When Hollywood met Ham House
For three days in October 2016, Ham House was a hive of activity as the stars of the film – Dame Judi Dench, as Queen Victoria, Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim, Adeel Akhtar as Mohammed, and Sir Michael Gambon as Lord Salisbury, plus numerous extras, cameramen, sound crews, wardrobe, directors and producers created the fabulous banqueting scene.
The 17th-century house on the bank of the Thames in Richmond lent its lawn (or plats), attics, back parlour and cellar to the production team.
Ham House General Manager Naomi Hutchinson, said of the filming 'The parts of the house used for the production are the plats. They’re quite 17th century in arrangement, so it was really lovely to have them dressed for a different period.'
'Also the servants areas which we’d never had filmed before was a real treat for us.'
'The third floor had never been used for any kind of production – we had to go right back to the drawing board and examine floor loading and engineer the whole process.'