A six-part documentary following life at home with the Duchess of Northumberland is set to air on Channel 4 in 2023.
With a working title of The Duchess , the documentary will give a unique window into the life of The Duchess of Northumberland, Jane Percy, who lives in Alnwick Castle, the second largest inhabited castle in the UK. An iconic filming location which has appeared in Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter Films, it is now a world-famous tourism site and sits alongside the Alnwick Garden, which took three gold prizes at this year's North East Tourism Awards.
The Garden is home to the unique Poison Garden, the world's largest treehouse restaurant, and soon to be the world's largest play structure too. The documentary will also follow the construction of the new Lilidorei attraction at the Alnwick Garden which is due to open in spring 2023.
It's hoped that Lilidorei will bring more people to Northumberland outside of its busy summer season and is the brainchild of the duchess. It is also planned for the majority of staff to be ex-service men and women, with the aim that the attraction will continue to build on the garden's ethos of working closely with the local community.
Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland, said: "I didn’t think that building anything after The Alnwick Garden could be as challenging but Lilidorei is proving much more complex, trying to explain to a construction team how a hobgoblin or a fairy might behave is proving almost impossible. The aim of Lilidorei is to encourage children to leave their phones in their pockets and to use their imagination - to achieve this the visitor has to enter into a totally believable magical world.
"I am thrilled at the thought of a series that will shine a light on the many attributes that Alnwick and Northumberland have; a wealth of history, incredible castles, beautiful coastline and beaches and vast expanses of wild moorland."
The Duchess is a 6 x 60 series and will be produced by MGM Television. Clemency Green, Commissioning Editor, Daytime and Features, Channel 4, said: "Over the years, Channel 4 has captured so many spectacular renovations and unique buildings that stay in our viewers’ memories.
"This series promises to follow suit with one the most striking builds we’ve ever witnessed – an entire fairy kingdom in the North East. We’re delighted to be welcomed by the Duchess into both her home and her passion project, and we look forward to seeing the fruits of her and her team’s work in this joyful new series."
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