Highclere Castle, which is the real house featured in Downton Abbey, has a “sordid” past, according to the Daily Mirror.

The castle, which is owned by Lord and Lady Carnarvon, and has apparently “seen enough outrage and scandal to make at least five series of the hit ITV1 show.”

The paper adds that the previous inhabitants have “indulged in a string of sordid affairs, saucy photography and even an Indiana Jones-style adventure.”

The Indiana Jones reference refers to the fifth earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert, who many believe fell victim to a terrifying curse when he and archaeologist Howard Carter opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

He died just four months later after suffering blood poisoning.

It’s also reported that his wife, Almina Wombwell, had a host of lovers, including a gardener and her husband’s best friend, Prince Victor Duleep Singh.

The paper adds, “Along with his passions for speed and ancient Egypt, the fifth earl relished a more private hobby. He enjoyed photographing scantily clad girls but in his will, instructed his butler to destroy the whole collection.”

Downton Abbey returns to ITV1 on Sunday at 9pm.