One of the highlights of my one week visit to the Isle of Wight in the Spring of last year was visiting Osborne House which was the holiday home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
The Royal couple bought the Osborne Estate in 1845 as an escape from court life in London and Windsor. Time as a family was cherished here. Queen Victoria visited here on and off for more than 50 years and time spent here was a solace to her after Prince Albert's death in 1861. Visiting ministers and royalty were entertained here. Of course the influential people in her life spent a lot of time here as well; her devoted servant John Brown (she was known in some circles as "Mrs. Brown" and yes, there is a movie based on that) and Abdul Karim her secretary during the 1880's (if you haven't seen the movie "Victoria and Abdul" you should)
It was a dull Sunday when I headed out by bus to Newport and from there got the #5 East Cowes bus that dropped me right outside the gates.
I decided to start my tour with the garden as the skies were heavy and I thought it would start raining very soon. (in the end it didn't rain much at all)
You had to walk a few minutes to get to the first part of the garden...but with the greenery above to enjoy it was no hardship.
The walled garden was so beautiful
Here is the back of Osborne House...and then I wandered around the building to the front terrace....
He looks like a happy fella! I would be too if I looked at that view 24/7!
On a sunny day I can only imagine how beautiful it would be. (and someday I intend to find out!)
Time to go inside!
These pictures are of the Grand Corridor which links the household, main wings and Victoria's private apartments.
A medallion of Queen Victoria. The hallway is quite long but for some reason I didn't take a picture to show that - probably too many bodies in the way!
Prince Albert's dressing and writing room. Weird fact: Right after Prince Albert died Queen Victoria ordered that nothing be changed in the routine. 40 years after his death hot water was still being brought to his room at dressing time. Queen Victoria had many informal meetings in this room after his death and it was quite disconcerting to guests when the servants appeared with a steaming tub of water for no apparent reason. So it is said that the servants could not bring themselves to challenge those instructions and she never gave contrary orders. Is that weird or what?
This is quite a view!!
Okay I cheated...this is a postcard that I bought from Osborne House This is the drawing room. It was restored in 2003 to reflect its appearance in the 1890's. Beautiful!!!
Above is another postcard...a painting of the Royal family taken in 1847. This is a copy that hangs in the dining room - the original was sent to Buckingham Palace in 1901. Five kids down...four to go. Two of Victoria's favourite things in life were eating good food and a bit of "fun" with Albert. And the result is above. She was warned by doctors to ahem...abstain for a while after her 6th child or so but well...that didn't go over too well needless to say. When you look at the classic photos of her later in life, fat and wearing black it's hard to imagine but there you go...we all have hidden depths. Given all her children she wasn't very maternal and was distraught when she found herself pregnant weeks after her wedding as she had wanted to wait at least a year even thinking of having a family. Prince Albert was more enthusiastic about parenthood than she was.
My favourite part of the house was the Durbar Room. This was constructed in the 1890's and was designed in Indian style. It is absolutely breathtaking and my favourite place in the house. I stayed in here for quite a while.
Note the peacock above the fireplace - more than 500 manhours were spent creating that alone.
The detail was absolutely amazing.
The house was huge and I should have taken more pictures but I bought the beautiful guide book that had pictures more beautiful than I ever could have taken. It's always after I think I should have taken more for the blog. Ah well.
There was a mini bus service to the Swiss Cottage. This cottage was charming and was part of Prince Albert's educational program for his children. He wanted them to grow up knowing how to do practical activities and chores so this was a playhouse for them to learn and have fun in. Some playhouse!
One thing that is not commonly known, I certainly did know this anyway was that Victoria was an artist in her spare time. She did not want it known at the time but the works above of her children were taken from her personal sketch book. These are on the walls of Swiss Cottage as this is where the children spent most of their time while at Osborne.
There was the option of walking down to the beach but at that point it was getting a bit blustery so I opted to get into the warm minivan back to the house. Never fear, I will be back someday!
As always I finished off a fun day of exploring with a great meal. I had the best Sunday roast of my trip at the Prince of Wales pub opposite Osborne House. With my belly happy and full I retraced my bus journey back to my bed and breakfast in Shanklin.
If you ever find yourself on the Isle of Wight (and you should) I highly recommend a visit to Osborne House.
The Royal couple bought the Osborne Estate in 1845 as an escape from court life in London and Windsor. Time as a family was cherished here. Queen Victoria visited here on and off for more than 50 years and time spent here was a solace to her after Prince Albert's death in 1861. Visiting ministers and royalty were entertained here. Of course the influential people in her life spent a lot of time here as well; her devoted servant John Brown (she was known in some circles as "Mrs. Brown" and yes, there is a movie based on that) and Abdul Karim her secretary during the 1880's (if you haven't seen the movie "Victoria and Abdul" you should)
It was a dull Sunday when I headed out by bus to Newport and from there got the #5 East Cowes bus that dropped me right outside the gates.
I decided to start my tour with the garden as the skies were heavy and I thought it would start raining very soon. (in the end it didn't rain much at all)
You had to walk a few minutes to get to the first part of the garden...but with the greenery above to enjoy it was no hardship.
The walled garden was so beautiful
Here is the back of Osborne House...and then I wandered around the building to the front terrace....
He looks like a happy fella! I would be too if I looked at that view 24/7!
On a sunny day I can only imagine how beautiful it would be. (and someday I intend to find out!)
Time to go inside!
These pictures are of the Grand Corridor which links the household, main wings and Victoria's private apartments.
A medallion of Queen Victoria. The hallway is quite long but for some reason I didn't take a picture to show that - probably too many bodies in the way!
Prince Albert's dressing and writing room. Weird fact: Right after Prince Albert died Queen Victoria ordered that nothing be changed in the routine. 40 years after his death hot water was still being brought to his room at dressing time. Queen Victoria had many informal meetings in this room after his death and it was quite disconcerting to guests when the servants appeared with a steaming tub of water for no apparent reason. So it is said that the servants could not bring themselves to challenge those instructions and she never gave contrary orders. Is that weird or what?
This is quite a view!!
Okay I cheated...this is a postcard that I bought from Osborne House This is the drawing room. It was restored in 2003 to reflect its appearance in the 1890's. Beautiful!!!
Above is another postcard...a painting of the Royal family taken in 1847. This is a copy that hangs in the dining room - the original was sent to Buckingham Palace in 1901. Five kids down...four to go. Two of Victoria's favourite things in life were eating good food and a bit of "fun" with Albert. And the result is above. She was warned by doctors to ahem...abstain for a while after her 6th child or so but well...that didn't go over too well needless to say. When you look at the classic photos of her later in life, fat and wearing black it's hard to imagine but there you go...we all have hidden depths. Given all her children she wasn't very maternal and was distraught when she found herself pregnant weeks after her wedding as she had wanted to wait at least a year even thinking of having a family. Prince Albert was more enthusiastic about parenthood than she was.
My favourite part of the house was the Durbar Room. This was constructed in the 1890's and was designed in Indian style. It is absolutely breathtaking and my favourite place in the house. I stayed in here for quite a while.
Note the peacock above the fireplace - more than 500 manhours were spent creating that alone.
The detail was absolutely amazing.
The house was huge and I should have taken more pictures but I bought the beautiful guide book that had pictures more beautiful than I ever could have taken. It's always after I think I should have taken more for the blog. Ah well.
There was a mini bus service to the Swiss Cottage. This cottage was charming and was part of Prince Albert's educational program for his children. He wanted them to grow up knowing how to do practical activities and chores so this was a playhouse for them to learn and have fun in. Some playhouse!
One thing that is not commonly known, I certainly did know this anyway was that Victoria was an artist in her spare time. She did not want it known at the time but the works above of her children were taken from her personal sketch book. These are on the walls of Swiss Cottage as this is where the children spent most of their time while at Osborne.
There was the option of walking down to the beach but at that point it was getting a bit blustery so I opted to get into the warm minivan back to the house. Never fear, I will be back someday!
As always I finished off a fun day of exploring with a great meal. I had the best Sunday roast of my trip at the Prince of Wales pub opposite Osborne House. With my belly happy and full I retraced my bus journey back to my bed and breakfast in Shanklin.
If you ever find yourself on the Isle of Wight (and you should) I highly recommend a visit to Osborne House.
Comments