Tours – Page 12 – Number One London

The Wellington Tour – Devonshire House

No matter how many times I visit London, I always find new nuggets of historic trivia that are hugely interesting. I thought I’d do a bit of investigation recently in preparation for the St. James’s Walk Victoria and I will be leading during The Wellington Tour in September, when I discovered some interesting facts.

Firstly, I did some research into Devonshire House, London home to the Dukes of Devonshire since 1697, when the 1st Duke purchased the home, then known as Berkeley House, from Lord Berkeley. You can get an idea of it’s prime location on Piccadilly from Roque’s map below.

The house burned down in 1733 whilst undergoing renovations, allowing the Duke to rebuild in a contemporary style better suited to entertaining on a grand scale. The prime example of such an entertainment came over a hundred years on at The Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball, a fancy dress entertainment held in order to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee on 2 July in 1897. The Duchess encouraged guests to take their inspiration for fancy dress from history, literature and mythology. Thankfully, the Duchess hired photographer James Lauder of the Lafayette Company to be on hand to photograph the 200 costumed guests in front of different backdrops over the course of the evening.

The Duchess of Devonshire as Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra

The Ladies Churchill as Watteau shepherdesses.

Princess Henry of Pless as the Queen of Sheba

Unfortunately, Devonshire House (below in 1905) was demolished in 1920, when it was sold by the 9th Duke of Devonshire in order to pay death duties. Today, an office building stands on the site.

The new bit of trivia I learned is that the gates from Devonshire House were saved and moved to the entrance of Green Park off Piccadilly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked past, and through, these gates, never realizing their history.

Another piece of London history I’ve walked past numerous times is the Porter’s Rest above, located just down the street from the Green Park Gates as you walk towards Apsley House. As E. Beresford Chancellor tells us, there is a plaque on the object that reads “At The Suggestion Of R.A. Slaney Esq. Who For 20 Years Represented Shrewsbury In Parliament This Porter’s Rest Was Erected In 1861 By The Vestry Of St. George Hanover Square For The Benefit Of Porters And Others Carrying Burdens.” You can be sure we’ll be pointing this piece of street furniture out to everyone on the Wellington Tour – who knew?

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Visiting The Household Cavalry Museum

Opened in 2007 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Household Cavalry Museum is located in Horse Guards, with an entrance off the Parade. Victoria here, looking forward to another look at the HCM when the Wellington Tour visits on Saturday, September 6, 2014. Kristine and I hope you can join us…and refer you HERE for the complete details on the itinerary, costs and the fine print.

Horse Guards, Whitehall

The history of the Household Cavalry goes back at least 300 years. Though we are most aware of these soldiers in their colorful traditional uniforms as mounted sentinels at Horse Guards, as they change the guard at Buckingham Palace, and as escorts of the Queen on grand official occasions, the members alternate between active service on armoured vehicles in the “regular army” and ceremonial duties.

A closer view; the Parade is through the central arch

The Museum provides the history of the Horse Guards Building, designed by William Kent and completed by John Vardy in 1755, after Kent’s death. The Duke of Wellington, as commander in chief of the British Army in the 19^thCentury kept his office in Horse Guards until he retired shortly before his death in 1852.

Currently, two regiments make up the Household Cavalry, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals. Originating after the 1660 Restoration of Charles II to the throne, they provided personal Security for the monarch. Throughout the 17^th and 18^thcenturies, the cavalry fought in many wars, in Holland, in Germany, in Portugal and Spain. At the Battle of Waterloo, the regiments served bravely, capturing a French Eagle, a prized standard with far-reaching symbolic importance. It was the bloodiest battle of their history.

Museum Entrance, opening onto the Parade

What everyone was looking at on July 11, 2013, on the Parade

The museum also chronicles the service of the Household Cavalry regiments in the Crimean and Boer Wars, among other engagements. In WWI, WWII, and in numerous later conflicts, the regiments performed their duties in armoured cars, in tanks, and in helicopters.

In the Museum

Ceremonial Uniforms

The horses get their due!!

The museum covers the choice and training of the horses, a matter of great interest
to many of us who love the sleek mounts, groomed to perfection and amazingly well behaved. Each year, the horses are named with the same initial, thus preserving the year of their arrival in the Cavalry. As an example, from the museum guidebook, “… Invader, Imogene and India arrived in 2008 and Jubilee Jenna and Jupiter in 2009.” After an average of six months training, the four- or five-year old “recruits” serve for another 14 to 16 years, before withdrawal to a private stable or a retirement home.

The Saga of Waterloo, June 18, 1815

The cavalry commander at the Battle of Waterloo was Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge and later, 1^st Marquess of Anglesey. As the battle wound down, Paget sat on his horse beside the Duke of Wellington when a cannon shot shattered his leg. Supposedly he said, “By God, sir, I’ve lost my leg.” Wellington reportedly replied coolly, “By God, sir, so you have.” After the amputation, Paget urged many improvements in the making of prosthetics for walking and riding. He served the government and the army for another 37 years before finally passing away in 1854. One of Paget’s artificial limbs is on display in the Museum.

For a few weeks each summer, the Household Cavalry conducts a retreat for the members and the horses at the Norfolk seashore – which is the reason that in my photographs taken in July 2013, their substitutes, members of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery take over, wearing their black ceremonial uniforms based on those of the Hussars at the Battle of Waterloo almost 200 years ago.

The Duke of Wellington’s office as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army was above the center arch leading from Horse Guards’ Whitehall façade to the parade ground. The display photographed above depicts the final departure of the Duke from his position shortly before he died in 1852. He was 83 years of age and had served his nation for 65 years.

The website for the Household Cavalry Museum is here.

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Victoria Station and the Grosvenor Hotel

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

The Wellington Tour, 4-14 September, 2014, will begin at the Guoman Grosvenor Hotel, 101 Buckingham Palace Road. The hotel is connected to Victoria Station, home of several rail and tube lines, plus hundreds of busses, coaches, and taxis. It is super-convenient and appears quite lovely in its newly restored state.

Victoria Station with Grosvenor Hotel at far right

Map of Victoria Station neighborhood

Station and hotel at red marker

Square tan building just under words ‘Green Park’ is Buckingham Palace

Apsley house at the far left upper corner

The little map above shows the position of Victoria Station and the hotel, which you can see on any London map. I can’t imagine any more efficient location for almost every London attraction.

Victoria Station interior

Victoria Station itself is the second busiest in London (after Waterloo Station), with many rail lines to destinations in south and southeast England, including the Gatwick Express. The Circle and District tube lines and the Victoria line stop here, and the Victoria Coach Terminal is adjacent. The station has many shops, bars, and food sources, right at hand. An upgrade of the facility is planned for the next few years, to include more escalators and improved accessibility.

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

The hotel has been newly refurbished and updated, at a cost of £20 million. The Grosvenor (not to be confused with Grosvenor House, another London hotel on Park Lane) was opened in 1862, one of the earliest of London’s Victorian Railway Hotels built beside railroad stations.

Many of these old hotels had declined into disuse in the past decades, and the Guoman Grosvenor is not the only one to be newly redone. I recently wrote about the St. Pancras Renaissance hotel, formerly the Midland Grand Hotel, and the Great Northern Hotel at King’s Cross, both on Euston Road, here.

Réunion Bar

In addition to meeting rooms, the bar (above), a gym, a business center, and the Grand Imperial Cantonese Restaurant, the hotel promises all 21st century amenities. Additionally, the adjacent Victoria Station complex houses many restaurants and a shopping arcade.

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

The hotel website is here. Hope to see you on this street in September, 2014.

For details on the Wellington Tour, click here.

The Wellington Tour: Frogmore House…in Windsor Great Park

The Wellington Tour will visit Frogmore House on September 13, 2014, a special treat, for all of you can come with Kristine and me, Victoria, on our great adventure. For all the details on the tour, click here.

Frogmore House, from the lake

For the Frogmore House website, click here.

Aerial View, House is center right

Frogmore House has served as a sort of refuge for various members of the royal family for several centuries. The property became part of the royal holdings in the 16th century and was leased out to others. The land was acquired because it was adjacent to Windsor Great Park, though it was as marshy as its name indicates. Several houses were built by the Aldworth family, and the larger, known as Great Frogmore, was eventually leased to the Duke of Northumberland, (1665-1716), who was the natural son of Charles II and the Duchess of Cleveland. Eventually it was purchased for ‘
Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III, in 1792.

Queen Charlotte, c. 1789-90, by Sir Thomas Lawrence

National Gallery, London

Charlotte and her daughters often fled to Frogmore to escape from the confines of palaces and castles, to this comparatively modest house where they could enjoy a bit more relaxation. Queen Charlotte was an avid gardener and brought a number of unusual plants to this estate. Several of the princesses painted or sketched works shown here.

For a brief segment of the conversation of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales with the Royal Librarian about Frogmore interiors, click here.

The Green Pavilion, 1817, from Pyne’s Royal Residences

The Green Pavilion has been restored to its look during Queen Charlotte’s lifetime. Upon her death, Frogmore was left to her eldest unmarried daughter, Princess Augusta, though most of the furnishings were sold for the benefit of all the princesses.

The Mary Moser Room, photographer: Christopher Simon Sykes

The flowered panels by artist Mary Moser (1744-1819) were commissioned by Queen Charlotte, who chose the artist’s name for the room. The unusual four-tier revolving bookstand at the right dates from this same period of time.

After the death of Princess Augusta in 1840, the crown repurchased the estate and Queen Victoria gave it to her mother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, as her home. Many alterations and modernizations were made once more and the Duchess presided over the redecoration of several principal rooms.

The Duchess of Kent’s Drawing Room, photographer: Derry Moore

In addition to artistic interests, reading and stitching, the ladies who enjoyed the informality of Frogmore sometimes organized theatrical programs and concerts by their friends as well as professional musicians. I suspect that after seeing the grandeur of nearby Windsor Castle, we will thoroughly understand why time at Frogmore was so precious.

The Colonnade

All of the residents of Frogmore have enjoyed the garden, and like the rooms, re-imagination often reigned. After the Indian Mutiny, Lord Canning, Governor-General of India, presented an Indian Kiosk captured at Lucknow in 1858 to Queen Victoria who had it placed near the house.

Indian Kiosk

After the death of her mother and her husband, both in 1861, Queen Victoria often sought seclusion at Frogmore She loved the house and garden where ‘all is peace and quiet and you only hear the hum of the bees, the singing of the birds’. She built a mausoleum for Prince Albert and herself on the grounds. It is rarely open to the public due to ongoing restoration projects.

Though no royals have lived at Frogmore for some time, it is often used for meetings and other activities. Below is the family portrait taken at the reception held at Frogmore after the wedding of the Queen’s eldest grandson to Autumn Kelly in 2008.

This image released by the family shows the wedding group of Peter Phillips, top center left, and his bride Autumn Kelly, top center right, at Frogmore House, Windsor Castle, England and (seated left to right front row) Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, Ivy Kelly, Edith McCarthy, (standing left to right) Mark Phillips, Princess Anne, Kitty Kelly, Brian Kelly. (AP Photo/Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, HO)

I am looking forward to seeing this lovely house which has been so dear to many generations of the royal family. It is open only a few days each year, so The Wellington Tour is fortunate to be eligible.

Consider joining us for The Wellington Tour in September 2014.

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Victoria Visits Apsley House (without Kristine, alas!)

I hadn’t realized how little time Ed got to rest his aching foot at the Wellington Arch and walking around the neighborhood; that is, not at all.

Apsley House

So when we got into Apsley house, he was grateful to find some chairs and tables at which one could study books on Wellington’s life and accomplishments as well as the details on all the furnishings of his mansion. I did entice him away for a few minutes here and there to look at the marvelous displays around the house, but he kept migrating back to those chairs!!

I am sad to say that English Heritage, which operates Apsley House, does not allow photographs — ages ago, when I visited while the house was operated by another group (the V and A?) with my sister-in-law, Pat, we took several pictures.

Long ago, in Apsley House

The Waterloo Gallery, Pat’s photo

Regardless of the lack of picture-taking, I always enjoy visiting Apsley House. There is so much to see, you need several visits to absorb it all.

Above are two views of the elaborate Portuguese silver service on the dining table. Kristine has reported about her adventure with it when very dusty…to read about it, click here. Scroll down. She also relates great info on the house.

Who would leave such a wonder undusted??

The silver service is 26 feet long and three feet wide; it was presented to the Duke in 1816 by the Portuguese Council of Regency. Designed by D. A. de Sequeira, the service was made in the Military Arsenal in Lisbon from 1812 to 1816. The center group represents the Four Continents paying tribute to the armies of Britain, Portugal and Spain.

The Waterloo Banquet, 1836,

by Artist William Salter (1804-1875)

Salter wanted to portray the annual banquet on June 18 at Aspley House and got the assistance of the Duke’s niece, Priscilla, Lady Burghersh (later, Countess of Westmorland). Once the Waterloo hero was convinced, he gave Salter access to the house and its contents. Many of his studies for the 83 people pictured can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, off Trafalgar Square. A guide to the identities is also found at Apsley House.

Apsley House on plate from the Saxon Service of Meissen porcelain, ca. 1818

There are several rooms of cases displaying all the gifts given to the Duke. Below, our conversation.

rosewood showcases of china and plate

Me: “All these gifts were given to the Duke of Wellington, many by the governments of the Allies, in gratitude for his victory over Napoleon.”

Ed: “Oh.”

Me: “He received tureens and candelabra of silver, shields, vases, china services for hundreds, centerpieces and epergnes, not to mention elaborate military decorations…blah, blah, blah…”

Ed: “Oh.”

Me: “Swords, and scabbards, medals and jewels, etc. etc….”

Ed: “Can I go sit down again now?”

Do you think he was a bit bored by the cases of china, silver and gilt? What I was really waiting for was his reaction to the Canova sculpture. We had traveled to Waterloo for the battlefield reenactment a few years before, and Ed was quite familiar with the popular images of Napoleon as short and stout. So when we came to the staircase, I looked for a reaction of shock — and I was not disappointed.

Napoleon, sculpted by Canova, 1806

Obviously Canova portrayed Napoleon as the Emperor WANTED to appear! Except that Napoleon never liked the statue, saying it lacked dignity. This monumental sculpture, standing eleven feet and four inches, was installed in Apsley House in 1817. Ed got quite a laugh out of the fanciful figure, never anyone’s idea of what Napoleon looked like. Imagine the surprise of the artist Canova when it was rejected instead of accepted as a reasonable, if flattering, likeness. THEN he (Ed) went back to grab a chair.

Kristine and I can hardly get enough of these lovely things, and that is not to mention the extensive collection of paintings on the walls of every room. But our husbands were definitely less than entranced.

More information about objects in the Apsley House collections associated with the peninsular war, click here.

The Waterseller of Seville, ca. 1620

by Diego Velazquez (1599-`660)

Hanging in Apsley House are several hundred paintings, many of which were once in the Spanish Royal Collection. Joseph Bonaparte had removed them from Madrid’s royal palaces and their transport wagons were captured by Wellington’s troops in 1813. Though Wellington offered to return them, the restored Spanish government refused, eventually writing to the Duke in 1816: “His Majesty, touched by your delicacy, does not wish to deprive you of that which has come into your possession by means as just as they are honourable.”

The collection includes works by Brueghel, Velasquez, Rubens, and Van Dyck. An excellent catalogue of the Apsley House paintings and their history can be found here.

It is said that the Duke did not care for Equestrian Portrait by Francisco Goya, and did not hang it in Apsley House. It was at his country home, Stratfield Saye, in Hampshire until 1948 when it was hung at Apsley House. It is large, 294 x 241 cm, that’s almost 10 x 8 feet. Art historians have noted that the portrait is sketchy in nature, almost as though it was unfinished. In fact it was done in a period of three weeks in Madrid from 12 August to 2 September 1812. Contemporary x-rays reveal it was painted over a previous figure in a large hat, perhaps even Wellington’s enemy, Joseph Bonaparte, elder brother of the emperor and for about four years, King of Spain.

Goya: Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, 1812

English Heritage, Apsley House

The portrait below, famous even though disliked by many prominent Wellington aficionados, including my distinguished colleague, was painted by Goya in 1812-14. The faces on both paintings are very similar.