And the 25-year-old even filmed a bedroom sequence with actor Ralph Fiennes – although he appeared at the bedroom door and she was seen being tucked up in bed by a nurse.

She was one of three West Norfolk extras who have spoken of their involvement in the period blockbuster, for which scenes were filmed at Holkham Hall and on Cley Marshes.

Emma, who worked at the Lynn News until March and is still our Big Night Out feature photographer but now works at Francis Wain jewellers in the town, took part in filming in Norfolk and London.

She stood in for the leading actress in a bed scene with a double for Dominic Cooper as Earl Grey, one of the Duchess's lovers.

"I was lying on a bed with this half-naked guy, as they filmed our hands. You don't see our faces, just our hands and the cartoon drawings we were looking at," she said.

In another scene, nightie-wearing Emma appears with Ralph Fiennes as the Duke of Devonshire.

"I have my back to the camera and a nurse comes and tucks me in, as I play the Duchess in a scene where the Duke learns she is pregnant again," she said.

"Ralph comes to the bedroom door and the doctor speaks to him. He looks at me, there's a long silence and he walks out."

Emma got to try on the wedding dress that Keira wears in the film, as well as her wig and shoes. She auditioned at Fakenham Methodist Church last October then got asked to Holkham Hall to be an extra in sequences shot over four days.

Wearing a ballgown and large wig, she took part in a ballroom scene, a sequence where Keira enters the marble hall and another in the card room where the Duchess goes into labour.

"I am right beside Keira and I go down to the side of her and beckon over her nurse," she recalled. "In between takes, I got to speak to Keira and she was lovely – and very focused on her part."

Skilled handyman Peter Stonehouse (58), of Sluice Cottage, Mill Road, Denver, applied online to be an extra and took part in filming on Cley Marshes and at Holkham Hall. In the marsh scene, where the Duchess has to hand over custody of her illegitimate baby, he appears as the legal adviser or enforcer accompanying General Grey to take the baby from her.

"Keira was standing in front of us and came up to us all tearful and handed over the baby to a wet nurse. It was quite dramatic," he said.

In the card room sequence, he is one of a group standing behind Ralph Fiennes and others as they sit round a table gambling.

"I thought it might be a good thing to see what the film world is all about and it was a great experience," he said.

Catherine Farrell (36), from the Fakenham area, appeared as the wet nurse in the same marsh scene. "I would do it again at the drop of a hat," she said.

"Keira was very approachable – and we had a good rapport by the end of the day as we had to visit the bathroom together, which broke the ice.

She signed an autograph for my children."