Countess of Carnarvon The Earl and The Pharaoh

The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922 would be the most astonishing of the young century, revealing the ruler’s sarcophagus and a treasure trove of artefacts, and changing the world’s understanding of how the Egyptians had lived, transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth. The excavations were funded and engineered by the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert, whose country house Highclere Castle is today known as the set of Downton Abbey. Calling on Highclere archives, the current Countess throws new light on the story behind the discovery with its lustrous settings and striking characters, love affairs, twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert’s life.