Royal Favourite
Osborne House, at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, was built as a holiday home for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It was, the Queen said, ‘impossible to imagine a prettier spot’.
Queen Victoria’s bedroom
The original house, which the royal couple bought from the Blachford family in 1845, was demolished and replaced with the Italianate building Prince Albert designed with Thomas Cubitt, an architect whose firm had built the façade of Buckingham Palace. The view of the Solent was said to remind the prince of the Bay of Naples. Osborne was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite houses, a place where the Royal Family could enjoy spending time together.
Foreign royalty were often received in the drawing room. Queen Victoria would retire here after dinner to play cards, or to sing and play the piano
The current estate includes formal terraces with statuary, a walled garden and extensive parkland. Prince Albert was involved with every aspect of the development. His plant- ing scheme was to some extent dictated by the landscape, but he indulged his love of poplars, and for the Italian fashion of lining principal drives and walks with evergreens such as myrtle and laurel. In 1847 the Queen noted in her diary: ‘We walked out with the children, and they helped, or at least thought they did, in planting some trees.’
Left: The Durbar Room. Right: A carved head in the Durbar Room
The Durbar wing was built after Prince Albert’s death in 1891; externally it was given the same Italianate style as the rest of the house, but the Durbar Room was designed by John Lockwood Kipling (director of the Mayo School of Art in Lahore, in Punjab, and father of the author Rudyard Kipling). His elaborate Indian design was intended to reflect Queen Victoria’s status as Empress of India. The intricate plasterwork was executed by a protégé of Kipling’s, Bhai Ram Singh.
‘We drove down to the seashore and remained there for an hour playing with the children who were so happy.’ Queen Victoria’s journal, 1846
Osborne House is open daily until 30 September, 10am to 6pm. For more information: 01983-200022, www.english-heritage.org.uk
Queen Victoria’s bedroomThe original house, which the royal couple bought from the Blachford family in 1845, was demolished and replaced with the Italianate building Prince Albert designed with Thomas Cubitt, an architect whose firm had built the façade of Buckingham Palace. The view of the Solent was said to remind the prince of the Bay of Naples. Osborne was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite houses, a place where the Royal Family could enjoy spending time together.
Foreign royalty were often received in the drawing room. Queen Victoria would retire here after dinner to play cards, or to sing and play the pianoThe current estate includes formal terraces with statuary, a walled garden and extensive parkland. Prince Albert was involved with every aspect of the development. His plant- ing scheme was to some extent dictated by the landscape, but he indulged his love of poplars, and for the Italian fashion of lining principal drives and walks with evergreens such as myrtle and laurel. In 1847 the Queen noted in her diary: ‘We walked out with the children, and they helped, or at least thought they did, in planting some trees.’
Left: The Durbar Room. Right: A carved head in the Durbar RoomThe Durbar wing was built after Prince Albert’s death in 1891; externally it was given the same Italianate style as the rest of the house, but the Durbar Room was designed by John Lockwood Kipling (director of the Mayo School of Art in Lahore, in Punjab, and father of the author Rudyard Kipling). His elaborate Indian design was intended to reflect Queen Victoria’s status as Empress of India. The intricate plasterwork was executed by a protégé of Kipling’s, Bhai Ram Singh.
‘We drove down to the seashore and remained there for an hour playing with the children who were so happy.’ Queen Victoria’s journal, 1846Osborne House is open daily until 30 September, 10am to 6pm. For more information: 01983-200022, www.english-heritage.org.uk