It is always interesting to see elements of truth in fictional storylines.
Lady Mary's skeleton was found in the closet during the first season of the beloved period drama.
During episode 1 of the new official Downton Abbey rewatch podcast from Focus Features, creator and writer Julian Fellowes revealed he borrowed a true story from history as the inspiration behind Lady Mary's dalliance with Kemal Pamuk, which ended in a brush with scandal.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should.
Kemal Pamuk and Lady Mary enjoyed a brief steamy romance, which ended when the pair got into bed together, and Pamuk died in the process.
Lady Mary wakes Anna Smith, her lady's maid, and her mother, the Countess of Grantham, because of the scandal that will ruin her reputation. Pemuk's lifeless body is carried back to his room by the trio to make it look like he died alone.
Where might Fellowes have thought up such a big moment? It was from real life.
"In an English country house, there had been a house party..."
When Mary pulled her mother in and said Mr Pamuk was dead, that was a real story according to Fellowes.
The true story was told to him by a friend who owns a big country house in England, who discovered diaries from the 1890s detailing the impropriety and subsequent chaos.
There was a house party in an English country house. It was in 1890 and the house had only one gallery of bedrooms for single women.
He said that many houses had bachelor corridors for single men, but not for single women.
One of them was sleeping. He said that she had been flirting with a man at the house party and he died of a heart attack in her bed.
The diary of the great great aunt of the owner of the house was found by a friend. The lady who had lost her partner didn't know what to do.
She sat there with the dead body. She got up and knocked on the door of the woman next door.
The blameless matron next door knew that if the story got out, they would all be tarred by it.
The women who inspired that scene were the same ones who carried Pamuk back to his room.
This group of women led by a debutante brought this guy back to his bed. He said that he was found by his valet the next day.
Mr Turton was found dead in his bed by his valet this morning, and his friend who owned the house looked up his great great grandfather's diary. He was never told. He concluded that it never got out.
"This group of women led by a debutante holding a candle smuggled this guy back to his bed. The next day he was found by his valet."
The same cannot be said of Lady Mary, whose story did not go untold. Lady Edith sent a letter to the Turkish ambassador in London, which led to rumors that Mary was not a good person.
Lady Mary was able to keep her reputation intact because she took up with the newspaper magnate who suppressed the story from being picked up by the newspapers. Lady Mary married her true love, Matthew Crawley, after breaking off with Sir Richard.
You can listen to the full episode of the show on Apple Podcasts, as well as on Amazon Music.
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