Royal Pavilion
I usually like to keep my blogs more visual and less info - but for this landmark I have gained some amusing hear-say and with the abundance of information there seems to be a lot to write about. I am a photographer by profession and do not claim to be either a writer or a journalist so please excuse my writing technique or errors.
Photography is not allowed in the palace, and as its winter the grounds are not at their prettiest. Building works appear in different areas and the grounds are also hosting the Winter Wonderland ice-rink that blocks the main frontal view of the building. Therefore the images available are few and far between and have been taken from a selection of online sources, (listed and linked at the bottom) joined by a few that I have scanned from the official tour guide.
On researching there seemed to be so much repetitive and in part, differentiating information about the Royal Pavilion online that I did not feel it necessary to repeat it all again so tried to be strict on picking only a summary of relevant facts to share regarding the colourful life of the original inhabitant. However I have loved sharing a section of comments, facts and 'hear-say' given to me by the specific staff, on the day, I, revisited the palace This is much more in keeping with the style of this blog and much more fun to read. The gossip is apparently backed up by the ledgers from the time, I, in no-way-shape-or-form claim them to be true as I have not seen the ledgers in person !!!.
Overview:
So the story goes:
The Prince did not get along with his father and after coming of age, chose to spend most of his time in Brighton with his uncles the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Gloucester, where he took full of advantage of their lively circle of friends and indulged in such pass-times as partying, gambling, the races and the theatre, this also included 'entertaining' women, and was a very different life to the one provided at Windsor Castle.
Originally the Palace grounds were home to a modest lodging house (some reports call it a 'respectable farmhouse'?), built on the flat area (part of The Steine) where fishermen dried their nets. The Prince of Wales transformed the building into neo-classical Palace with the help of designers such as John Nash; Over the years this palace was extended and renovated multiple times, spending vast sums of money to ensure the palace was at all times the latest in design, equipment and furniture. George chose to retire to his beloved palace to escape the formal living of Windsor Castle and more importantly to him to continue his scorned-upon relationship with the 'love of his life', Maria Fitzherbert. As Maria was of Catholic religion and the Prince a Protestant, and against the wishes of the state, they were married in secret in 1785. But this was immediately deemed illegal.
By this time, George's extravagant lifestyle meant his spending was out of control which led to massive debts. Following a formal warning from the Treasurer Secretary in 1784, a deal was finally struck in 1787 by which his debts were cleared and a yearly increase in his allowance would be granted, in return George had to agree to find a more appropriate wife and produce an heir.
This was in the throws of a relationship with his then mistress Frances, Countess of Jersey, the state and throne stepped in and deemed Princess Caroline of Brunswick to be a perfect match for George, and they were married in 1795. It is said that even though Caroline disliked what she saw when she met the Prince, being that he was a lot larger than she had been told, the Prince was so revolted by her that he directly ordered a swift drink!!. But an heir was needed and 9 months after the union Princess Charlotte was born. Frances the mistress in the mean time was appointed the Lady of the Bedchamber, (personal assistant), to his wife to keep her close to by. This put her in prime position, and it became her mission to destroy the marriage completely by telling tales about Caroline to George; she was subsequently passed over for other mistresses. The marriage between George and Caroline crumbled completely shortly after the birth of Charlotte and ended in an inevitable separation.
In 1811 The Prince of Wales, George, was honoured with the Regent status, and was then known as Prince Regent.
After living separately, rumours (true or not) had developed around Caroline's fidelity and George looking for ways in which to discredit and divorce Caroline ordered an investigation into the rumours that Caroline had taken lovers and produced an illegitimate child. The investigation reported these rumours unfounded and George turned to his father the King for a divorce. The king however very much liked Caroline and often invited her to stay at Windsor independently of George, so of course refused the divorce. Although with no divorce and the rumours being deemed unfounded, George still managed to restrict Caroline's access to her daughter, Princess Charlotte, and she finally went to live in Italy.
Princess Charlotte died whilst trying to deliver a still-born baby in 1817. Caroline was devastated by the news and was angry as the news was overheard from a passing courier; George had not felt it necessary to inform the mother, such was his dislike for her.
On his fathers death in 1820, he became increasingly desperate to get his divorce, and intended under any circumstances to prevent Caroline from returning to England and becoming Queen, so created and pushed the Bill of Pains and Penalties through parliament which meant he could legally try to convict Caroline of adultery and therefore finally enable their divorce. George however underestimated the public popularity of Caroline, for she was now seen as the 'wronged wife', and as the person named in the adultery with Caroline was foreign the 'legals' worried about the legalities of the whole saga. Now if the said person had been English the treason was punishable by death, and the whole situation could have been straight forward. The bill failed and was dissolved, the marriage staggered on with Caroline finally agreeing to stay abroad and not claim her title; she was also allocated a yearly allowance.
George refused to allow Caroline to his coronation the following year, July 1821, and even though it is said she arrived at the abbey she was refused entrance due to her lack of ticket.
She died suddenly from severe abdominal pains on August 7th of the same year, 1821, and as in accordance to her wishes she was buried in Germany.
By the time George had become King he was so obese and of poor health, often suffering long bouts of Gout, he enthusiastically and regularly partook in the popular treatment of 'blood letting', often demanding the treatment be repeated consecutively. If a doctor refused he would demand another and it is reported that he could and would bleed himself on occasion. It was in this obese condition he felt too embarrassed to be seen walking in the grounds but continued his love for horse-riding, so he had a direct 60m tunnel dug leading from the Palace to the stables (the Dome) at the cost of $1783.
As his health deteriorated he spent more time at Windsor a quieter and more private place, and died there on June 26th 1830, aged 67.
The crown was passed onto his brother who became William IV.
In 1837 Queen Victoria, daughter of the kings deceased brother, became Queen. Her first visit to the Royal Pavilion took place in the same year where she wrote she was disappointed to not have a better sea view as she was so near to the sea, and, she preferred her rooms at Windsor. By 1841 the Queen declared that she disliked Brighton due to lack of privacy and when as the London-Brighton rail link had opened her privacy had deteriorated completely. She had also decided that the rooms were too cramped for her growing family and in 1849 a bill was passed to demolish the Palace. The 'Brighton Commissioners' and the 'Brighton Vestry' successfully petitioned the Government to sell the Pavilion to the town for £53,000 and Victoria bought Osborn House, Isle of Wight with the proceeds.
To date the Royal Pavilion is the only Royal Palace not owned by the Royal Family/Heritage Trust.
1914-1916 (first World War) a military hospital was established in the Pavilion Estate and Indian soldiers were tended in the 722 beds provided.
Things to note on your visit
- Entry times and prices can be found on the Royal Pavilion's official site, and differ in high/low season.
- The audio multi-media guides are free, they are packed with info, and are a great way to view the Palace. Ask for one when purchasing your ticket, they are not always given automatically.
- The upstairs cafe serves fine coffee, tea and cakes etc. Its a little expensive but good quality.
- On arriving, and walking through to the main hall note the walls are lined with asian figurines. These figurines all have nodding heads and originally the servants ran up and down setting them bobbing before the guests came in, as the Prince of Wales felt they looked like courtiers welcoming everyone.
- The bamboo effect banisters are actually made of wood and metal, and are paint effect Bamboo.
- The main dining room was really flamboyantly decorated, when you enter imagine the silver work being really shiny and reflecting the lights. Its was varnished at some point and over the years has tarnished. Although the room still looks a kaleidoscope of colour with a little imagination you can see that its true glory must have been mesmerising.
- The dining rooms candelabra weighs nearly 1 ton and length is 30ft. It is truly a gob-smaking piece of art.
- There is one kitchen on show. Note the kitchens were purposely placed nearer the dining room than in most stately homes/palaces. George was so proud of state of the art kitchens and often took his guests through to view them, which was something unheard of. Going so far as to once having a banquet in the main kitchen.
- The kitchen spit is one of the only self functioning spits (the chicken racks/fire) in England. The smoke from the fire rotates a fan system that turns cogs, which in turn rotates the chain, that turns the spits. Impressive.
- The kitchen shelves have numbered copper strips on the front. This de-swayed any thieving as it was quickly identifiable if a pot wasn't in its correct place. Each pot was engraved with a corresponding number. Out of all the copper pots on show, only two are from the original kitchens and are engraved PR (Prince Regent) 1817. The rest are engraved DW (Duke of Wellington) and were made for Aspley House, (address), 1 London. See if you can spot the the two originals ....
- The music room has been hit by two disatsters. An arson attack gutted the room in 1975 and was only just restored to its former glory, when the huge storm of 1987 dislodged one of the outside decorative balls and it came crashing through the middle of the roof and lodged into the floor boards below.
- The kings bed was moved down the lower level as he was too large and unwell to climb the stairs to his original bedroom. Although he had a secret stairwell, jib, that took him directly up to his last mistresses bedroom. This is now the coffee shop. The bed in his room is the bed he died in at Windsor, and given back to the Palace after his death.
- George he constantly talked about behind his back for his obesity and unfortunately lived at the same time as two highly acclaimed comic artists so was the constant topic of their art-piece jibes. Some of the fine work can be seen upstairs in the hallway (near the toilets). This constant ridicule cannot of helped his self-esteem during those dark years when all the high life was a distant memory.
- Upstairs in the bedroom of the Duke of Clarence is a satinwood cabinet. This cabinet turned up in a New York furniture auction in 1933. The auctioneers were alerted to its origin by the PR stamp on the back. It had been remodelled over time into a TV cabinet !! It had never been reported stolen, and took time to verify that it was indeed part of the original inventory of the Palace and was listed in a ledger.
- Take a closer look at the large portrait of George IV on the landing - it is actually a micro mosaic
- The bed displayed as Queen Victorias bed is her actual bed she used at the Palace. Intensive searching on plans and ledgers have come up blank, no mention of 'Alberts' room so although very rare in its day and considering the level of Royalty, it seems she shared her bed with her husband.
- In the gardens/grounds of the Palace the head chef and staff woulld collect ice in the winter season and put it in the ice-pit which was dug deep in the ground and would keep the ice cold enough to survive the summer. When it was used to make iced drinks and ice-cream, re-portably one of the George's favourites.
Did you know? (apparently this is all written in the ledgers and journals of the time)
* The Royal Pavilion has been designed as an Indian looking Palace and decorated throughout in the Chinese style inside. He had never visited either !... but stated that he liked the flamboyant style.
* George was reportedly so obese but carried his weight solely around his abdomin. He had very slim arms and legs which he thought was his best feature. To enable him to move about he had a special leather (wide) belt made that would support and squeeze in his fat up around his tummy. When he removed the belt his stomach was so fat it hung to his knees. He admired his thin legs so much he had most of the mirrors in the palace dropped to a height that he could only view his lower body and avoid looking at his waist.
* George was fluent in French and German, and saw this as a sign of culture and class. He insisted on talking to his dinner guests in these languages as he felt it should impress them.
* All the pretty ladies ...... On being invited to the Palace to dine, George was very open about his thoughts on: "one should expect to return a favour for a favour !!!"
* There are 55 steps up to the top of the Pavilion dome. Some of the greatest views across Brighton can be seem form the attic rooms that are totally undecorated and still have the graffitied (so-and-so waz ere!!!) signatures all over the walls dating back to the 1800's. These rooms are now closed to the public.
* The music room has always been decorated with serpents and dragons. In asian cultures and design it is deemed to be unlucky to have the two together in any decoration. The music room has been the main focus of bad luck over the history of the Palace.
* Martha Gunn - one of the famous dippers (dunked people in the sea water, lived to 104yrs and was buried in St.Nicolas's church) was said to be a frequent visitor to the Palace.
On being shown to the kitchen she placed some of the butter in her pocket - assumably to take home with her. George saw her and called her over to the spit fire and proceeded to hold a conversation with her until the butter was all melting down her dress. This version of the event was discovered in his journal.
* Rather like photographers of today; our work can be edited, re-touched and changed. Caroline agreed to marry George after asking for a miniature (small painting) to be painted of her intended. On receiving the miniature, which had made George look slim and handsome, she had agreed. Imagine her shock when her first visit when it became evident that the artist had been instructed to paint an adonis and not what actually was in front of him. Too late Caroline !!! and he said he needed a stiff drink.
All information taken from the websites linked below, the official tour guide
and hear-say from the staff of the Royal Pavilion
