George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon

George Reginald Oliver Molyneux Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon (born 10 November 1956), styled Lord Porchester from 1987 to 2001, is a British peer and farmer.

His family seat, Highclere Castle, has achieved notability as the primary filming location for television series Downton Abbey and Jeeves and Wooster. Carnarvon and his family live in part of the house, while the rest is used as a venue for hire and is also open to the public much of the summer and on some dates during other months.

Through his father, he is a descendant of the Lee family of Virginia.

Early life Herbert was born in Lambeth, London, the son of Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon and an American mother, Jean Margaret Wallop. His mother was born in Big Horn, Wyoming, the granddaughter to Oliver Wallop, 8th Earl of Portsmouth, who had not expected to inherit the title and moved to the American west to become a rancher. His maternal uncle Malcolm Wallop, a rancher in Wyoming, served three terms in the United States Senate. His parents were close friends with Queen Elizabeth II, his godmother. Herbert was a Page of Honour to the Queen. He was educated at Eton and St John's College, Oxford.

He succeeded to the title of Earl of Carnarvon when his father died on 11 September 2001 in Winchester, Hampshire.

Family On 16 December 1989, he married Jayne M. Wilby, daughter of racehorse owner Kenneth A. Wilby and Princess Prospero Colonna di Stigliano (née Frances Loftus). They had two children before divorcing in 1998: She is the "godmother" for the cruise ship Viking Mars.

Arms