Pillsbury Press: Brighton Beach: Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion and Garden

We dashed through the raindrops to meet Cuz at the Royal Pavilion. Every single search about what to do in Brighton insists you must visit here. Allow at least 90 minutes. Though we did have the audio guide, I did not bring out my notebook to write my thoughts as we moved through the twenty stations.

The Pavilion was designed by King George IV, the son of King George III who was king during the American Revolution, to be his seaside retreat. The palace is filled with dragons -- I had fun playing spot the dragons. It is meant to have an Oriental, mostly Chinese, flair, though in Chinese lore dragons do not have wings and here they do.

King George IV and his wife, Queen Caroline, had only one legitimate child, a daughter named Princess Charlotte. Charlotte was first in line to inherit the throne but died in childbirth before that happened. George III's younger son, Frederick the noble Duke of York, died childless so the crown passed to his brother William (King William IV). He was succeeded by Queen Victoria, who declared the Royal Pavilion not to her liking as she could not find enough privacy. The Queen took the good stuff out of the castle and had them brought up to Buckingham Palace in London, including chopping up a rug to fit a smaller room.

Being we arrived during the quiet season, the staff was busy cleaning the chandeliers in the Banquet Hall before they would move onto the curtains in the Music Room. I love peeking behind the scenes so I was fascinated by how the rooms were being transformed. The four really large chandeliers are cleaned every January. The super large one (9 meters tall) over the dining room table is only cleaned every other year as that involves moving the table and putting it against a wall.

The traffic flow was adjusted to accommodate the cleaning. For instance we saw the kitchen before the banquet hall. When King George IV lived there he was proud of his kitchen and his French chef and would bring guests inside. Unlike most grand homes of the day, the kitchen was located next to the banquet hall, much like our dining room is next to our kitchen. This ensures food arriving quickly and warm. The kitchen boasted the most up-to-date equipment, and was decorated in copper. It was stunning and worthy of being shown off. It glistens.

While admiring the chandelier cleaning, I talked to a guard. He said he used to live in the States. When I asked where, he rattled off about a half dozen cities spread all over the country -- more than many Americans have visited. He recently went to Austin, TX. I asked him how the mood is there these days. He said it is a Blue spot in a Red state and they are holding their own.

Dinner guests would have been served by footmen hired for their good looks, and height. Each footman would serve only two guests. Meals would include 60 different dishes. In the kitchen was a sample menu. At least half of the dishes turned my stomach thinking about eating them -- many Jell-o style dishes, for example. After dinner the woman would gather in one room and the men in another to regroup before they moved into the ballroom where up to 100 people could dance at the same time. It was easy to lose perspective in that space.

As we were leaving his ground floor bedroom (space #14) the fire alarms were going off. At first no one seemed concerned, it sound like they've been through this lately. Perhaps dusting the chandeliers is setting off the smoke detectors. Soon enough they ushered us outside to stand in the rain. About 10-15 minutes later they let us come back inside.

Upstairs we saw where Queen Victoria slept on the rare occasions she stayed in Brighton. In 1850 She sold the palace to the people of Brighton for 50,000 pounds and stripped it of all royal decorations, fittings, and furnishings to be used in other palaces. Fourteen years later she returned many items, and returned more in 1899.

We also saw a display of pictures and stories from when the pavilion was turned into a military hospital for Indian soldiers during World War I.

After the war there was a nostalgic effort to bring it back to the glory days of when King George IV lived there, an effort they continue to work on a hundred years later.

A few more pictures from the royal residence: