- Evelyn Napier: "I was a fool to bring [Pamuk] here."
- Matthew Crawley: "Don't you like him?"
- Evelyn Napier: "Well, I like him very much, but so does everyone else, unfortunately."
- — A brief exchange between Evelyn Napier and Matthew Crawley, after Lady Mary leaves them preferring the company of Pamuk.[src]
Kemal Pamuk (d. Spring, 1913) was a handsome Turkish diplomat.
Kemal Pamuk was the son of one of the Turkish Sultan's ministers. He went to London for a conference to create an independent Albania. Evelyn Napier is given the job to look after Kemal until the start of the conference, as Turkey's support is deemed vital. Evelyn initially took Kemal as a duty, but liked Kemal more and more the longer he knew the gentleman.
Evelyn writes to Lady Mary Crawley, with whom he has a possible burgeoning romance, to tell her that he is planning on visiting Downton for fox hunting. After Lady Mary tells her mother Cora that she might be interested in him, Cora writes to Evelyn to invite him to stay at Downton Abbey rather than a pub, where Evelyn had planned to stay. Evelyn writes back about Kemal and Cora invites Kemal to stay as well. Before the men arrive at Downton, Mary does not want to join the hunt, but Cora insists she does, hoping a romance between Mary and Evelyn will blossom.
Kemal is very attracted to Lady Mary Crawley, who returns his flirting while riding horseback and again at dinner. After dinner, Kemal motions her to leave the room and pretends to ask her about a small painting. He instead kisses her passionately, but Mary is shocked by his kiss. He asks her if he can come to her room that night, but she declines. Thomas, acting as Kemal's valet, is also attracted to Kemal. Thomas makes a pass at Kemal after he asks Thomas to assist him with his tie in his bedroom. Kemal rejects Thomas's advances and threatens to expose Thomas. Kemal however offers Thomas a deal. Kemal will stay silent if later on, after everybody is in bed, Thomas will lead Kemal through the hallways in the vast house, to Lady Mary's bedroom. Thomas agrees. Upon entering her bedroom, Mary is shocked.
Kemal dies in Lady Mary's bed.
Kemal coerces Mary into having sexual intercourse with him, saying that if she screams or rings for someone she will be scandalized. Mary is scared and attracted to him at the same time. Although she tells him to leave, he doesn't. The kissing starts out rather one-sided, but soon she starts kissing him back. While he is in bed with Mary, Kemal dies of a heart attack. Mary, in a state of shock and panic, goes to wake Anna, one of the maids, and pleads for her help. Anna realizes that Kemal's body is too heavy to carry back to his room in the bachelor's corridor, on the other side of the house. Anna then asks Cora to help as well in order to try and prevent a public scandal that would ruin Mary's reputation and her marriage prospects. Just before they enter the bedroom, Daisy, already up very early to light the fires, witnesses Mary, Anna and Cora carrying Kemal's dead body. Later on in the morning, Thomas arrives with tea and to dress Kemal, but discovers the deceased Kemal, with his eyes still open, in his bed. The local Downton doctor, Dr. Richard Clarkson, believes that Kemal had a heart attack in his own bed. Kemal's sudden death is the most important plot line in series one and two, and greatly affects Mary's relationships with her mother Cora, her sister Edith, her aunt Rosamund, her grandmother Violet, the servants, her lack of invitations to parties in London during "The Season," her fiancé Sir Richard, and most importantly, her cousin, love interest, and Downton Abbey heir, Matthew Crawley. Pamuk's death also affects Bates' relationship with Lord Grantham, with his estranged wife Vera, and his complex relationship with Mary. So far the only people who know about the Pamuk scandal are Anna, Cora, and Daisy, who witnessed it firsthand. Edith, Violet, Rosamund, Vera Bates, Sir Richard, Robert and Matthew find out about it later. Sir Richard threatens to expose the scandal after Mary breaks up with him but he did not hereby saving her reputation.
Quick Answers
Who portrayed the character of Kemal Pamuk in Downton Abbey?
What was Kemal Pamuk's role in the Turkish government?
What was the purpose of Kemal Pamuk's visit to London in Downton Abbey?
How does Kemal Pamuk's story impact the character of Lady Mary Crawley?
Appearances[]
| Appearances and Mentions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 Appears |
Episode 4 Mentioned |
Episode 5 Mentioned |
Episode 6 Mentioned |
Episode 7 Mentioned |
— | — |
| Series 2 | Episode 1 Mentioned |
Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 Mentioned |
Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Christmas Special Mentioned |
| Series 6 | Episode 1 | Episode 2 Mentioned |
Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Christmas Special |
Behind the scenes[]
- In the first episode of Downton Abbey: The Official Podcast, Julian Fellowes revealed that the storyline involving Kemal's sudden death in Mary's bed was based on a true story. Fellowes heard this tale from a friend who inherited the grand country house where the death occurred and discovered the long-forgotten diary of his great-great-aunt in the 1990s. Although the identity of the woman and the grand country house still remain unknown, due to Fellowes refusing to disclose which family the real story belongs to, the man who died is only identified as Mr. Turton, from a passage written in the diary of the great-great-grandfather of Fellowes' friend, and the time of this event is known to have taken place in 1890.
- Aubrey Herbert, the half-brother of the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon and raised at Highclere Castle (the real Downton Abbey), was a major figure in the Albanian independence talks of 1912 and 1913.