London's Royalty in 1900: Marlborough House

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Arthur H. Beavan continued his survey of London's Royal residences, in Imperial London, published in 1901, with this look at Marlborough House:

In a sense Queen Victoria's sons were, in 1900, ordinary citizens, paying rates and taxes like other people.

Their residences were private, and uncontrolled by the Lord Chamberlain's Department, so that to gratify one's natural desire to ascertain what they were like inside, it was necessary to ask from the respective private secretaries or Comptrollers of the Household, special permission to go over them, giving very sufficient reason for the request; and if after a good deal of diplomacy and trouble the coveted "permit" was obtained, it would not improbably be so restricted in its range as to make the visit very incomplete and unsatisfactory.

These Royal dwellings were not show-places, and if facilities to penetrate them were granted to the general public, there would soon be an end of quietude and home-life for their occupants.

With the exterior of Marlborough House, visitors to London were familiar; yet as the heavy entrance-gates swang back to allow some vehicle to emerge into Pall Mall, passers-by almost invariably paused in the hope of obtaining another peep at the Prince of Wales's London residence. (This description refers to the period when the future King Edward VII was Prince of Wales.)

But all they could see was a narrow carriage-drive, apparently terminating a little way down near a plain red-brick building.

It did not end here, however; but, turning sharp to the left, it passed a stone-and-brick screen, and by way of a tolerably spacious quadrangle, stopped at the porte-cochere of Marlborough House.

This quadrangle was formed by the main building, its various offices, and the unsightly backs of sundry clubs in Pall Mall.

A large block of plain bricks and mortar, facing the offices across the quadrangle, was devoted to the domestic department of Marlborough House, where, first in size and importance came the kitchen - thirty-five by twenty-five feet - fitted with every modern appliance and convenience.

There was only one kitchen; more conveniently situated, however, than that at Buckingham Palace, whence the various dishes had to be conveyed a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile before they arrived at the Queen's private apartment.

In plan, Marlborough House is almost a square, with the saloon in the centre.

The ground-floor was given up entirely to the state apartments; the first and second floors to the private rooms of the Prince and Princess of Wales, their family, and Royal visitors; while the third floor - which extended on two sides of the square only - was for the use of the servants.

Including the domestic rooms, there are about one hundred and six rooms in the house; and it may be stated for the benefit of those who love exactitude, that the ground covered by Marlborough House and garden, including its approaches, is nearly four acres and three-quarters.

There are three carriage-entrances, one in Pall Mall, and two at Marlborough Gate, where there is also a private door by the side of the German chapel. These are the only means of entry and exit. It may be noted that as a result of the way in which the house is planned, it has three garden-frontages.

With good judgment, the Prince elected to eschew elaborate flower-beds and other obstructions; and but for a handsome bordering of geraniums, etc, and some groups of flowers filling up the stone vases here and there, together with the circular bed exactly in front of the garden-entrance to the house, nothing was to be seen but "flat lawn," delightfully shaded by elms, chestnuts and evergreen oaks of quite respectable age; thus giving plenty of room for numerous guests to roam about.

There were no conservatories or hot-houses at Marlborough House in 1900, the glass structure leading from the drawing-room into the garden, being more in the nature of an ornamental portico. It was used as a lounge and smoking-room, and looked very pretty, with its floor of blue-and-white tiles, its couches covered with turkey-red twill, convenient tables, easy-chairs, blue-and-white vases, and white marble fountain filled with ferns and lycopodium, whereon a tinkling, moistening spray of water ever fell.

This glazed portico led direct from the garden into the great drawing-room - a noble salon, sixty-five by twenty-five feet - formerly three distinct rooms, the handsome groups of pillars against the wall marking the original divisions.

Quite the most beautiful objects in the room were two Louis XVI cabinets mounted in ormolu, with ivory placques in centre panels, and inlaid with various woods. They cost £390 apiece, and a fine Dresden vase stood upon each. The occasional tables and writing-tables matching these exquisite cabinets, were also very handsome.

The Indian room was formerly the library, and was furnished in walnut and gold, with coverings of green and gold silk; but when most of the books contained in the cases were removed to Sandringham, the furniture was remodelled to suit its present use.

This apartment was a great favourite with the Princess of Wales. Here it is that dinners were given when the party consisted of more than four or five guests, but was not sufficiently large to necessitate the use of the principal dining-room.

The Indian collection has been most carefully classified and catalogued; but no mere recital of its items would convey an adequate idea of its beauty and comprehensiveness.

There stands prominently out, however, on one's recollection, a certain gold tray from Mysore in Southern India, a splendid piece of workmanship and a wonderful example of decorative art; and enamels worth their weight, not in gold - for they are of that metal - but in Bank of England notes.

From this room, a short passage leads to the tapestry-room, so called from the beautiful silk tapestry on its walls. It is also known as the Princess's sitting-room, though, as a matter of fact, she seldom used it.

Thence, by way of the main corridor, and past the two principal staircases, we reach the east side of the house - having travelled round it from the south and west - and enter the Royal Household dining-room, an exceedingly comfortable room.

Beyond, is the large dining-room, a noble seven-windowed apartment over fifty feet long, with an ornate marble mantelpiece at each end, overhung with copies of Winterhalter's famous pictures of Queen Victoria and the late Prince Consort, the originals being at the top of the Ministers' staircase at Buckingham Palace.

The panelled ceiling is very handsome, white, slightly relieved with colour; the walls are hung with claret-silk of a pattern copied from some old silk damask at Hampton Court, while the curtains are of silk of the same colour, with the Royal Arms in the centre.

A Turkey carpet resplendent in all the colours of the East - blue and white predominating - covered the floor.

Not being overcrowded with furniture, the servants had plenty of room to move round the splendid table, which was on rare occasions so arranged and enlarged as to accommodate seventy or eighty guests.

Beneath a fine unframed piece of tapestry occupying the middle of the east wall, was a remarkably handsome sideboard.

Like the rest of the furniture, it was of mahogany and gold, with the arms of the Prince and Princess carved upon it.

Sometimes the removable back was taken away, and its place supplied by a buffet constructed so as to display to advantage the magnificent plate for which Marlborough House is famed.

It is in this noble room that the Derby Day dinner was given by the Prince to the members of the Jockey Club.

When Marlborough House was enlarged and altered for the Prince and Princess of Wales, and a porte-cochere and vestibule were added to the original front, the old vestibule was converted into a saloon, or salle-de-reception.

It had no windows, but a good light was obtained through a domed skylight.

Rivalling the works of Titian or Rubens, superb panels of Gobelin tapestry took the place of pictures on the walls, with an indescribably lovely effect.

Much of it was given to the Prince by Napoleon III, and, with one exception, belonged probably to the period of Louis XIV, when the immortal romance of Cervantes was comparatively speaking in its premiere jeunesse.

Here are depicted Sancho Panza, Don Quixote, and the chief characters in that dramatic and wonderful piece of fooling.

Serving as a foil to this, and occupying almost the entire length of the west wall, was a piece of tapestry representing the slaughter of the Mamelukes at Cairo when under the rule of Mahmoud II.

This was, of course, a modern production from the famous French atelier, and, like the older work, was a gift from the Emperor.

On returning to Marlborough House from a drive in the Park, etc, the Princess of Wales would alight at the principal entrance, whence a walk of a few yards took her to the Princess's Lift, and in a few seconds she was in her own domain on the first floor.

She could at once get access to her dressing-room, either by way of the gallery - along the upper part of one side of the saloon - or by the east corridor through the reception-room, the first of her own particular suite of apartments.

This charming salle-de-reception was daily converted into a cheerful breakfast-room, where breakfast was served from ten o'clock to half-past ten; and where, when absolutely en famille, the Royal party had luncheon, and even dinner.

Next to the reception-room was the boudoir, of just comfortable size, where only the Princess's relations and most intimate friends were admitted. It was here that Her Royal Highness generally sat, and where, naturally, her tastes and predilections were most outwardly manifested.

Some of the furniture was modern, some antique, but it was almost all marqueterie, variously upholstered, and usually covered with daintily-frilled pretty red silk slips.

In front of the fire-place was a delightfully cosy sofa, and, lying about in all directions, were downy cushions, etc, suggestive of perfect repose and abandon.

In winter, the fire in the hospitable hearth was fed with wood, the logs being kept in one of the iron stands so cleverly designed by Her Royal Highness for this purpose.

Indian carpets and rugs covered the floor.

The decorations were in white and gold; the walls were hung with satin damask of a chintz pattern on a white ground, while the curtains were of Indian red silk damask.

Of course the Princess's writing-table was very handsome, and was arranged with a shelf containing innumerable family photographs and others.

A bonbonniere, filled with the latest thing in sweetmeats, was always ready to hand.

The private sitting-room of the Prince of Wales was immediately above the Comptroller's Office, and, like it, commands from its windows the main approaches to the house and stables, and was overlooked by the Pall Mall Clubs; but as this cannot be helped, we must hope that it was congenial to the Prince's sociable disposition to be thus able to study mankind occasionally as a diversion to business, for it was here that His Royal Highness conducted all his extensive correspondence.

It was a good-sized room, not too large, however, for comfort.

All round the walls, which, like the ceiling, were panelled in dark walnut wood, ran a shelf, shoulder-high, containing the most beautiful and costly art objects, bronzes, and china.

There were some small pictures hanging on panels, and numerous brackets supporting ornaments of every description.

In fact, the room was full of bric-a-brac.

There was also a life-like bust of the Duke of Clarence.

An Indian carpet covered the floor, the curtains were of velvet, and the furniture was upholstered in dark blue morocco.

Of course, there were a sofa, and several delightfully easy chairs, among the latter being one with remarkably comfortable curves, specially designed for His Royal Highness.

The Prince's stables were a fair size, considering the area available.

About forty or fifty horses were kept there during the season, with, perhaps, a dozen or more at Mason's Yard, Duke Street.

Most of the animals had to be accommodated on a floor above the coach-houses, approached by an inclined roadway.

There were, of course, permanent quarters for the coachmen, etc., where everything conducive to their health and comfort was considered.

In front of the building was a court-yard covered over with glass, shaded in summer by striped awning, where the carriages were cleaned, and got ready for use.

Coming and going as they were throughout the day, and often far into the night, neither men nor horses had much idle time.

The coach-house was not so imposing as one might expect, but the want of space forbade the architect making it larger.

The state coach had a compartment to itself, and was like the one used by Queen Victoria, except that the emblazoned Arms were those of the Prince of Wales, and not of the Sovereign.

The Prince's British-built brougham was quite a gem.

It was lined with dark blue - as were most of the carriages, either in cloth, morocco, or silk rep - and contained a small clock, as well as every convenience that the most confirmed smoker could desire.

It was lighted by incandescent lamps, and had a simple and effective means of communicating with the driver, superseding a somewhat complicated electrical apparatus which the Prince did not care about.

Not to be overlooked, was the pretty victoria, once so frequently observed in the "drive."

Several roomy fourgons stood in the courtyard ready for service; also two large private omnibuses, and a plain brougham devoid of arms or crest; in fact, so commonplace-looking as to attract no attention in the streets, wherefore it was sometimes patronized by the Princess when shopping, etc.

There were, in all, some forty-five stalls and twelve loose boxes in the building, the names of the horses - mostly bays - being inscribed on tablets overhead.

The ventilation was very good, and, needless to say, everything was spotlessly clean and scrupulously neat, including the inevitable plaited straw bordering.

In a room with black-and-white tiled floor, was an interesting display of harness in glass cases.

That used on state occasions was most elaborately adorned with gilt, and bore the Prince's well-known crest.

There were other and plainer sets, all beautifully blacked and polished.

A few remarkable-looking saddles - one of crimson velvet upon a frame of solid silver, another of blue velvet, and others specially made for the Princess - some whips and handles exquisitely chased in gold and silver, and sundry hunting-horns, around which family associations still linger, completed the list of objects most worth looking at.

By the kindness of the Prince, accredited persons with tickets of admission from the superintendent, were permitted to go over the stables, the best time being the afternoon when the necessary "clearing-up" was over.

Next: Royalty in 1900 London: York House