But Dan is also correct that the entire Edith wedding sequence was some dang good Downton. She will keep her baby and she will hide it with a farming family close to Downton, damn it! Kois: The sight of Carson singing merrily to himself once he heard Mrs. Hughes was OK warmed my heart. Then, Edith got engaged to Anthony, the same guy Mary drove off once before, after convincing him she loved him in spite of his war-torn arm. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Newspapers dont care much for proper style today. When he became the estate agent he was an employee again and she said they could call him Branson again. As debunkers have noted, two blue-eyed people can have a brown-eyed child, because recessive genes arent that simple. But before that, like Im the case of Mary, the senior housemaid would be an acting ladys maid. Since Its never states the ages of Robert and Cora I assume that Cora is no longer able to have children but like a son if they had on George is Vicount Dowton. Now, what does any of this have to do with Downton Abbey? Are you seriously asking if Julian Fellowes can find some other wringers to put his characters through? It is oddly her grandmother, the Dowager Countess, who seems to understand most fully that Edith's options are limited, and that this is not to be taken as a happy thing, only one the D.C. would argue cannot be changed. The family name of the Duke of Rutland is Manners. It is nonsense to even ponder an impossibility. When Violet dies, custom dictates Cora then becomes known as the Dowager Countess of Grantham. Now that the eldest girl has the same succession rights as the eldest boy in the royal family, has this affected the eldest girl of an earl or duke so they too take the highest secindary title instead of Lady + first name? Thanks also to Hans for the helpful comment. Edith's full title is The Most Honourable Lady Edith Pelham, Marchioness of Hexham (and any other subsidiary titles Bertie has). Her aunt bundled her off to Switzerland for the mysterious, months-long absence everyone either agreed to consider not suspicious at all or actually did not consider suspicious because they cannot imagine Edith having a sex life. The Crawleys spend much of Downton Abbey fretting about the future management of their estatepartially because Lord Grantham is kind of bad at it. Only married ladies had a personal lady's maid. All rights reserved. Takedown request | View complete answer on downtonabbey.fandom.com. Only his present wife is the Princess of Wales. To have to leave a child she loved with complete strangers could not have been easy. There are worse things happening in the world." Carson: "Not worse than a maid serving a duke . Exit Anthony, pursued by Edith's terrible luck. (Which, quite frankly, she already is, to these people.) I also wondered this as I live in a town called grantham where Margret thatcher was born and wondered if there was a connection with the town. This has led some fans to speculate that Lady Mary is actually the daughter of Carson, the familys beloved butler who has always acted as as sort of second father to Mary. But Cora is now a dowager (widow of a peer) too, so the usual manner is to now call her Cora, Countess of Grantham. Daisy evolvedfrom being adowntrodden kitchen maid to a talented chef and naturalleader. His superiors simply needed to feed Edith a lie that would discourage her from poking around, so they made up a cover story that someone who follows the news would believe. The feeling inspired her to make peace with Mary and ask if they might get along better in the future. Another old custom, often written into the fathers will when a daughter inherits estate & titles with no surviving brothers, and then marries. Cora refers to Violet as Mama pronounced in the English manner. (I will admit that I skipped some of the middle of this season, while Edith was getting herself into all this mess, and was interested to see her right back in the thick of misery when I returned. ", On the surface, this may seem to be the saddest thing of all for Edith, in that it seems to be, for her, a far more profoundly important pain than her various suitors would be alone. is never taken to task for the comments she makes putting her little sister down. Only married women have lady's maids. Maybe he'll die! But because Edith is Edith, he dumped her at the altar . If Lord Grantham were to die, George would be the Earl of grantham. She is the author of Divorce: How to Tell the Kids, Runaway Husbands and My Sister, My Self. The rivalry between the two sisters is one of the most defining relationships for Mary throughout the series. Or at least, thats the official story. Downton Abbey Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. One of the soapiest subplots of Downton Abbey's first season involved poor Mr. Pamuk, the dashing Turkish diplomat who makes a fateful visit to the Abbey. And what about Mary? Only the Dukes present wife could be known as the Duchess of Argyll. Top Filming Locations For the Tom Hanks Movie, Never Forget Joe Manganiellos Iconic Gas Station Strip Scene Now That Magic Mike XXL is on Netflix, Stream It Or Skip It: 'A Man Called Otto' on VOD, Starring Tom Hanks as a Stereotypical Grumpy Old Man, Chris Pine Laughs Off Rumors of Harry Styles Feud: "It Did Look Like Harry Spit on Me", How To Watch 'Magic Mike's Last Dance,' Now Available From On-Demand Retailers, Stream It Or Skip It: EO on the Criterion Channel, a Donkey's Life Interpreted as Art. 1,163, This story has been shared 1,143 times. But she wont be the same level as a Valet. Easily put, a Countess of Grantham when a widow assumes the title of dowager immediately she becomes a widow. Downton Shack. But when George inherits, it would be proper to call him Lord Grantham. If not, why don't they? Also, you only mention two daughters. On the one hand, Edith's story like Mary's contains a sort of gross "don't have sex when you're not supposed to or you'll pay a horrible price" lesson. As for Mary and Edith, they began to realize the importance of their bond as sisters. Maybe you'll get pregnant! Theres a lot to admire about Matthews mother, who regularly steps out of her comfort zone to improve the lives of the less fortunate, but shes also more than a tad condescending. I assume that means that Sybil will die in an episode I havent reached yet. But on the other, there is this: In becoming a mother, Edith got out from under the thumb of her father. Then, Edith got engaged to Anthony, the same guy Mary drove off once before, after convincing him she loved him in spite of his war-torn arm. It's obviously less for fear of betraying military secrets to the enemy than to keep its soldiers from becoming quite inappropriate in their letters. Stevenson: Youre right, Dan. Of course, the season could move away from this. Applying the Bare-Minimum Monday Philosophy to Relationships, Mass Shooters and the Myth That Evil Is Obvious, Transforming Empathy Into Compassion: Why It Matters, New Years Eve Survival Guide for the Heartbroken. But in a way, Edith is where you really see the difficulties that the daughters' lack of autonomy brings. Follow Decider onFacebookandTwitterto join the conversation, andsign up for our email newslettersto be the first to know about streaming movies and TV news! This sub-plot mirrors the truth about what goes on in so many families, where often an older sister is ruthless in her need to keep her rivals head underwater so she can shine. Best wishes to you in the coming year. OK, so if Robert Crawley, Seventh Earl of Grantham, had a son he would the the Viscount Downton. If Matthew had become Earl, what would Isobel, his mother, be? I dont remember Annas position prior to her being a ladys maid but she was known to the family and staff as Anna and they appeared to wish to continue to call her Anna after she became a ladys maid if there was not any objection. Editors note: For the benefit of American readers who havent yet seen Season 3 of Downton Abbey, please do your best to avoid spoilers when commenting. Violet remains the Dowager Countess of Grantham. Cookie Notice Ex-wife Dana is now styled Diana, Princess of Wales. Apologies for posting to such an old thread, but thought I might help other confused Americans find your comment when googling, since the show is still well-known even though its finished airing. With rapier wit, effortless beauty, and keen social. Lady's maids were often held onto even when the rest of the staff were decreasing rapidly, and a marchioness would certainly be expected to have one. They wrapped up Mrs. Hughes health scare lickety splitId thought that would last all season. For the most part, any of the staff that the family has routine contact with such as the butler, valet, footmen, chauffeur and ladys maids are called by their family name only. Speaking of nobility travelling without valets, when the Duke of Crowborough showed up at Downton without a valet in the very first episode my first thought was he left his valet behind so that Thomas would be taking care of him, and that would give them a chance to have a quiet talk about not wanting his indiscretion with Thomas to become well known. So she is styled, for she is not a Duchess, taking her title from her husband. Next we have the two living daughters of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, Mary Crawley andEdith Crawley. Carson: "We may have to have a maid in the dining room." The Earl of Grantham: "Cheer up, Carson. She should now that she has such a high status, but this particular Lady's Maid doesn't get much mention. If you have anyquestions relating to the titles used on Downton Abbey, leave them in the comments box below. She is just a plain miss. 18,354, This story has been shared 11,875 times. also to be noted a Lord of the Manor is not a peer. Pretend a different storyline, in which Robert has an heir, a married son. Septimus Spratt is her butler. It worked: stole his letters and then told Thomas it would never happen again and he didn't need a valet. Sorry I forgot to put this in the other posts but another aspect to consider is that a Marchioness, ranking so high, would probably be expected to dress better and overall put on a better impression than the unmarried middle daughter of an Earl. Sometimes the ex-wife wants to hold onto a title, but cannot. I, toosomewhat uncharitably, I realizecracked up when the ceremony only got as far as Dearly beloved, we are gathered. (This is the second consecutive Downton reception weve been cheated out of. 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