January Emmy-winning “Downton Abbey” begins its 3,000th season.
Filmed, as always, in 1,300-year-old Highclere Castle. Says Lady Fiona Carnarvon, the real-live chatelaine of the reel TV show setting: “When ‘Downton’ was just in its second series we wondered would it last.
“Despite 300 rooms, to us — my husband the Earl and our son — it’s home. Our family lives here. We use the whole house. If you fill it with a friend — and, of course, we change for supper — or when visitors come round, it’s quite cozy. I’ve stayed in the castle overnight with just a friend.”
(Cozy? The kitchen’s 1,000 years old, dining room seats 48, and nearby sits Napoleon’s original desk.)
“It’s more than just a landmark. We farm. We’re a village community. The world looks in. We look out to help people. We have cricket lunches. We have 3 ¹/₂ thousand sheep and 1,000 acres. It’s history. Her Majesty’s been here. We’ve housed prime ministers. We’re designated part of the country’s National Trust for Places of Historic Interest.
“Disraeli visited in 1866. Novelist Henry James signed a letter here in the 1800s.
“Our archives have 500 letters from Lady Catherine, who in 1922 married Lord Porchester, the sixth Earl of Carnarvon, and began the work to raise money and save Highclere.
“We’re now wired because we put electricity in. We have one TV. We have security. Burglar alarm, fire alarm. Police have an office in our courtyard.”
Beats a time share in Amagansett.
Odds & ends
Eighth Avenue’s getting classy busy. Want to meet someone? Ivy Bar and Grill, 56th Street, is wall-to-wall lookers and spenders . . . Japan’s getting its game on. Want to bet hard-earned yen on the hard eight? They’re getting wall-to-wall casinos . . . Frank Langella applauding Renée Fleming in “Living on Love” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival . . . Brian Stokes Mitchell grunting and exercising at Paris Health Club, West End Ave . . . Strong and sharp, Bear Stearns’ former CEO Alan “Ace” Greenberg, whose funeral was Tuesday, worked in his office until last week.
Tell-all from ex-DA’s wife
Lucinda Franks, Pulitzer Prize winner, author, former Times reporter, is married over 30 years to Robert Morgenthau, who’s over 30 years her senior. Her new book is “Timeless: Love, Morgenthau and Me.”
“Took four years of research,” she said. “I had so many books, documents, papers, drafts and research that it was all around. I checked old periodicals in libraries, notes of my own interviews and stories. Bob had to step over piles of paper in our bedroom. I’ve written about him before, but now this was not of just him — but us.
“An intimate memoir. What’s it like to be the wife of Bob Morgenthau. What’s it like to be married to someone so well-known. He wasn’t just our longtime DA. In my life he is my husband.”
(And my savior. Visiting their Dutchess County farm, I got lost in Bob’s cornfield maze. He had to rescue me.)
Coming in from their summer in Martha’s Vineyard for the book tour and book signing, Linda’s publication day is Aug. 19.
Pay attention
Ja Rule’s immortal quote: “Some folks decorate with gold. Others, silver. I dig greenery. Like at holiday time, a special type greenery. To me, for my tree, weed’s the perfect dressing.”
A bigmouth at Da Tommaso: “I keep some phone numbers in my cell just so I know who not to answer when they call.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.