What was life really like at Highclere Castle, the inspiration for "Downton Abbey"?

A newly discovered set of photographs going to auction next month offer a behind-the-scenes, 120-year-old look at the country house in Hampshire, U.K., which has been the ancestral seat of the Carnarvon family since 1672.

Prince Edward, center, and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, immediately to his left, pose for a photo at Highclere Castle.

The 44 photographs show shooting parties hosted by George Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, and his wife, Almina Herbert, that were attended by the likes of Prince Edward, who later became King Edward VII, in the late 1800s.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch a cricket match at Highclere in 1958.

The earl and his wife provided the inspiration for Lord and Lady Grantham in the period drama whose final episode aired last year (the cast may reconvene for a movie that has recently been rumored though).

Like Lord and Lady Grantham did in the series, the earl and his wife converted their home, which at one point had 60 domestic staff members, into a hospital for wounded warriors following World War I.

George Herbert is perhaps best known, however, for helping fund Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamun's Egyptian tomb in 1922. He died six weeks later, inspiring hype that he had succumbed to a so-called "mummy's curse." (His mysterious death was actually caused by blood poisoning, the result of of a mosquito bite that became infected when he cut himself shaving.)

The album includes this photo of the drawing room at Highclere Castle.

The modern-day Highclere Castle served as filming location for Downton Abbey.

The photo album will be sold by Lawrences Auctioneers on February 3 and is estimated to go for £500 (about $608).

The show helped fund repairs at Highclere Castle.

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