Category Archives: Regency

Northam Park Revisited

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Compton Verney – grounds laid out by landscape architect Capability Brown

“Northam Park is Diana’s now.  What she intends to do with it is, perhaps, a subject for a later book.”  Excerpt from my post Northam Park:  Sutton Scarsdale meets Chatsworth Park.

Having wrapped up the series on royal weddings, it’s time now to return to my work in progress–Diana’s story.  The above-referenced post is an introduction to her country estate and the seat of the earldom which she holds as countess in her own right.

Diana’s story is titled Notorious Match. 

For the next several weeks I shall explore the exterior features of Northam Park’s great house, an English country mansion on the grandest scale.  It is a Palladian home inspired by the great Inigo Jones with additions whose designs were wrought by Christopher Wren and Robert Adam.  The grounds of Northam Park were established and according to plans laid out by Capability Brown with numerous external features like the ha-ha, the enormous stable block and a Grecian temple.

Wingerworth Hall, photographed six years before its demolition in 1927 - photo via Wikipedia Commons

Wingerworth Hall, a Baroque creation, photographed six years before its demolition in 1927 – photo via Wikipedia Commons

Nor shall we neglect the great house’s interior.  Inside are rich decorative plaster work and carved staircases.  They favor reason over precedence–the greatest expression of the style we call neo-Classicism.

But we shall also see competing Regency styles in other country estates that are in the vicinity of Northam Park.  Godley Abbey, for instance, is a Gothic fantasy that Lord Byron had once visited and greatly esteemed.  Stansbury Vale is also nearby–a gawky Baroque creation that gives no hint of the beautifully elegant hall it contains.

Baroque, as you know, is unrestrained.  The celebration of ostentation.

I like it.

Oatlands – Honeymoon House

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Sometimes it just makes sense to honeymoon close to home.

Kate and Wills went no farther than Anglesey.  Vivien, my heroine of Welsh descent in Notorious Vow, would approve.  There is much to be said for the privacy afforded by a windswept island off the coast of her family’s native homeland.

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Entitled "Fashionable Contrast," this 1792 cartoon of TRHs' relationship was less than accurate.

Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold honeymooned just outside London in Weybridge, at her uncle’s estate of Oatlands.  The manor had been the site of a royal palace built for Queen Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII, long since demolished.  A house remaining on the estate was enlarged and eventually leased by Prince Frederick, the Duke of York.  This burned down and a Gothic mansion was erected in its place and became the primary residence of his wife, Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia.

The following is an amusing illustration of what things must have been like at Oatlands:

‘The Duke was used to bring down parties of his friends to spend the week-ends at Oatlands.  The Duchess had not the least objection, and without making any change in her own manner of life, entertained her guests in a charming and unceremonious way that endeared her to everyone who knew her.  No one was ever known to refuse an invitation to Oatlands, though the first visit there must always astonish, and even dismay.  The park was kept for the accommodation of a collection of macaws, monkeys, ostriches, kangaroos; the stables were full of horses which were none of them obtainable for the use of the guests; the house swarmed with servants, whose business never seemed to be to wait on anyone; the hostess breakfasted at three in the morning, spent the night in wandering about the grounds, and was in the habit of retiring unexpectedly to a four-roomed grotto she had had made for herself in the park. ‘

from Regency Buck, by Georgette Heyer

Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold remained at Oatlands until summoned back to London by Queen Charlotte.  The princess’ grandmother planned a “drawing-room,” or presentation to receive the congratulations of the nobility and gentry on the marriage.  The Asiatic Journal from 1816 further reports that between two and three thousand people were present for the occasion and Buckingham House, as it was then called, was filled with “expecting spectators.”Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge Surrey

Their honeymoon must have seemed as remote to the young couple as Wales.

Today, Oatlands is a hotel.  You can even have a wedding there!

“In this house reign harmony, peace, and love”

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Will Kate and Wills have a country house?

Most royal couples have had them over the past several centuries.  Speculation is rife that they will settle in a newly commissioned house to be built in Herefordshire on the Harewood Estate now owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. The most remarkable part of Harewood is its extensive gardens and terraced paths.  They should make a lovely setting for the royal couple’s new home.

Old Harewood Park House

Long gone is old Harewood House, a smaller country house of three stories featuring a porch supported by Tuscan columns.   It had been built on the site of an old Tudor house in 1781.  Some damage from WWII ballistics testing can be seen in the photo to the right.  Harewood House was demolished in 1959.  Information on this and many other lost English country houses can be found here.

Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold also had an English country estate.  Claremont House was a gift to them from an adoring nation.  Happily the house still exists today and the grounds have been restored to their former glory by the National Trust.

Claremont House

The noted classical landscape architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown built the Palladian house with the aid of his future son-in-law Henry Holland to execute the Adam-style interiors.  This site contains a nice collection of images displaying the exterior of Claremont and its extensive gardens.   You can see the classical pediment, the triangular motif so characteristic of the Palladian style, crowning the front of the mansion in the photo to the right.

In 1816, Baron Stockmar, Prince Leopold’s physician and advisor, gives us this account of Princess Charlotte’s life with her new husband at Claremont:

“The Princess in good humour, and then she pleases easily. I thought her dress particularly becoming (September 6th); dark roses in her hair, a short light blue dress without sleeves, with a low round collar,  a white puffed-out Russian chemisette, the sleeves of lace.  I have never yet seen her in any dress which was not both simple and in good taste. The Princess is extremely active and lively, astonishingly impressionable, and nervously sensitive. Intercourse with her husband has had a markedly good effect upon her, and she has gained surprisingly in calmness and self-control, so that one sees more and more how good and noble she really is. She shows many attentions to those around her, but she attributes great value to these attentions, however little she may appear to do so. She never for a moment forgets she is the King’s daughter.

In this house reign harmony, peace, and love— in short, everything that can promote domestic happiness.”

“One of the most unpleasant habitations in London.”

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Princess Charlotte and her new husband were given Camelford House as their London residence.  “One of the most unpleasant habitations in London,” a certain Lady Williams-Wynn is reported to have said.  This view from Oxford Street executed in watercolor in 1850 by J. H. Shepard seems to support her ladyship’s remark:

The front portico beyond the Oxford street entrance is little more distinguished in this early twentieth century photograph. It is remarkable that a house with such a modest exterior should survive for so long when the far more grand Carlton House belonging to the Prince Regent had been torn down nearly a century before.   And why should the newly married prince and princess want to live in such a place?

The answer may lie in a variety of circumstances.  The house lay in the very fashionable environs of the Grosvenor estate end of Mayfair.  In my Notorious series, the Northam townhouse was merely blocks away and Vivien’s townhouse just down the street along Park Lane.   Also, the lease on Camelford House was available–the previous tenant Lord Grenville had moved out.  He had been Prime Minister, notably heading a coalition government called the “Ministry of all the Talents,” a term that one encounters even today to describe various political coalitions and collaborations, albeit rather loosely.

Another attractive feature was Camelford’s highly refined interior.  The first-floor reception rooms were several in number but diverse in design and decoration.  Perfect for receptions and entertaining.  The marvelous plasterwork crafted in the neoclassical style was particularly notable, if difficult to discern in this 1912 photograph taken just before the house was demolished.

Happily, much of the elegant fittings of Camelford were saved before the wrecking ball.   They were purchased intact and reinstalled in a Northumberland Grade II listed building called Lemmington Hall.  At one time this Georgian country mansion was a ruin before its restoration in the early twentieth century.  Then it became a convent.

Today, the interior of the newlyweds’ London home provides a perfect setting for celebrating one’s nuptials. Lemmington Hall is now a wedding venue.

Clarence House: Nash’s Regency Palace

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“Oh, that fool coachman has set us down at the wrong place,” Diana exclaimed.

Vivien felt sorry for Diana’s new driver.  He had only been brought up from the country just the week before and had little experience in navigating London’s congested street.  Yet he had much to recommend him, in her estimation.  His careful handling of the reins was a welcome respite from the reckless driving of Northam’s previous coachman who used to tool the massive four-in-hand coach at breakneck speed.  After years of terrorizing the streets of London, the old retainer had finally given his notice to quit.

“But I am persuaded we are precisely where we should be.”  Vivien hastened to reassure her friend.  “Look, this is clearly Nash’s work.  Take the portico for instance. The upper part is Corinthian.  The lower is Doric.  Very admirable for the new Clarence House.”

“But this stucco and pink cannot be a house for Old Bill.  I suppose Her Highness had a say in its design.”

“And no doubt she is waiting for us even now.  While we stand about dawdling!”

Vivien did not like to be late, especially when invited to take tea with HRH Princess Adelaide, soon to become Queen Adelaide to her husband’s William IV, the Sailor King.  This was understandable, she being the granddaughter of a sheep herder.  Diana, her companion, was the daughter of the Earl of Northam, and stood on ceremony with no one.  Not even a German princess and the wife of a future king she referred to as “Old Bill.”

“Old Bill” was Princess Charlotte’s uncle, the Duke of Clarence.  He was the man George Washington once plotted to kidnap while the prince was serving in the British Navy during the War of Independence.  Happy July 4th!

When Diana and Vivien visited the Duke’s addition to St. James Palace in 1827 it had just been finished.  There was much to admire in the Palladian design of the noted architect John Nash, who was also responsible for Park Crescent (used in abundance to display the finest in Regency architecture in various Jane Austen films) and part of Buckingham Palace.  William IV was a frugal man whose careful expenditures are credited to Queen Adelaide.  They remained in Clarence House even after he became King, despite the availability of Buckingham Palace.

Clarence House is expected to be the London residence of the newest royal couple.  It is currently occupied by the Prince of Wales and his wife, as well as Prince Harry.  The palace is also noted for being the long-time residence of HRH Elizabeth the Queen Mother, whose lovely blue morning room with her coat of arms is especially inviting:

Hurly-burly princess

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“She seems rather eager, does she not?” Diana whispered behind her fan.

Vivien refused to turn around and look.  She and Diana were among the very few privileged to witness the marriage of Princess Charlotte to His Highness of Saxe-Coburg.  And if she were to crane her neck at the approach of the Regent’s daughter, it would be noticed as vulgar and remarked upon.  Diana, being the taller, had only to turn her head very slightly to see above the heads of other countesses as they sat on cushioned chairs in Carlton House’s great drawing room.

Presently Her Highness came into view and Vivien realized the justice of Diana’s observation.  The princess had a favorable aspect, fair and well-formed, but instead of walking with an upright, measured tread on her bridegroom’s arm, she bustled forward down the aisle, her progress somewhat erratic.  The lovely metallic sparkle of her dress trembled as if irritated, revealing the bride’s almost unseemly pace as they approached the altar where the old Queen and the Regent were ranged alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The heiress-presumptive was a hurly-burly miss.

Vivien noted with approval how Prince Leopold gently squeezed Her Highness’ arm, distracting the princess from her headlong pace.  She paused and looked up in his handsome face in an inquiring way.  Then her face broke into a happy grin as if she had recollected some word of advice. She paused, drawing herself up and proceeded at a decidedly slower pace, in keeping with the regal progress of one who would someday be Queen.

From all accounts, it appears that Princess Charlotte, hurly-burly as she might have been, had a happy marriage.  A wonderful example of how two very different persons together make a better union than if they were separate.  And we rightly suspect Kate and Wills will have the same success that often flows from the union of two very different people, from vastly different backgrounds.

Princess Charlotte of Wales had been largely kept “out of the way’ by her father, the Prince Regent, particularly when his marital discord had given him an unpopular reputation.  No doubt this isolation contributed to the princess’  lack of social grace. Hardly what one would expect from the daughter of the First Gentleman of Europe.

Prince Leopold, on the other hand, was well-traveled and a familiar face in European diplomatic circles, having spent time in the retinue of the Tsar.  With his continental background, Leopold would have immediately discerned Charlotte’s gauche demeanor.  He might have even been repelled by it.  But instead of turning away, witnesses describe Leopold as an affectionate husband who sought to guide his bride with loving advice.

A fair exchange, perhaps.  Her Highness reportedly giggled when the prince, a man as poor as a church mouse, vowed to endow her with all his worldly goods.

Nothing common about a tiara

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similar in style: the 1934 Cartier tiara with lotus design

 

Oh, the tiara!  The most important thing that does so much to elevate one on the BIG DAY.

This site displays a nice array of illustrious figures wearing the 1936 Cartier Halo tiara which Kate wore on her wedding day.

Something borrowed:  the tiara is part of the Royal Collection.

It had belonged to the late Queen Mother, given to her by her husband, the Duke of York, later George VI.  See the trailer for The King’s Speech here.  No tiaras in the film, as I recall, but bloody good dialogue.

Prince William married a commoner.  So did George VI, his great-grandfather.   Yet Bertie’s wife was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, no mere miss.  Interestingly, British law deems anyone a commoner who is not royalty or a peer. Whether they are the descendant of a coal miner or an earl.

Putting the law aside, one could argue the Queen Mother was someone not quite in the common way.

But we were discussing tiaras.  Princess Charlotte’s tiara was described as diamonds fashioned into a wreath of roses and leaves.  The detail of this crown is difficult to see in the old plate below.

Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold wedding processional

The jeweller who made the princess’ tiara was Rundell, Bridge & Rundell.  The firm was subsequently commissioned to craft her father George IV’s state diadem that evoked similar motifs:  roses, thistles and shamrocks.  This famous crown was worn by Her Majesty for her coronation and gets trotted out for the opening of Parliament.

It is not inconceivable to imagine we see the remnants of Charlotte’s crown in her father’s:

The Diamond Diadem, 1820

Regency Wedding Dress

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I shall leave you to judge the nuptial gown the new princess wore.  Some puckering around the bodice?  Possibly–a perfectly sculpted bodice is difficult to execute.

Forget I said that.  The gown was simply gorgeous!

And mostly due to a tiny motif created by a process nearly as old as the Regency: the Carrickmacross lace.  Even Princess Diana’s dress featured this lovely technique of handmade lace pictured here and executed for the new princess at Hampton Court Royal School of Needlework.

Princess Charlotte’s dress featured a tiny motif just as memorable–the bellflowers and shells decorating the edge of the heiress’ bodice and sleeves.  The following web sites do great justice to the intricacy and beauty of her dress for the reasons mentioned: bell flowers, silver lame’, and scalloped shells.

All of which are displayed in the Royal Collection housed in the Museum of London.  This museum used to be housed in Lancaster House, which was once York House that is part of the complex bordering St. James Park.  An interior is shown below:

The Grand staircase of Stafford House (Lancaster House): 19th century

The Regent’s House or God’s – Part Two

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Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on her way to the Abbey

It wouldn’t seem right if Kate and William married, for instance, in Buckingham Palace instead of Westminster Abbey.  No processional, limited guest list, private ceremony off-limits to the press.  But prior to George VI’s wedding to the late Queen Mother, royal weddings were held in private chapels.

In 1816, the heiress to the throne, adored by her countrymen, was wed in her father’s house, which did not, like royal palaces, have a chapel.  It might have been a fatal error.

And the reason is one that is hauntingly familiar.

Caroline of Brunswick

Acrimony among royals is a magnet for public fascination, then as now. Princess Charlotte’s parents waged a very public battle over their troubled marriage and the Prince Regent emerged from it little better than an object of derision.  His subjects sided very much with his aggrieved wife, Caroline of Brunswick, and cast all their admiration and sympathy onto her daughter once her mother, the Princess of Wales, agreed to leave the country.

Charlotte’s father perhaps believed that holding the wedding at Carlton House would avoid the frenzy of a public processional to one of the royal palaces.  But to no avail.   Despite the arrangements he made, the people insisted on participating in the wedding of their princess.

The following is a contemporary description from the 1816 issue of the Asiatic Journal of the Princess’ attempt to get to her grandmother’s palace at Buckingham House to dress for the wedding:

“The Princess Charlotte of Wales, at 4 o’ clock, went in a carriage to the Queen’s Palace, and had the windows down to gratify the curiosity of the crowd in Pall-Mall, but they were found to be so extremely numerous, that the coachman could not with safety drive through them, he therefore returned, and went through the Park.”

At the time, the princess was living at Warwick House, a mean, tumble-down residence very near Carlton House on a dead-end lane.  She could either drive down the public thoroughfare known as Pall Mall, or access Queen Charlotte’s palace via the gated St. James Park.  Remember Kate and William in Edward VII’s carriage heading toward Buckingham Palace?  That was the route Charlotte took.  But in her time, St. James Park was off-limits to the public when the princess journeyed almost in secret up to Buckingham House.

Even her husband to be, Prince Leopold, had a scary moment just before when he was returning to the Duke of Clarence’s house, which was just across the way from the Duke of York’s house at the edge of the St. James Palace complex:

“His Serene Highness afterwards returned to Clarence House a little before half past three, when the crowd was so numerous, and the anxiety so great to see him, that the footman, in letting him out of the carriage, had nearly been pushed under it.  A number of women and children were forced into Clarence House against their will, by the extreme pressure (of the crowd).”

However, the prince took matters in hand and asserted his leadership over the crowd soon after:

“In a few minutes after, his Serene Highness walked across to York House (now know as Lancaster House) when the crowd behaved extremely orderly, and at the request of a few attendants, formed a clear passage for him to pass through; they, however, loudly huzzaed him, and he bowed to the populace.”

The Regent’s House or God’s – Part One

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Westminster Abbey by Canaletto, 1749

Unlike Prince William, Princess Charlotte did not wed in a church or chapel.  In fact, she is the only heir-presumptive to the English throne that I can think of being married in a secular place.   If there are others, they are few in number.

The Regent was in charge of all the arrangements for his daughter’s wedding and thus ordered the ceremony to take place at his palace, Carlton House.  In part two, we shall see that the plot is nothing as humorous as Father of the Bride.   

But for now, it should be noted that Carlton House was extensively rebuilt and decorated at great expense by the Prince Regent. It was admired for its lavish decoration and derided as being inferior to many hotels in Paris.  In front of the palace there was a curious set of columns which perplexed passers-by and inspired the-then famous ditty:

“Dear little columns, all in a row, What do you do there?  Indeed we don’t know.”

Carlton House (those pillars do look odd)

I’m digressing a bit, but the following observation by a contemporary witness is rather amusing:

Then the Duke of York bas been sent, as it would seem, to the Round House, and the Prince of Wales to the Pillory.”

*gales of laughter*

At times the Regent found the Duke of York somewhat trying.  Especially when he believed his younger brother, fond uncle as he was, would get his niece Charlotte into a scrape, or encourage her natural inclination towards rebellious behavior (I wonder where she got that from?).  The Duke of York had his own palace called York House, which stands today as the Scottish office in Whitehall.  You can see its prominent feature–a drumlike circular hall beyond the entrance vestibule.

York House, now Dover House