Phew: the Egyptian ambassador steers clear of Downton curse

Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey is filmed, played host to the Egyptian Ambassador for yesterday’s launch of an exhibition to mark the 90th anniversary of Lord Carnarvon’s discovery of Tutankamun’s tomb.

The Countess of Carnarvon, whose husband, the 8th Earl, is the Egyptologist’s great-grandson, assures me that she gave His Excellency Mr Ashraf Elkholy the Arundel Room, which contains some Egyptian artefacts, and not the Stanhope Room — Downton Abbey fans know this as the “Red Room”, where a Turkish diplomat met his untimely end in flagrante with Lady Mary, played by Michelle Dockery.