Possible Clues:

• Your friend, for one, is something like 8 across
• The royal house put a friend on the spot
• Set around a stately home
• Ferber's "Ice ___"
• Father gets something decorative and grand
• Abode accommodating principal character, perhaps?
• One grand is enough for Father to get open work
• eg Buckingham
• Fancy home
• Buddy escorts master home