Antony (Lord) Lambton, 6th Earl of Durham, was a Conservative MP until 1973, when he resigned after tabloid revelations involving drugs and prostitutes. In 1977 he bought and retired to Villa Cetinale, a 17th-century papal villa, where he played host to guests such as Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Tony Blair and Prince Charles.

Party house, party people – rock and actual royalty – perfect for Succession. But to argue that Lambton was Chiantishire’s upper-class archetype, or that Origo was among the first of the Chiantishire set, is not quite right, for two reasons. The first is that neither lived anywhere near Chianti, which is a tiny area of just 100 square miles (out of Tuscany’s 8,875 square miles), centred on the hills and a handful of towns between Florence and Siena. La Foce and Cetinale lie some way distant, along with other of Succession series three’s Tuscan locations: Pienza, Cortona, Bagno Vignoni and Montalcino. The second is that these days, visitors staying in Chianti’s villas are unlikely to be British aristocrats, but people like you and me, and, for that matter, not British at all, but Dutch, German or Swiss.

But this is to quibble, for Succession’s Tuscan sojourn draws on association, on Chianti as a state of mind. And in choosing locations away from Chianti itself, the producers are only doing what visitors should do, which is to explore the Val d’Orcia, or the Maremma, or the Garfagnana or the Pratomagno, or any other of Tuscany’s quieter and more captivating corners. 

And in doing so, there is no need for wealth or power, of course, just a desire for the simple – and priceless – pleasures of Italy’s most beautiful region.

Fit for a Medici: How to see Tuscany in style

You don’t have to spend like a billionaire, of course, to have a superb holiday in Tuscany, but if money were no object, and flamboyant outlay was the aim, here’s how you might go about it:

Villas

The 13-bedroom Villa Cetinale, a setting for Succession, can be rented on application (00 39 0577 311147; villacetinale.com) from around £22,000 to £48,000 a week. The main villa (sleeps 24) at La Foce (lafoce.com), which also features as a location in Succession, can be rented from around £15,735 weekly. 

Four smaller properties on the estate are also available, including Fontalgozzo (sleeps eight), with private pool, from £3,245 weekly. Other high-end Tuscan villas include rock star Sting’s Il Palagio, on Chianti’s eastern fringes, which sleeps 28. It can be rented direct (il-palagio.com) or via Abercrombie & Kent Villas (01242 547705; akvillas.com) from £95,708 a week.