Harry Hadden-Paton is best known for his portrayal of Bertie Pelham, 7th Marquess of Hexham in Downton Abbey. He is the son of former cavalry officer, Nigel Hadden-Paton, head of a landed gentry family of Rossway, and his wife Sarah, the daughter of Brigadier Frederick Mellor, but Harry also has a royal connection.
A close friend of Harry's father, Sarah, Duchess of York was appointed his godmother. "We're in touch. She's supportive of everything I do," Harry told The Observer in 2021.
Following the actor's 2018 Tony nod, Sarah was among the first to congratulate him. "So proud of my godson Harry," she penned on X, formerly known as Twitter.
More recently, Harry returned the favour and supported his royal godmother on her YouTube series. "Today at 4pm on Storytime with Fergie and Friends I am going to be reading Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan and Janet Ahlberg and my guest friend is Harry Hadden-Paton," Sarah announced in 2020.
Harry, who stars in the new Twisters movie, is busier than ever right now. Currently shooting the third Downton Abbey film, the 43-year-old was recently spotted shooting scenes at Ripon Racecourse in north Yorkshire. Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Laura Carmichael were also pictured close on the set.
Back in July, Harry joined HELLO! for an exclusive chat, where he revealed an update on production. "It's going very well, no major dramas," he said. "We all know what we're doing by now – I would say it's bigger and better than before. The set pieces are huge. There's a drone in almost every new scene and an amazing new cast as well. Some really exciting new people."
© SkyAsked what it's been like reuniting with his cast members, Harry told HELLO!: "It's wonderful, it's like putting on an old pair of slippers. Everyone knows everyone so well. We've all been through quite a lot together so there are no surprises. It's easy and we're all very grateful for it. It's a joy to have a chance to get together again."
When the third film comes out, we're sure Sarah will have a front-row seat. Aside from her connection to Harry, the Duchess is also a friend of Downton creator, Julian Fellowes, with whom she collaborated on the 2009 period drama, The Young Victoria.
During an interview with IndieLondon, Julian revealed how the project came about. "The Duchess of York had the original idea of making a film about the younger Queen Victoria. She knew [producer] Graham King and she ran into him in LA, I think, and said to him: 'We've all seen the older Queen, we've all seen the widow, but nobody has seen Victoria and Albert as a younger woman and their marriage. We don't know about the marriage she was in mourning for.'
© Getty"He was very taken with this idea and he decided he'd do it. I was then recruited and the only alteration I asked for was to nudge the story forward a bit so we got the Duchess and Lord Conroy and all the complexities of that."
