Downton Abbey star laments the death of chivalry

It may have been a time when women didn’t have many rights and a career wasn’t an option, but Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery misses the chivalry of days gone by.

In the advent of equality for women, male chivalry and “manners” have disappeared and it’s something the 29-year-old actress regrets.

Dockery has had a taste of what it was like growing up in an age of strict etiquette through playing Lady Mary Crawley in the hit period drama.

The series is set in the years between the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the First World War, and follows the life of the aristocratic Crawley family.

The plotline gives some insight into the lack of freedom for women in an age when a “good marriage” was the only way to security.

It also portrays the social conventions of the day, which emphasised gentility and politeness in the company of others.

Dockery told Radio Times in an interview that the chivalrous behaviour of men associated with the era was “lovely”.

“We take so many of our freedoms for granted nowadays,” she said.

“I can travel where I like, I can have a baby when I like, I can do any job I want – but I do think chivalry has been lost a little bit.’

“Those old manners – such as men standing when women arrive at the dinner table or opening doors for you – are lovely, and it’s lovely when you see a man doing that today.

“But young men wouldn’t think about that for a second because it’s not the culture anymore.”