LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 19, 2025--
Viking® ( www.viking.com ) (NYSE: VIK) today announced its support for the development of a new contemporary events pavilion at Highclere Castle, the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and the iconic filming location of Downton Abbey. This purpose-built space will replace the temporary marquee on the castle’s southwest lawn, providing an elegant setting for future events and guest experiences.
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The Viking Pavilion at Highclere Castle has been designed to complement Highclere’s historic architecture while incorporating sustainable features such as solar panels and a heat exchanger system. Drawing inspiration from the celebrated 18th-century landscapes of Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the surrounding grounds will feature curving pathways, carefully planted trees, soft planting beds and intimate seating areas, creating a harmonious transition between heritage and modernity.
“We have proudly partnered with Highclere Castle for more than a decade and are pleased to support this new project. Many of our guests were introduced to Highclere and Viking through Downton Abbey, and the castle will always hold a special place in our hearts,” said Karine Hagen, Viking’s Executive Vice President of Product. “Many of our guests have enjoyed Privileged Access to Highclere Castle, and this new pavilion will provide future visitors—including Viking travelers—a beautiful setting for enriching experiences at Highclere, while also helping to preserve this iconic landmark.”
"We are hugely grateful to Viking for this incredible collaboration, which enables us to create a truly special new space for our visitors and of course welcome many more Viking visitors,” said Lady Carnarvon. “This new building ensures Highclere can continue to share its history while securing the future of the castle for generations to come."
The new pavilion will further enhance the visitor experience at Highclere and ensure the continued conservation of the estate. Viking guests will enjoy expanded opportunities to explore the castle’s rich history through Privileged Access experiences, including lectures and roundtable discussions hosted by Lady Carnarvon and other experts, inside the pavilion.
Viking & Highclere Castle
Viking’s corporate sponsorship of the celebrated series MASTERPIECE, which began in 2011, when Downton Abbey aired on PBS, helped establish Viking as a household name. This sponsorship continues today as part of Viking’s ongoing commitment to enriching cultural programming. Since 2014, Viking has offered guests a variety of ways to experience Privileged Access at Highclere Castle, with pre and post land extensions that include the highly-rated Oxford & Highclere Castle and Great Homes, Gardens & Gin extensions—both of which are available for guests on select river and ocean voyages. Additionally, the British Collections of Ancient Egypt land extension is available for guests on the popular Nile River itinerary, Pharaohs & Pyramids.
Lady Carnarvon has also welcomed viewers to Highclere Castle on Viking’s award-winning enrichment channel, Viking.TV. In her series, At Home at Highclere, she offers virtual Privileged Access to the historic home and its grounds. Viking’s close friendship with the Carnarvon family has also extended to its fleet—Lady Carnarvon is the ceremonial godmother of a Viking Longship, the Viking Skadi and an ocean ship, the Viking Mars ®. In 2022, Lord Carnarvon became Viking’s first godfather, fulfilling the role for the Viking Osiris, and in 2024, their son, the Honorable Edward Herbert, became the godfather of the Viking Hathor. More information about Viking’s longstanding partnership with Highclere Castle can be found on the dedicated webpage, www.viking.com/highclere.
About Viking
Viking (NYSE: VIK) is a global leader in experiential travel with a fleet of more than 100 ships, exploring 21 rivers, five oceans and all seven continents. Designed for curious travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers experiences For The Thinking Person™. Viking has more than 450 awards to its name, including being rated #1 for Rivers and #1 for Oceans five years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler in the 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. Viking is also rated a “World’s Best” by Travel + Leisure —no other travel company has simultaneously received such honors by both publications. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com.
Viking today announced its support for the development of a new contemporary events pavilion at Highclere Castle, the home of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon and iconic filming location of Downton Abbey. Pictured here, a rendering of the Viking Pavilion at Highclere Castle, a purpose-built space where Viking guests will enjoy expanded opportunities to explore the castle’s rich history through Privileged Access experiences, including lectures and roundtable discussions hosted by Lady Carnarvon and other experts. For more information, visit www.viking.com.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The spread of famine has been averted in Gaza yet the situation remains critical with the entire strip still facing starvation, the world's leading authority on food crises said Friday.
The new report by The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, comes months after the group said famine was occurring in Gaza City and likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to humanitarian aid restrictions.
There were “notable improvements” in food security and nutrition following an October ceasefire and no famine has been detected, the report said. Still, the IPC warned the situation remains “highly fragile” and the entire Gaza Strip is in danger of starvation with nearly 2,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger through April.
In the worst-case scenario, including renewed conflict and a halt of aid, the whole strip is at risk of famine. Needs remain immense and sustained, expanded and unhindered aid is required, the IPC said.
The Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, known as COGAT, said Friday it strongly rejected the findings.
The agency adheres to the ceasefire and allows the agreed amount of aid to reach the strip, COGAT said, noting the aid quantities “significantly exceed the nutritional requirements of the population” in Gaza according to accepted international methodologies, including the United Nations.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Friday it also rejects the findings, saying the IPC’s report doesn’t reflect reality in Gaza and more than the required amount of aid was reaching the strip. The ministry said the IPC ignores the vast volume of aid entering Gaza because the group relies primarily on data related to United Nations trucks, which account for only 20% of all aid trucks.
The IPC said the report totals include commercial and U.N. trucks and its information is based on U.N. and COGAT data.
Israel’s government has rejected the IPC's past findings, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the previous report an “outright lie.”
The report's findings come as the shaky U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reaches a pivotal point as Phase 1 nears completion, with the remains of one hostage still in Gaza. The more challenging second phase has yet to be implemented and both sides have accused the other of violating the truce.
The IPC in August confirmed the grim milestone of famine for the first time in the Middle East and warned it could spread south to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. More than half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of its population, faced catastrophic levels of hunger, with many at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, the August report said.
Friday's report said the spread of famine had been offset by a significant reduction in conflict, a proposed peace plan and improved access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries.
There is more food on the ground and people now have two meals daily, up from one meal each day in July. That situation “is clearly a reversal of what had been one of the most dire situations where we were during the summer," Antoine Renard, the World Food Program’s director for the Palestinian territories, told U.N. reporters in a video briefing from Gaza City Thursday.
Food access has “significantly improved,” he said, warning that the greatest challenge now is adequate shelter for Palestinians, many of whom are soaked and living in water-logged tents. Aid groups say nearly 1.3 million Palestinians need emergency shelter as winter sets in.
Displacement is one of the key drivers behind the food insecurity, with more than 70% of Gaza's population living in makeshift shelters and relying on assistance. Other factors such as poor hygiene and sanitation as well as restricted access to food are also exacerbating the hunger crisis, the IPC said.
While humanitarian access has improved compared with previous analysis periods, that access fluctuates daily and is limited and uneven across the strip, the IPC said.
To prevent further loss of life, expanded humanitarian assistance including food, fuel, shelter and healthcare is urgently needed, according to the group's experts, who warned that over the next 12 months more than 100,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require treatment.
Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it has not met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza each day, though Israel disputes that finding. American officials with the U.S.-led center coordinating aid shipments into Gaza also say deliveries have reached the agreed levels.
Aid groups say despite increase of assistance, aid is still not reaching everyone in need after suffering two years of war.
“This is not a debate about truck numbers or calories on paper, it’s about whether people can actually access food, clean water, shelter and health care safely and consistently. Right now, they cannot,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
People must be able to rebuild their homes, grow food and recover and the conditions for that are still being denied, she said.
Even with more products in the markets Palestinians say they can't afford it. “There is food and meat, but no one has money," said Hany al-Shamali, who was displaced from Gaza City.
“How can we live?”
Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
FILE - Palestinian women struggle to receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)
