The 10 Most Scandalous Moments On Downton Abbey

In between the prim and proper ways of the beautiful estate that is Downton Abbey are secrets, lies, scandals and sometimes, even horrible tragedy. There’s more than meets the eyes when it comes to the Granthams, their elite friends and their staff. In between all of the fancy attire, over the top dinners and massive amounts of cleaning to keep the large house neat and tidy, we have some of the most dirty little secrets. From death to premarital sex to revenge to blackmail to interracial relationships, Downton is in no short supply of skeletons in its closets. And you thought Scandal was all about scandal. With that said, here are just a few of Downton Abbey’s most scandalous moments. 1) Lady Mary Gets Naughty With A Turkish Diplomat Lady Mary! You saucy minx. In Season 1 of Downton, Lady Mary gets shagged by a sleazy Turkish diplomat, but it surely doesn’t end up like she, or Kemal Pamuk (btw, that’s Four from Divergent), expected. Not only is it considered morally wrong to go all the way with someone before marriage during the day of Downton, but how about having sex with someone who ends up dead soon after? Talk about a memorable first time. That’s not even the worst of it. Lady Mary has to clean up the mess (the dead body) with help from her lady’s maid Anna -- and her very own mother! Awkward, and what a way for mommy dearest to find out you just gave away your V card. Just picture Anna, Cora and Mary trudging down the hall with Kemal’s dead body. Eventually, they get him back to the comfort of his own room, only for his body to be discovered by Thomas the next morning. Did the sex kill Kemal? His death was ruled a heart attack, so maybe he had some health issues. Or maybe Lady Mary was just that good in the sack. Whatever the case, Mary’s first time was definitely exciting -- but for all the wrong reasons. 2) Mrs. O’Brien With The Soap In The Bathroom Don’t drop the soap. Don’t drop the soap. Whoops. Mrs. O’Brien, lady's maid to Cora, didn’t listen. Downton is no stranger when it comes revenge and anger, but to purposely harm someone and cause them to lose their baby? Yeah, that’ll make you feel regret and guilt, which is exactly what happened to O’Brien. Let’s start from the beginning. While eavesdropping (a daily affair at Downton Abbey) on Cora and Violet, O'Brien overhears the duo discussing applications for a new lady's maid. Well, little does O'Brien know that she isn't being replaced, the search is for Violet. Without that little piece of knowledge, Cora's lady's maid goes to the extreme by plotting a spur of the moment revenge plan against her employer. The most logical response to getting back at someone? Dropping soap in the bathroom for him/her to slip on and fall. Well, that’s exactly what O’Brien did to Lady Grantham. O'Brien leaves soap on the bathroom floor, and while exiting the tub Cora slips and falls. O'Brien does second guess her action and calls out for Cora to stop, but it’s too late. Not only does Cora hurt herself, but she also loses her baby. Yep, she was pregnant. As anyone should, O'Brien feels so much remorse that she vows to devote all of her time and energy to Cora. The lesson here? Eavesdropping will force you to drop the soap, resulting in a horrible tragedy. 3) Thomas And Baxter Secrets And Blackmail And Lies! Oh My! So just what is the dealio with these two? How do they know one another? What is Baxter's secret? Will Thomas force Baxter to remain his ally, now that she's taking a stand against him? Hopefully Season 5 will tell us more, but so far Thomas and Baxter are very good at hiding their secret. So far, all we know is that Thomas brought Miss Baxter to Downton as Cora's new lady’s maid (since, you know, O'Brien flew off in the middle of the night to work for Susan MacClare aka Rose's mother) during Season 4. As part of Thomas' plan to know the goings-on throughout the house, Baxter is required to report to him any and all gossip. At first, she abides by his rules, but soon enough she starts taking a stand against him -- and thanks to Mr. Molesley. (These two are totally getting together, right?) Baxter seems to be prepared for Thomas to expose her secret past, so let's assume that will happen this coming season. This is one secret I'm dying to know about! 4) Their Hearts Will Go On When it comes to scandal, Rose is all for it. She doesn’t follow the rules, but definitely follows her heart, especially around men like Jack Ross the musician. So, Jack and Rose (no, not from Titanic), where to begin? First, Rose causes quite a stir among Downton’s staff and residents during Lord Grantham’s birthday when she invites Jack and his band as the entertainment. No one expects her surprise to involve a black jazz singer. Remember Mr. Carson’s reaction? He’s quite appalled. As he asks Jack, “Have you never thought of visiting Africa?” Fortunately, Lord and Lady Grantham embrace the band and celebrate in style. As for Rose, she celebrates by making out with Jack in the kitchen, where Mary secretly spies the little love fest. Their attraction blossoms into a relationship, with Rose vowing to marry him. Jack realizes it will never work out between them (before and after his civil chat with Lady Mary) and ends their engagement. One scandal down, and most likely a zillion to go, in Rose’s case, at least. 5) Thomas And Jimmy Caught K-I-S-S-I-N-G Thomas might like to expose secrets, but he sure likes to keep his hidden. One in particular? He’s gay. It’s easy to hate Thomas, but when O’Brien tricks him into thinking footman Jimmy likes him, because Thomas bullied her nephew Alfred? Yep, I felt for him. Ugh. O’Brien could be just as bad as Thomas. This results in one disastrous and embarrassing outcome for Thomas. With O’Brien telling Jimmy to stay close to Thomas because of his work experience, Thomas is led to believe that Jimmy has eyes for him. One night while Jimmy’s sleeping, Thomas sneaks in his room and kisses him. How did that go? Well, Alfred catches them. Jimmy wants Thomas fired, then decides it’s best to just let it all go. Alfred calls the police on Thomas. Robert fixes the problem, and all goes back to “normal.” Basically, O’Brien outs Thomas and makes him look like a fool. Mr. Carson even goes as far as to call him “foul.” In what is probably one of the best lines delivered by Thomas, he tells Mr. Carson, “I'm not the same as you, but I'm not foul.” 6) Poor Anna I think everyone will agree with me here when I say this is the one tragedy I wished never would’ve happen on Downton Abbey. At the beginning of Season 4, Anna is raped and it turned out to be quite the scandal -- on and off screen. While her husband, Mr. Bates, and the others at Downton enjoy a musical performance upstairs from Dame Nellie Melba, Mr. Green (valet to Lord Gillingham) takes advantage of Anna downstairs. As anyone would, Anna becomes a different person as she struggles with being violated. She confides in Mrs. Hughes, while she hides the disgusting advances of Mr. Green from Mr. Bates. Anna’s attack is slowly revealed throughout the season to Mr. Bates and Lady Mary -- and they all deal with it in different ways. The same can be said for viewers. Anna’s attack caused quite the controversy, with fans in an uproar that such a thing would happen to a beloved character. However, Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton, defended the storyline, as did Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna. 7) Freda Dudley Ward: A Real-Life Scandal In the Season 4 Christmas special, Salem’s Janet Montgomery pops up as someone from the history books: Freda Dudley Ward. Born Winifred May Birkin, Freda was known to all as mistress to the Prince of Wales. You know, the one who also had a great love affair with Wallis Simpson? He even married her, which was frowned upon seeing as she was a divorcee. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, just go watch The King’s Speech. Talk about a real-life scandal. On Downton, we first meet Freda through Rose. Apparently, just being a mistress isn’t scandalous enough, as a particular letter from the Prince of Wales evolves into quite the game of detective, involving Mary, Rose and Charles Blake. 8) In the Words Of Lady Gaga: Poker Face Let’s get to this letter. The Prince of Wales wrote Freda a love letter, and she put in her purse. Then, swindler Terence Sampson (remember how he took all of Robert’s money during a poker game and Michael Gregson got it back?) steals said letter. Freda confides in Rose about the missing letter, so Rose runs to Lord Grantham explaining the situation. Robert decides the best way to handle this catastrophe is by holding a poker game -- we all know Sampson won’t ignore an opportunity to make a little dough. While Robert distracts Sampson, Mary, Rose and Blake search his room for the letter. The plan falls flat, as the trio find nothing. Thanks to Bates and his mind that thinks like a swindling criminal, he finds the letter in Sampson’s jacket -- why wouldn’t he keep something of value closest to him? In the end the letter is returned, and we're all left feeling that this plan was as complex as Danny Ocean’s plan to rob the Bellagio. 9) Mr. Bates Goes Above And Beyond For Love Raise your hand if you love Mr. Bates. Can you see me enthusiastically waving mine in the air? (Well, I am.) Mr. Bates is a good guy who is married to one good woman. And he’d do anything for his wife -- like the act of murder. Early in the series, it’s first suspected that Bates kills his first wife Vera (also known as Mrs. S to Orphan Black fans). He even goes to jail for her death, but luckily he’s released. Phew! That was a close one. If you’re wondering, he didn’t kill Vera. She committed suicide and framed Bates for her death. Wretched woman. Moving onto the next murder -- that Bates actually commits (it’s never shown and 100 percent proven, but you know he totally did it). After learning of Anna’s rape, and who did it, Bates gets his revenge. Yep, he kills Mr. Green -- the one thing Anna is afraid of to begin with. Bates goes to London, where Mr. Green dies after “tripping” in front of a bus. Of course, Anna and Mary suspect Bates for Green’s death -- after all, Mrs. Hughes discovers a ticket to London in Bates’ coat. Don’t worry, Mary contributes to this scandal by burning the ticket/evidence. Lesson here: don’t mess with Anna or you’ll deal with Bates. 10) Edith And Michael Gregson And A Baby Bow chicka wow wow. Lady Edith pulls a Mary by sleeping with Michael Gregson before marriage (and while he’s still married). Instead of her premarital sex causing death, it results in pregnancy. Not only does she get preggers, but Michael goes off to Germany (to become a citizen so he can divorce his wife, who’s in an asylum) and disappears. Um, what? She’s finally happy and this is how Edith is repaid? While dealing with Michael being MIA, Edith decides to get an abortion. However, she doesn’t go through with it and sails off to Switzerland with Aunt Rosamund to give birth. She then hands over her daughter to another family. Soon enough, Edith realizes she can’t live without seeing her child, so she asks Downton’s tenant farmer Timothy Drew to take care of her baby and pass it off as his own. Yeah, this is going to go over smoothly. Seriously, when is Edith going to catch a freaking break? Get this girl some love and happiness, stat! Tell us, do you have a favorite scandalous Downton Abbey moment? Sound off in the comments section below!