When an invite to Royal Lodge WAS the most popular ticket on the town!
- Prince Andrew has lived at Royal Lodge for 20 years
- Now there’s hypothesis that King Charles wish to push him out
Today, there are persistent claims that the King is making an attempt to maneuver his youthful brother out of his dwelling at Royal Lodge – and that Prince Andrew is by some means holed-up there, resisting his tormentors.
I’m not satisfied that is the case.
It is true, nonetheless, that the Lodge, nestling in its 98 acres of its personal grounds in Windsor Great Park, is not the home of pleasure it was in former occasions, significantly throughout the lengthy years of the Queen Mother’s widowhood when it grew to become a novel haven of leisure.
Her philosophy in life was that when you got here into her orbit, she wished you to go away feeling higher.
The Queen Mother cherished to entertain at Royal Lodge and persuaded stars of stage and display to carry out there
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at Royal Lodge in April 1940. The King and Queen loved residing there
‘His Majesty’s Cottage, as seen from the Lawn in 1823.’ A view of Royal Lodge, residence of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV)
George V, standing left, gave Royal Lodge to the Duke and Duchess of York, standing and seated, centre. Queen Mary is sitting to the left. The Duchess, later Queen Elizabeth, is holding 14-month-old Princess Elizabeth on her knee
She had the arrogance to pluck all kinds of fascinating folks from many walks of life, the humanities, music, museums, the stage, the ballet and the opera, after which to entertain them.
There has been a home the place Royal Lodge stands since 1662.
THE NIGHT I BREEZED UP TO THE QUEEN MOTHER’S FRONT DOOR. FORTY YEARS AGO – AND A WORLD AWAY…
Hugo Vickers speaking to the Queen Mother on the Guildhall exhibition
It was 1976 and I used to be serving to to stage a set of memorabilia at Windsor’s Guildhall to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s fiftieth birthday.
My mission was to ship catalogues to Royal Lodge, dwelling to the Queen Mother who was to go to the next day.
Driving as much as the Bishopsgate entrance to the Great Park, I wound down my window and mentioned: ‘I’ve come to ship catalogues to Sir Martin Gilliat [The Queen Mother’s Private Secretary] at Royal Lodge.’
I went on to the gates of the Lodge itself:
‘Should I go to the front door?’
‘I suppose so,’ mentioned the policeman.
I went up the drive in darkness and, seeing nothing on the again entrance to the home, drove spherical to the entrance.
There have been lights on and the entrance door was large open. The Corgis have been operating round and the unmistakable determine of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was standing silhouetted in opposition to the doorway in a coat and a form of felt hat.
As I received out of the automobile, the Corgis scampered as much as me. I went over and rang the bell.
Quite a lot of barking occurred, a uniformed sergeant [in fact a Page] appeared, the Queen Mother got here out of the drawing room.
I gave the envelope to the sergeant, saying: ‘These are the catalogues for the exhibition.‘
She replied ‘Thank you very much’ in an enthralling voice – and I departed into the night time.
I got here away considerably involved in regards to the careless lack of safety. It was significantly tightened after Lord Mountbatten’s homicide three years later.
The artist Thomas Sandby lived there, and when George IV used it as a brief dwelling, he employed John Nash – creator of Regent Street – to change and enlarge it, with additional enhancements by Jeffry Wyatville.
Royal Household officers lived there over time till George V gave it to the Duke and Duchess of York (later George VI and Queen Elizabeth) in 1931.
The future George VI cherished it and couldn’t wait to unleash Sir Eric Savill to create an attractive backyard there – to not be confused with the close by Savill Garden, one other of his creations, which is open to the general public.
In 1932 the folks of Wales gave Princess Elizabeth a miniature home, Y Bwthyn Bach, which has been the enjoyment of lots of the youthful members of the Royal Family for generations since.
The King and Queen most well-liked residing at Royal Lodge and used it all through their reign.
After the King died it grew to become the Queen Mother’s weekend dwelling when she was within the south.
In her merry widowhood, the Queen Mother entertained in appreciable type.
Invitations to Royal Lodge have been eagerly awaited.
The diplomat, Sir Charles Johnston, recalled a night in 1973: ‘It’s an enchanted world by itself – all of the splendour of a Royal institution however not one of the public consideration and hassle and sense of pressure … After dinner we had songs and dancing and marching up and down, and I shall always remember this dynamic little determine, lined in jewels, hair tumbled, twirling spherical, stamping, main the column of friends – out of 1 door, in at one other – arms up in Highland attitudes…’
The overly social bachelor, Peter Coats, erstwhile boyfriend of Chips Channon, was described in 1979 as ‘like a dog with two tails, making people guess where he spent the weekend, he helps them eagerly and makes sure they guess right.’
On cultural evenings John Betjeman and Ted Hughes learn their poetry. Noël Coward carried out on the piano, Raymond Leppard and Ruth, Lady Fermoy (maternal grandmother to Diana) performed duets.
In 1984 a Canadian baritone sang Schubert and Britten songs directed by David Willcocks and Lord David Cecil learn from items from Mary McCarthy and Max Beerbohm.
On one other event Edward Fox and Patrick Garland paid poetic tribute to the Crazy Gang and in 1990 Sir John Gielgud learn from Horace Walpole and Auden.
The Queen Mother would sit subsequent to the Queen within the entrance row and urge her friends: ‘Would you, as they say, take a seat?’ because the efficiency was to start.
A portrait of King George IV, who acted as Regent for his father George III for greater than a decade earlier than turning into King himself
The Royal Family at Royal Lodge in 1946. Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, took up residence following the dying of her husband, George VI
A color portrait of King George enjoyable at Royal Lodge with Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth
While she was keen on a tipple, this has generally been exaggerated – however actually the hospitality was beneficiant..
The Queen Mother on the Noel Coward Memorial Service in 1984. She devoted a memorial stone to him
Then there was Bishop Horace Donegan, a social prelate, who had met the Queen Mother in New York in 1954. Once he had discovered her, her he by no means let her go.
She invited him to Royal Lodge for a weekend each summer season, and he grew to become fairly twitchy till his annual invitation arrived.
He would preach within the Royal Chapel however by some means at all times introduced the Queen Mother into his sermons, so she gently put an finish to that.
He was additionally unduly keen on a Dry Martini. The Queen Mother advised her Private Secretary, Sir Martin Gilliat, on ache of dismissal, to ensure that the Bishop didn’t get his palms on a second Dry Martini as this made him lower than fascinating at dinner.
Needless to say the Bishop did fortify himself with a second drink and after they went into dinner, he was unable to say Grace.
There was an agonising silence. Sir Martin mentioned later that his profession flashed earlier than his eyes.
He went by Ludgrove and Eton, and was midway by Sandhurst when the Bishop discovered his presence of thoughts and spluttered out: ‘For Her Majesty’s kindness in bringing us collectively on this place, for thy bounty, O Lord.’ (in that order).
In subsequent years Sir Martin would tease him: ‘Have another drink, Bishop. It will steady you for the Grace.’
The Queen Mother spent her final weeks at Royal Lodge, following the funeral of Princess Margaret and she or he died there on the Saturday of the Easter weekend, 30 March 2002.
Royal Lodge is fairly totally different at present.
Prince Andrew was granted a 75 12 months lease in August 2003 and has lived there ever since.
The Queen Mother chats to the late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman on the reopening of the Upper Avon Canal in 1974
Princess Margaret gestures as she talks with Rt Rev Horace Donegan, Episcopal Bishop of New York on steps of Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York. Rev Donegan was a daily customer to Royal Lodge
The Queen’s Piper Jim Motherwell Playing As The Queen Mother’s Coffin Is Carried Out Of The Royal Chapel Of All Saints At The Royal Lodge In Windsor
We have change into used to paparazzi pictures of the Duke on the wheel of a Land Rover as he emerges sometimes.
Sometimes Sarah Ferguson is there with him, and the 2 have at all times been exemplary divorced mother and father, providing a contented dwelling to their daughters and now their grandchildren.
Beyond that, the Duke is usually driving in Windsor Great Park and he hosts the occasional capturing occasion.
But the times of the Queen Mother’s lavish entertaining are a factor of the previous.
