I was so excited to watch the arrival of ATTICUS ALDRIDGE to Downton Abbey last night  – a character born at The Sugarplum Dinner last year, after I approached the hugely talented Julian Fellowes to ask if he might consider auctioning the chance to have a character in your name on the show…..he said yes, and Atticus is the result!  My extremely generous friends bid a great deal of money to make this happen, choosing the name of their son, and what a perfectly Donwtonian name it is.  Played by the very handsome Matt Barber, we hope he will be on our screens for a while.

All money raised at the dinner – the auction alone raised £156k – went to JDRF, the world’s largest research charity for Type 1 diabetes, and other projects by Sugarplum Children, so we are all hugely grateful to everyone who donated money during the dinner.

Downton has always been one of my favourite shows on television, but is now extra special, knowing that I helped make telly history and have been part of something very special.  Now i have to hope we can offer the same auction prize next year…….watch this space!!

Long live Atticus!!!