A RETURN TO REGENCY ENGLAND

Is it the Prince Regent, afterwards King George IV?

Brighton’s Royal Pavilion? 

Almack’s Assembly Rooms? 

Or perhaps Regency fashions?

Whatever it is that your mind’s eye conjures up when you think of “Regency England,” chances are that you’ll find it on the itinerary for Number One London’s Regency Tour in June. This immersive experience will bring you up close and personal with the people and places that define the Regency era.

Beginning the Tour in London, we’ll walk the same streets that would have been familiar territory to the Prince Regent, Beau Brummell and Jane Austen.  Our guide for the day will be Louise Allen, author of Walks Through Regency London and Walking Jane Austen’s London.

Along the way, we’ll visit many of the sites associated with Regency London, whether they be well known buildings and locations or hidden gems, including White’s Club, Almack’s, the Burlington Arcade, St. James’s Square and the Red Lion pub.

St. James’s Palace

Fortnum & Mason

Beau Brummell’s London townhouse

Also on our London itinerary is a trip to the V & A, the Victoria and Albert Museum, where our group will attend a Specialist Talk on the fashions, social life, royals and other aspects of the Regency period. After dinner, Louise Allen will provide us with background on Brighton’s role during the Regency before we head there ourselves the next day, stopping en route to visit Grade I listed Petworth House, complete with an extensive number of preserved servants quarters. 

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In Brighton, we’ll be staying at The Old Ship, a Georgian seafront hotel that still retains the Regency Assembly Rooms where the Prince Regent himself opened many fashionable entertainments. While in Brighton, we’ll be given a private tou
r of George IV’s “Marine Palace,” the Royal Pavilion, scene of so many events associated with 19th Century England. We’ll embark on a walking tour of Brighton with local guide Jackie Marsh Hobbs and we’ll tour the Regency Townhouse in Hove, where we shall also attend a Regency Soiree complete with our guests and servants in period costume. 

Our return journey to London includes a tour of Polesden Lacey, the Regency house purchased by million-heiress Margaret Greville, who famously said, “Most people leave their money to the poor. I intend to leave mine to the rich.” And she did, leaving her fabulous collection of diamonds to the Queen Mother and her house to the National Trust.

Polesden Lacey

Our final stop on the Tour is Buckingham Palace, where the majority of the rooms reflect the taste of George IV, who commissioned John Nash to transform Buckingham House into a palace. Many of the furnishings we’ll see were purchased or made specifically for Carlton House, George IV’s London home when still Prince of Wales. Our visit includes a guided tour of Her Majesty’s gardens, where we’ll find the Waterloo Vase commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s victory at Waterloo in 1815. 

Perhaps the highlight of the Tour is that it will bring together a group of people with at least one thing in common – their love for the Regency period. Along the way, we’ll be discussing our particular subjects of interest and all of the social, political and royal aspects of early 19th century history, all while creating new memories and making new friends.