Hugh Bonneville wanted to steal a mustard pot from the ‘Downton Abbey’ set.
The 51-year-old actor – who plays Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in the ITV period drama – has revealed he was tempted to pocket the prop on one of his final days of filming so he could keep it as a memento.
Speaking at a screening of the first episode of the sixth and final series at The May Fair Hotel in London, Hugh said: "I wanted to liberate one of the mustard pots from the dining room … But I thought that would be a bit wrong, but I did liberate one of the letters.
"The audience never knows this, but they’re beautifully written and they’re always appropriate to the scene we’re in. They don’t just say, ‘Blah, blah, blah’ … So yes, I liberated that and put it in my scrapbook."
The ‘Paddington’ star also rubbished the idea that his character is in charge of the Downton estate – which is filmed at Highclere Castle in Berkshire – insisting that his on-screen wife Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) and daughters Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) and Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael) are the real heads of the family.
He shared: "I think actually, as we all know, the house is actually run by the women and people like Robert are allowed to think that they run the place but really it’s Cora and Mary and everybody else that are pulling the strings. I think the most central character in the show is actually the house and that’s been the strength of the piece, I think, throughout."
Hugh Bonneville wanted to steal mustard pot
