- Violet Crawley: Machiavelli is frequently underrated. He had many qualities.
- Isobel Merton: So did Caligula - not all of them charming.
- Lady Mary Talbot: What are you up to, granny?
- Violet Crawley: Well, ideally, I would like Maud to see your father as the son she never had.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: Will she be the mother I never had?
- Violet Crawley: Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
- Isobel Merton: Oh Violet. After all these years you still astonish me.
- Violet Crawley: Oh good, I'm glad I'm a revelation and not a disappointment.
- Lord Merton: Who are those men measuring on the green as we came past?
- Lady Mary: They are building the dais for the queen at the parade.
- Lord Merton: Oh, how exciting.
- Isobel Merton: Seems rather a waste of money.
- Violet Crawley: Oh, here we go.
- Cora Crawley: Isn't that what the monarchy's for? To brighten the lives of the nation with stateliness and glamor.
- Isobel Merton: To quote Tennyson, "Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood."
- Violet Crawley: Will you have enough clichés to get you through the visit?
- Isobel Merton: If not, I'll come to you.
- Lady Mary Talbot: [commenting on the sudden sunshine after a storm the day of a royal parade] The day has dawned and the weather proves conclusively that God is a monarchist.
- Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham: No maid, no valet, no nanny, even!
- Bertie Hexham: It's 1927. We're modern folk.
- Violet Crawley: Of course, little Mary, could hammer in a tent peg with her teeth.
- Isobel Merton: I wonder who she got that from?
- Violet Crawley: You know, I'm always surprised when you praise me.
- Isobel Merton: I'm surprised to hear that I have.
- Henry Talbot: Leave Downton? We're stuck with it, aren't we?
- Lady Mary Talbot: Yes. Yes, I believe we are.
- Maud Bagshaw: I'm afraid you'll dislike it, but she says that she and Tom Branson have agreed to correspond.
- Violet Crawley: Dislike it? I will *lick* the stamps myself.
- Anna Bates: Is it always like this?
- Richard Ellis: A royal visit is like a swan on a lake. Grace and serenity above, demented kicking down below.
- Tom Branson: To be honest, I'm not much of a royalist. Although, I probably shouldn't say that out loud.
- Princess Mary: Certainly not to a stranger. That seems odd, as the Crawleys would die for the Crown if they had to.
- Tom Branson: You can love people you disagree with.
- Princess Mary: And you love them?
- Tom Branson: They're decent - at the core.
- Robert Crawley: Good night, Mama. Remember to pray for us. Mainly, for better weather.
- Violet Crawley: I'll put in a word.
- Bertie Hexham: How could you know that and how could you prove it?
- Violet Crawley: We find a friendly judge.
- Robert Crawley: Friendly or corrupt?
- Violet Crawley: Whichever does the trick.
- Cora Crawley: Whatever may have happened does not excuse his behavior.
- Queen Mary: I can assure you, Lady Grantham, we are quite used to people behaving strangely when we are near.
- Robert Crawley: Carson, what happened to the royal servants last night?
- Mr Carson: Hard to say, milord. They sort of - gave up the ghost.
- Robert Crawley: Well, you managed splendidly. Although, I could have done without Molseley's aria. Please thank the staff for saving the day.
- [last lines]
- Mrs Hughes: Downton is still standing.
- Mr Carson: Elsie, a hundred years from now, Downton will still be standing - and the Crawleys will still be here. And *that* - is a promise.
- Mrs Hughes: We'll see, Charlie. We'll see.
- Maud Bagshaw: You are amazing, Violet. You haven't won, you know.
- Violet Crawley: I don't believe in defeat.
- Robert Crawley: Are you excited?
- Cora Crawley: I am a bit. Are you?
- Robert Crawley: Would it be common to admit it?
- Cora Crawley: Not to an American.
- Tom Branson: They're silly too. Snobbish at times. I wouldn't give tuppence for their politics. But, I've learned to be happy with all of that. And besides, they're my daughter's family.
- Princess Mary: And she lives here?
- Tom Branson: I nearly took her away once. But, she belongs here now. And I spent so much of my life not belonging anywhere. Its important to me.
- Princess Mary: I suppose in the end, it's deciding what's important, isn't it.
- Robert Crawley: Are you here for dinner, Mama? It's a buffet.
- Violet Crawley: Well, I'm not changed.
- Lady Edith: We won't change either. So, you just need to take off your hat.
- Violet Crawley: You talk as if that were easy.
- Violet Crawley: How comforting to see you here, Carson. What prompted you to take up the flaming sword again?
- Mr Carson: I felt I should go where I could do the most good, milady.
- Violet Crawley: Wise words for all of us.
- Thomas Barrow: I don't quite understand where it leaves me.
- Robert Crawley: Well, you can be a sort of...
- Thomas Barrow: With your permission, I'd prefer not to be a "sort of" anything, milord.
- Tom Branson: He heard my sympathies lay with Ireland and the Republic.
- Lady Mary: Don't they?
- Tom Branson: Not at any cost. I'm a law and order man these days. That's what you lot have done to me.
- King George V: And you, Lady Grantham, were you affected by the general strike?
- Violet Crawley: Well, my maid was rather curt with me. While it was wrong, sir, but, you know, she is a Communist - at heart. So, I suppose it was to be expected.
- Cora Crawley: Your Majesties, welcome to Downton Abbey.
- King George V: We're glad to be here, Lady Grantham. Grantham.
- Robert Crawley: Is there any chance Henry might be back?
- Lady Mary: Well, I doubt it. I'll send a telegram. But, there's a motor show in Chicago that I know he cannot chuck.
- [to Lady Mary]
- Violet Crawley: You are the future of Downton. You'll take over from where I left off. You'll be the frightening old lady keeping everyone up to the mark. You'll be the best of me that will live on.
- Mrs Patmore: Let's hear it for the King and Queen.
- Mrs Patmore, Mr Carson, Mrs Hughes, Daisy, Andy, Anna Bates, Mr Bates, Mr Molesley, Miss Baxter: [raising their glasses in a toast] The King and Queen!