alphaboi867:
I liked it. It’s basically just an episode of the TV series with more location shooting and higher profile guest stars. It was fun escapism. I really enjoyed Thomas’s subplot. He may be an ass, but as a gay man I can’t help but emphasize with him.
Like that moment when stepped into the warehouse nightclub and for the first time in his life he was somewhere were he didn’t have to pretend; I guarantee that was one of if not the happiness moments of his life so far. And then they were raided by the police and he only escaped being ruined because the cute gay royal backup valet had a get out of gaol free card. At least now he know’s about York’s underground gay scene and has someone to meet up with the next time he’s in London.
I do have an odd question about the royal visit that set everything in motion; did the Crawleys actually *invite *the King & Queen to Downton?
I asked a similar question about the etiquette of the royal visit in another thread. It seemed to be news to Robert Crawley that the royal couple were coming, so I don’t think he invited them.
And some comments about the real-life events. The Prince of Wales who was supposed to take the African tour is the guy we know as the Duke of Windsor, who abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. And the Queen Mary we saw was known for either stealing small valuables from country houses, or expressing such interest in such things that they were given or loaned to her.
I saw it yesterday. I liked it and was surprised at how many people were in the theater. Without spoiling anything, part of the story was about the conflict between the Downton Abbey household staff and that of the royal family, which had precedence. That was also a plot element of Gosford Park, a film from a while back that was also written by Julian Fellowes.
And I have an etiquette question that even those who didn’t see the movie might be able to address. The trailer makes it clear that the story kicks off with Robert Crawley receiving a letter that the king and queen are to visit Downton Abbey and stay overnight (based, by the way, on a real trip taken by the real-life royals to Yorkshire at this time). It sounds a bit like they’re inviting themselves. That sounds improper. We don’t see the text of the letter, but perhaps it’s phrased delicately, like “We are coming to your area and should like to stay at your estate, if you’ll have us.” And of course he’s not going to say no.
And BTW, this New York Time article (paywall warning) goes into the history of royal visits. They were a big deal but very expensive for the host; perhaps even ruinously so.