Brighton Royal Pavilion

Brighton Royal Pavilion

The Prince Regent, who later became King George IV, first visited Brighton in 1783, as his physician advised him that the seawater would be beneficial for his gout. In 1786 he rented a farmhouse in the Old Steine area of Brighton. Being remote from the Royal Court in London, the Pavilion was also a discreet location for the Prince to enjoy liaisons with his long-time companion, Mrs Fitzherbert. The Prince had wished to marry her, and may have done so secretly; however this was illegal owing to her Catholic religion.

Henry Holland was soon employed to enlarge the building. The Prince also purchased land surrounding the property, on which a grand riding school and stables were built in an Indian style in 1803, to designs by William Porden.

Between 1815 and 1822 the designer John Nash redesigned the palace, and it is the work of Nash which can be seen today. The palace looks rather striking in the middle of Brighton, having a very Indian appearance on the outside. However, the fanciful interior design, primarily by Frederick Crace and Robert Jones, is heavily influenced by both Chinese and Indian fashion (with Mughal and Islamic architectural elements). It is a prime example of the exoticism that was an alternative to more classicising mainstream taste in the Regency style.

After the death of George IV in 1830, his successor King William IV also stayed in the Pavilion on his visits to Brighton. However, Queen Victoria disliked Brighton and the lack of privacy the Pavilion afforded her on her visits there (especially once Brighton became accessible to Londoners by rail in 1841) and after her last visit to Brighton in 1845, the Government planned to sell the building and grounds. The Brighton Commissioners and the Brighton Vestry successfully petitioned the Government to sell the Pavilion to the town for £53,000 in 1850 under the Brighton Improvement (Purchase of the Royal Pavilion and Grounds) Act 1850.[1] The town used the building as assembly rooms. Many of the Pavilion’s original fixtures and fittings were removed on the order of the royal household at the time of the sale, most ending up either in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. Although since the Second World War, the municipality of Brighton has spent a great deal of time, effort and money restoring the Pavilion to its state at the time of King George IV, most of the current fixtures and fittings are replicas of the originals.
(text from Wikipedia)
Panasonic G1
2 Images stitched using Panorama maker

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