Kate, the expectant Duchess of Cambridge, has visited the set of Downton Abbey and had her picture taken with the production staff and stars of the popular drama. According to reports, the program’s creator Julian Fellowes told Kate that she is partly responsible for its global success. The duchess visited the set of the award-winning costume drama at London’s Ealing Studios and met such well known cast members as Jim Carter, who plays butler Mr. Carson. She visited hair and makeup departments, toured scenery construction and watched a scene being filmed. Mr. Fellowes described how a 2011 visit to the U.S. by Kate and her husband, Prince William, came as producers tried to raise the profile of the show. Fellowes said when the duchess mentioned she was a fan “this went into the media like an Exocet missile. And soon all of America and most of the world knew it.”
