Fit For A King: The Stunning Locations of Mary & George
Transport yourself to the glamorous Stuart court in the magnificent locations where Mary & George was filmed.
Ed Grenby - 5 March 2024
Bad people had good houses, it seems. Historians may draw deeper lessons from the story of manipulative mother Mary Villiers and her son George – as depicted in rock ’n’ roll style across the seven episodes of Sky Atlantic/Showcase’s 17th-century drama Mary & George. But for the rest of us, an abiding memory will be the darkly dramatic castles and elegant palaces the characters inhabit.
The plot is based on the true story of Mary’s scheming and George’s seduction of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. And while, some 400 years after the event, few of the story’s real-life locations still stand, the drama’s production team have sourced some truly splendid alternatives, many of them open to the public. Follow our guide to plan your own entrée into Stuart high society.
LIVE LIKE A LORD IN LONDON
In the courtiers-and-courtesans world of Mary & George, there’s no shortage of flesh for sale, but the show’s more literal meat market scenes were shot at London’s Charterhouse.
Originally a 14th-century monastery, it’s since housed a royal retreat, a school, an almshouse (still offering a charitable home to older people in need) and, indeed, filming facilities. As well as the meat market, it doubles as the King’s banqueting hall and kitchen. Its museum, gardens and impressive Great Chamber are open to the public (thecharterhouse.org).
Just five minutes away in the capital’s Clerkenwell is another filming location. The parish church of St Bartholomew the Great can be spotted during the royal coronation. See it for yourself on one of its excellent weekly guided tours (greatstbarts.com).
STAY AT On Charterhouse Square, no less, Malmaison London has stylish rooms in a handsome Victorian building. If you can be flexible on dates, it can be good value, too, for somewhere so close to tourist hot spots St Paul’s and the Tower of London (malmaison.com).
TRY THE HIGH LIFE IN HERTS
If you can’t film in King James’s actual London residence, shoot in another of his royal boltholes, right? Hatfield Palace belonged to the monarch until he swapped it for the mansion of his Lord Privy Seal, Robert Cecil (it’s not clear how voluntary the swap was). The palace now sits in the gardens of the grander Hatfield House that Cecil then built, and the latter’s perfectly preserved Elizabethan interiors provide the backdrop to scenes of riotous banqueting, boozing and dancing in Mary & George. The house reopens in May, but the lovely, deer-grazed grounds are fully open from 30 March (hatfield-house.co.uk).
Just a few miles north-west, in posh Harpenden, is Rothamstead Manor, which doubles for Compton Manor, where Mary marries her third aristocratic husband. It’s only occasionally open to the public, but the grounds are always accessible, and include the most gorgeous bluebell wood (rothamstedenterprises.com/rothamsted-manor).
There are also bluebells galore in season at the Ashridge Estate, near Berkhamsted, where the show’s hunting scenes were shot (nationaltrust.org.uk).
STAY ATSleep your way inside the Villiers story at the Grove, acquired by the family in 1753 and retained for 200 years. It’s a delectable 300-acre country manor hotel (with golf and spa) that’s just 20 minutes from London, on the edge of Watford. And its grand rooms, warren of lounges, bars and restaurants – and its proximity to Leavesden Studios – mean stars such as Tom Cruise and Hugh Grant are regulars (thegrove.co.uk).
GO FOR KINGLY GRANDEUR IN KENT
Dover Castle’s history stretches from Iron Age hillfort to Cold War secret site of government in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and takes in William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Napoleon and George Villiers himself. In the programme that takes his name, however, the Castle stands in for the Tower of London. Soak up the drama on a day trip, although you may want to wait until the autumn, when its new visitor experience opens (english-heritage.org.uk).
An hour’s drive west, just outside Sevenoaks, is Knole, one of the biggest and grandest houses in England. Built for the Archbishops of Canterbury in 1456, it was (inevitably) nabbed by Henry VIII, and by the time of King James had been kitted out with an imposing gatehouse tower and lavish show rooms. In Mary & George, interior scenes of the King’s palace were filmed here (nationaltrust.org.uk).
STAY AT History-hawks will want to sleep in the Edwardian wing at Hever Castle, a proper moats-and-mazes fortress where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood. Knole is only a 20-minute drive away, but you could easily spend a weekend at Hever (hevercastle.co.uk/ stay).
Bad people had good houses, it seems. Historians may draw deeper lessons from the story of manipulative mother Mary Villiers and her son George – as depicted in rock ’n’ roll style across the seven episodes of Sky Atlantic/Showcase’s 17th-century drama Mary & George. But for the rest of us, an abiding memory will be the darkly dramatic castles and elegant palaces the characters inhabit.
The plot is based on the true story of Mary’s scheming and George’s seduction of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. And while, some 400 years after the event, few of the story’s real-life locations still stand, the drama’s production team have sourced some truly splendid alternatives, many of them open to the public. Follow our guide to plan your own entrée into Stuart high society.
LIVE LIKE A LORD IN LONDON
In the courtiers-and-courtesans world of Mary & George, there’s no shortage of flesh for sale, but the show’s more literal meat market scenes were shot at London’s Charterhouse.
Originally a 14th-century monastery, it’s since housed a royal retreat, a school, an almshouse (still offering a charitable home to older people in need) and, indeed, filming facilities. As well as the meat market, it doubles as the King’s banqueting hall and kitchen. Its museum, gardens and impressive Great Chamber are open to the public (thecharterhouse.org).
Just five minutes away in the capital’s Clerkenwell is another filming location. The parish church of St Bartholomew the Great can be spotted during the royal coronation. See it for yourself on one of its excellent weekly guided tours (greatstbarts.com).
STAY AT On Charterhouse Square, no less, Malmaison London has stylish rooms in a handsome Victorian building. If you can be flexible on dates, it can be good value, too, for somewhere so close to tourist hot spots St Paul’s and the Tower of London (malmaison.com).
TRY THE HIGH LIFE IN HERTS
If you can’t film in King James’s actual London residence, shoot in another of his royal boltholes, right? Hatfield Palace belonged to the monarch until he swapped it for the mansion of his Lord Privy Seal, Robert Cecil (it’s not clear how voluntary the swap was). The palace now sits in the gardens of the grander Hatfield House that Cecil then built, and the latter’s perfectly preserved Elizabethan interiors provide the backdrop to scenes of riotous banqueting, boozing and dancing in Mary & George. The house reopens in May, but the lovely, deer-grazed grounds are fully open from 30 March (hatfield-house.co.uk).
Just a few miles north-west, in posh Harpenden, is Rothamstead Manor, which doubles for Compton Manor, where Mary marries her third aristocratic husband. It’s only occasionally open to the public, but the grounds are always accessible, and include the most gorgeous bluebell wood (rothamstedenterprises.com/rothamsted-manor).
There are also bluebells galore in season at the Ashridge Estate, near Berkhamsted, where the show’s hunting scenes were shot (nationaltrust.org.uk).
STAY AT Sleep your way inside the Villiers story at the Grove, acquired by the family in 1753 and retained for 200 years. It’s a delectable 300-acre country manor hotel (with golf and spa) that’s just 20 minutes from London, on the edge of Watford. And its grand rooms, warren of lounges, bars and restaurants – and its proximity to Leavesden Studios – mean stars such as Tom Cruise and Hugh Grant are regulars (thegrove.co.uk).
GO FOR KINGLY GRANDEUR IN KENT
Dover Castle’s history stretches from Iron Age hillfort to Cold War secret site of government in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and takes in William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, Napoleon and George Villiers himself. In the programme that takes his name, however, the Castle stands in for the Tower of London. Soak up the drama on a day trip, although you may want to wait until the autumn, when its new visitor experience opens (english-heritage.org.uk).
An hour’s drive west, just outside Sevenoaks, is Knole, one of the biggest and grandest houses in England. Built for the Archbishops of Canterbury in 1456, it was (inevitably) nabbed by Henry VIII, and by the time of King James had been kitted out with an imposing gatehouse tower and lavish show rooms. In Mary & George, interior scenes of the King’s palace were filmed here (nationaltrust.org.uk).
STAY AT History-hawks will want to sleep in the Edwardian wing at Hever Castle, a proper moats-and-mazes fortress where Anne Boleyn spent her childhood. Knole is only a 20-minute drive away, but you could easily spend a weekend at Hever (hevercastle.co.uk/ stay).