21. Victoria Apartments

Transcript

Queen Victoria:

‘The Pavilion is a strange, odd Chinese looking thing, both inside and outside; most rooms low, and I only see a little morsel of the sea from one of my sitting-room windows, which is strange, when one considers that one is quite close to the sea.’

David Beevers:

‘Queen Victoria had a very ambiguous relationship with the Royal Pavilion– she acceded to the throne of course in 1837 and between 1837 and 1845 she came to the Pavilion about four times. On her second visit she warmed much more to it. We do know that Prince Albert rather admired the building and admired the Banqueting Room and the Music Room in particular. It’s a mistake to think that Queen Victoria disliked it on stylistic grounds. She quite enjoyed the Chinese interiors and indeed, she had them removed and they’re at Buckingham Palace today. What she disliked about it was that it was too small, because it was not built for a married sovereign and she had an expanding and growing family and she was bothered because it was in the centre of town and she had very little privacy. She complained that whenever she went out into Brighton she was mobbed by the townspeople of Brighton. And so she decided to sell it and use the proceeds to acquire a new estate at Osborne on the Isle of Wight, which she called “a place of our own, quiet and retired”. Those are the two words – quiet and retired – you could never say the Pavilion is quiet and retired.’

Now continue through the door opposite the bed. To your left you will pass the maid’s room on your left, and to the right a water closet.