ITV drama Belgravia might be drawing to a close, but the series has had viewers riveted throughout with its gripping plot full of drama and suspense. One storyline in particular which has been running throughout the show, is the legitimacy of the marriage between Lord Bellasis (played by Jeremy Neumark Jones) and Sophia Trenchard (played by Emily Reid). The plot has gripped fans – and it’s based on real events.
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Viewers were left devastated after learning that the marriage was, in fact, legitimate – contrary to previous thought – in the penultimate episode. The revelation meant that Sophia’s pregnancy was kept a secret for nothing and the Trenchard’s grandson, Charles Pope, is the heir to the Brockenhurst estate. And it’s this tragic storyline that has a sad element of truth to it, according the show’s writer and creator Julian Fellowes.
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Lord Bellasis and Sophia Trenchard’s storyline was based on real events
Speaking to HELLO! and other reporters during an exclusive Q&A event that took place earlier this year, the Downton Abbey creator told the sad and real-life story that was an inspiration behind the plot in the TV series. “I don’t know that it was common, but it certainly did go on. And the story of Lord Barclay [which inspired the marriage dupe plot] is completely true,” he explained.
“It’s a rather tragic story actually, because he first of all seduced [his wife] with a false cleric pretending to marry them […] and then they were very happy.” The writer continued: “And after they’d had about three children, he married her for real. And of course, what it meant was that their third son was the heir to the title and not their eldest son.”
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Charles Pope was revealed as the legitimate heir to the Brockenhurst estate
Julian went on: “And they carried on with this fiction and pretended that the eldest son was the heir. And eventually it was tried by the House of Lords […] and the youngest son was sort of not educated so that he wouldn’t steal the thunder, you know. It was all ghastly in the end and indeed, there is now no Lord Barclay.”
As well as the marriage plot being based on fact, the Trenchards’ rise to the top of the aristocracy was also inspired by real events that occurred in the nineteenth century. Julian revealed: “You know if anyone says ‘But did that really [happen], would a career like James’ really happen at that time?’ An example of it was Thomas Cubitt who he’s working with, who started out as a ship’s carpenter, became a great figure of Victorian London and his son was made a peer.”
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