The Duchess of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Leyton Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietor of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James's, in London. The story is loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis (née Ovenden), the "Duchess of Jermyn Street", who ran the Cavendish Hotel in London, at the corner of Duke St, St. James's. When the show first aired, there were many people who still remembered her, as she lived until 1952. According to census returns, she was born in Leyton, Essex, to a watchmaker. In the series, Louisa's family name is Leyton, and her father is a clockmaker. The programme lasted for two series totalling 31 episodes, shown in 1976 and 1977. Shown later on PBS in the United States, it was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series in 1980. The theme music was composed by Alexander Faris. Plot summary Beautiful but low-born Louisa Leyton has one driving ambition: to become a great cook. She finds employment as a cook in the household of Lord Henry Norton. His handsome, wealthy, aristocratic nephew, Charlie Tyrrell, attempts to seduce her, but she rebuffs him. Louisa manages to convince Lord Norton's sexist French chef, Monsieur Alex, into accepting her as his apprentice. When Louisa is unexpectedly called upon to prepare a dinner by herself, she catches the eye of one of the guests, Edward, the Prince of Wales, who admires both her cooking and her appearance. After the dinner, Louisa is pressured into becoming Edward's mistress. Against her own wishes, she agrees to marry Lord Norton's head butler, Augustus "Gus" Trotter, to maintain the appearance of respectability and to protect the royal reputation. Gus and Louisa are given a house, and her involvement with the prince commences. In time, Edward's mother, Queen Victoria, dies. Edward assumes the throne as King Edward VII, causing him to end his relationship with Louisa. Louisa's shaky marriage to Gus becomes strained, both from her affair with the prince and her great success as a chef. In an effort to help him recover his pride, Louisa purchases the Bentinck Hotel and talks a