The third of the three films I mentioned last month that feature Knebworth House comes out this month – ‘Paddington 2’ – although unlike ‘Victoria and Abdul’ and ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’, I suspect it will not be easy to recognise the House and Park. The field between St Mary’s and the House was the set for the fairground sequence, and although shots did include the House, if it is still visible in the film it will be heavily disguised, as the setting, I believe, is meant to be a London park. For ‘Victoria and Abdul’ they had to create snow – for ‘Paddington 2’ the problem was the opposite. They had to pretend it was June in January. See if you can spot how cold the actors and extras are pretending not to be!
The other place we are proud to have featured heavily this autumn is the V&A. There were lots of references to Knebworth Park in the museum’s very successful Pink Floyd exhibition. Most surprising was a copy of our old Guide Book decorating the inside of one of the red phone boxes that were used to create a mood for the exhibition. Less surprising was the prominent, now iconic, “All Roads Lead To Knebworth” poster from when Pink Floyd played Knebworth Park in 1975. The exhibition has now moved from the V&A to Rome – I wonder how the Romans will feel about a little village in England commandeering their expression?
Henry Lytton Cobbold
www.knebworthhouse.com
