Eleanor Doughty started her career writing about life as an impoverished student. It didn't take long to turn that specialism on its head, however: within a few years, Eleanor had turned her hand to writing about Britain's great country houses, and — more importantly — the people who live in them.
Over a decade later she has travelled to over 150 of the finest country piles in Britain, interviewing their owners to discover the ups and downs of their lives.
Listen to the Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts
Listen to the Country Life podcast on Spotify
Listen to the Country Life podcast on Audible
Heirs & Graces by Eleanor Doughty is ought in September 2025.
Eleanor has a book coming out in September, Heirs and Graces: A History of the Modern British Aristocracy, which details some of her most fascinating experiences. Ahead of that, she joined James Fisher on the Country Life podcast to talk about the people in Britain — and there are fewer than 5,000 of them in existence — who can claim to be members of the aristocracy.
From dinner with dukes to the peer who programmed his car to welcome him by saying 'Good morning, your Lordship', it's a fascinating glimpse in to a mysterious world that's hidden from view for most of us.
Eleanor's book Heirs & Graces will be published by Penguin in September 2025. See more details or pre-order it here.
Episode credits
Host: James Fisher
Guest: Eleanor Doughty
Producer and editor: Toby Keel
Music: JuliusH via Pixabay
Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn
-
Who you gonna call to tell them about Country Life's Quiz of the Day, August 27, 2025Wednesday's quiz is out of this world, but also of this world.
-
‘The closest that screenwriting has ever got to Shakespearean’: In an era of television slop, what should you be watching?Members of the Country Life team reveal what they’re watching — and rewatching — this autumn.
-
‘The closest that screenwriting has ever got to Shakespearean’: In an era of television slop, what should you be watching?
Members of the Country Life team reveal what they’re watching — and rewatching — this autumn.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: If you have same-sex parents, who should walk you down the aisle?Sophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
-
If there's no fish, there's no fishing, with Robin PhilpottThe CEO of Farlows joins the Country Life Podcast.
-
What the hedge can tell us about the countryside, with Richard NegusThe hedge is much more than just a barrier between one field and the next. Richard Negus joins the Country Life Podcast to discuss his work, his latest book and how he's being tapped up to switch cricket clubs.
-
Neil Armstrong and Sir Edmund Hillary’s joint adventure to the Arctic that you've never heard about and what its re-creation can tell us about the state of EarthIn 1985, Neil Armstrong and Sir Edmund Hillary adventured to the North Pole; 40 years later, their children re-created the expedition.
-
Ken Follett on Stonehenge, building cathedrals, and the glaring flaw in Shakespeare's greatest soliloquyThe bestselling author Ken Follett joins the Country Life Podcast
-
'The greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history’: The contents of iconic art collector Pauline Karpidas’s London home are heading to auctionWorks by Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso are included in the sale of the items in the collector's apartment which overlooks Hyde Park.
-
The finest wines available to humanity, and how to buy them, with Beth PearceBeth Pearce MW, head of buying at Flint Wines, joins the Country Life Podcast
