Where did Queen Victoria die

Osborne House

Q. Not a palace, then

A. No - Osborne House was the Queen's favourite retreat, built to her beloved husband Albert's specifications.

Q.
Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle not good enough for her then

A. Obviously not. Neither was another royal residence, Balmoral. Osborne House was 'a place of one's own', for Victoria and Albert- a place of tranquillity away from the formality of court life in London. It increasingly became her refuge as she went into a deep depression after Albert's death.

Q. So when was it built

A. Victoria and Albert bought Osborne in 1845, five years after their marriage. It was a comparatively small house and Albert set about enlarging it - although replacing would be a more accurate word. The royal couple used architect Thomas Cubitt, best known for his buildings in London. He made Osborne in the Italianate style, rather than the Gothic prevalent of the Victorian era.

The Italian Renaissance style is apparent in the Grand Corridor, linking the Pavilion, Main Wing and Household Wing. The walls and ceiling are highly decorated and the Grand Corridor served as a fine classical sculpture. The corridor also doubled up as a useful place to promenade in bad weather. Work was finished in 1851, the time of the Great Exhibition - Prince Albert's other great achievement. (Click here for a feature on the Great Exhibition.)

Q. So Victoria was after a much more humble abode

A. That's what she thought! Despite the idea of cosy domesticity at Osborne, this was still the home of a formal monarchy. The royal household was organised according to a strict regime. This was no country cottage. The ceilings are nothing short of magnificent and the rooms contain many impressive features - even the legs of Albert's billiards table are made from imitation marble to his own design.

Q. But it was a place for them to get away

A. Yes - but Osborne House was still a royal residence, where affairs of State had to be administered. The Queen's Privy Counsellors met in the Council Room.

Q. Any interesting art there

A. Plenty of art, yes. Interesting Well, I'm no critic. The rooms and corridors are lined with the gloomiest pieces - many of miserable-looking Highland cattle in dank Scottish landscapes. The huge biblical painting in Victoria's bedroom has to be seen to be believed. No wonder she looked so grumpy if she woke up to that every morning. And there's the babies' arms.

Q. What

A. It was a fashion to take a cast of your children's hands and arms. Nowadays we might keep a baby shoe or take a hand impression in poster paint on newsprint. In Victorian times, led by their Queen, the upper classes took impressions of the children's arms and then had them cast in marble. They are revolting - quite macabre. It looks like bodies have been dismembered and strewn around the dining room. But there is also some beautiful art there.

Q. Tell me.

A. The vast pictures of the royal couple and their children are wonderful to behold. Indeed it was under this picture that Victoria's second daughter was married.

Q. How so

A. The household was still in mourning for the death of Albert on 14 December, 1861. (Indeed, Victorian never stopped mourning him). The Queen decided that her daughter Alice's marriage to Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt should be on 1 July, 1862, at Osborne - in the dinning room. Lord Tennyson, who was a guest, described it as 'the saddest day I remember'. Alice and her sisters remained in mourning black until midday, changed into white for the wedding, then returned to black as soon as the bride and bridegroom went on honeymoon.

Q. Can I visit Osborne

A. Oh yes. It's thoroughly recommended. Call 01983 200022 or 01983 291914 for details.

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By Steve Cunningham