Was the Duke a model for Downton?

THE Duke of Westminster died this week and newspapers and TV bulletins were full of haunting photographs and images of his life.

For despite the fact he was the richest aristocrat in britain, it seemed clear that the Duke had long suffered from depression.

In many of the photos he looked like a rather sad owl; his smile never quite reaching his eyes, his gaze shuttered in a very private anguish.

He could have been a monster, but to his credit, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor seemed to have been a very decent man who raised a nice family and who always tried to do the right thing. Yes, there was that sleazy business with the prostitutes, but the marriage survived it — and his periods of bleakness and self-doubt.

It’s not too fanciful to imagine that Julian Fellowes’s inspiration for Downton abbey’s earl of Grantham must have stemmed at least in part from the Duke himself. He was the landed gentry, but he was interested in the plight of others less fortunate than himself. He also felt guilty about his good fortune, was prone to the weaknesses of the flesh and fond of champagne.

In one early episode, the fictional earl worried that he was made an honorary colonel of the North Riding Volunteers just because of his aristocratic position.

In real life, the Duke enlisted as a private in the Territorial army and rose to Major General, becoming head of the organisation. It was the thing in life that he was most proud of. In the end, he died a Duke’s death — on a late summer’s day, while walking through an area of outstanding beauty on one of his gorgeous estates.

In the grand house behind him, the servants were gearing up to host his traditional grouse shooting party, including repasts of edwardian splendour, to celebrate the glorious 12th.

No doubt the real-life Mrs Patmore was up to her elbows in lobster en gelee and asparagus mousse. How sad that the Duke of Westminster missed it all, but perhaps he has found some peace at last.