Contents Introduction
4
A Royal Residence: The Inhabitants of Clarence House
8
William, Duke of Clarence (1827–1837)
8
Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1841–1861)
10
Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1866–1900)
10
Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1900–1942)
11
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (1949–1952)
12
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1953–2002)
15
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (2003–)
16
The House and Gardens
20
The Entrance Hall
24
The Lancaster Room
28
The Morning Room
30
The Library
36
The Dining Room
40
The Horse Corridor
44
The Garden Room
46
A Working House
50
Official Entertaining
52
School Visits
53
Working Lunches, Teas and Dinners
54
Receptions 55
Summer at Clarence House.
Contents Introduction
4
A Royal Residence: The Inhabitants of Clarence House
8
William, Duke of Clarence (1827–1837)
8
Victoria, Duchess of Kent (1841–1861)
10
Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1866–1900)
10
Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1900–1942)
11
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (1949–1952)
12
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1953–2002)
15
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (2003–)
16
The House and Gardens
20
The Entrance Hall
24
The Lancaster Room
28
The Morning Room
30
The Library
36
The Dining Room
40
The Horse Corridor
44
The Garden Room
46
A Working House
50
Official Entertaining
52
School Visits
53
Working Lunches, Teas and Dinners
54
Receptions 55
Summer at Clarence House.
Introduction
was built for the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) in 1827, Clarence House has been a royal residence, usually reserved for senior members of the Royal Family. It remains most closely associated with the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, whose London home it was for fifty years. The distinctively warm and welcoming atmosphere of the house owes much to her influence and to her personal art collection that is still displayed on the ground floor. Today Clarence House is the official London residence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. It is a busy working house. The ground-floor rooms that can be seen by the public during the annual Summer Opening are in regular use throughout the year for receptions and meetings as well as for official entertaining. At the same time it is very much a family home that has always reflected the tastes of its occupants. Memorably described as a ‘sunny, cheerful, happy house’, Clarence House offers a dignified yet intimate setting for the many activities that take place there in support of the monarchy. ever since it
4
introduction
Detail from a portrait of William IV in 1827, when he was Duke of Clarence, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
right
The west front of Clarence House on Stable Yard Road was originally designed by John Nash to be the entrance front. overleaf
Elevation of the proposed south front by the builder C.B. Waller in 1873, adding another storey to the whole house and a portico to provide a more imposing covered entrance. below
The Royal Family celebrates Queen Elizabeth’s 76th birthday on 4 August 1976 in the grounds of Clarence House. Left to right: Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Andrew, The Queen, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret and Viscount Linley.
Introduction
was built for the Duke of Clarence (later William IV) in 1827, Clarence House has been a royal residence, usually reserved for senior members of the Royal Family. It remains most closely associated with the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, whose London home it was for fifty years. The distinctively warm and welcoming atmosphere of the house owes much to her influence and to her personal art collection that is still displayed on the ground floor. Today Clarence House is the official London residence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. It is a busy working house. The ground-floor rooms that can be seen by the public during the annual Summer Opening are in regular use throughout the year for receptions and meetings as well as for official entertaining. At the same time it is very much a family home that has always reflected the tastes of its occupants. Memorably described as a ‘sunny, cheerful, happy house’, Clarence House offers a dignified yet intimate setting for the many activities that take place there in support of the monarchy. ever since it
4
introduction
Detail from a portrait of William IV in 1827, when he was Duke of Clarence, by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
right
The west front of Clarence House on Stable Yard Road was originally designed by John Nash to be the entrance front. overleaf
Elevation of the proposed south front by the builder C.B. Waller in 1873, adding another storey to the whole house and a portico to provide a more imposing covered entrance. below
The Royal Family celebrates Queen Elizabeth’s 76th birthday on 4 August 1976 in the grounds of Clarence House. Left to right: Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Andrew, The Queen, Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, Princess Margaret and Viscount Linley.
William IV in c.1795, when he was Duke of Clarence, by Richard Cosway. Queen Adelaide in c.1833, by Anthony Stewart.
Johann Zoffany’s 1770 portrait of George III, Queen Charlotte and their six eldest children shows Prince William, later Duke of Clarence, in blue, playing with a cockatoo.
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
WILLIAM, DUKE OF CLARENCE (1827–1837) t h e t h i r d s o n of George III and Queen Charlotte, Prince William was born at Buckingham House (later Buckingham Palace) in 1765 and was sent to sea as an able seaman at the age of fourteen. Life at sea suited William perfectly, and he spent the next thirty years in the Navy, serving under Lord Nelson and seeing action in the Channel, in the West Indies and in the campaign against the rebel colonists in America. In 1781, when in New York, he was even the object of a failed kidnap attempt sanctioned in person by General Washington. In 1789 George III suffered the first serious bout of the porphyria that would lead to his withdrawal from public life and the establishment of the Regency under the Prince of Wales, later George IV. By then an Admiral of the Fleet, William was created Duke of Clarence and given his own establishment for the first time, including a country house, Bushy Park in Surrey, and bachelor apartments in St James’s Palace to accommodate the Duke, his mistress, the celebrated comic actress known as Mrs Jordan, and their ten children, all of whom, unusually for the time, survived infancy. The question of the succession became more urgent when George IV’s daughter and heir, Princess Charlotte, died in 1817. As next in line to the throne, George IV’s brothers, the Duke of York and William, Duke of Clarence, were forced to embrace respectability and to marry, although both were in their fifties by then. Mrs Jordan was put aside, but their children were given the surname Fitzclarence and continued to live at Bushy Park. In 1818 William married Adelaide, daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. At twenty-five, she was less than half his age. Until his marriage, William had been content with the sparsely furnished apartments in St James’s, but they were not good enough for his ‘amiable and excellent’ new Duchess. The Duke wrote to the Keeper of the Privy Purse, urging him to represent to the King ‘the wretched state and dirt of our apartments’. George IV was sympathetic to the need for a more princely setting for his brother and gave permission for a new house to be built on the site of William’s old apartments on the south-western corner of St James’s Palace.
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8
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
A Royal Residence: The Inhabitants of Clarence House
When George IV died in 1830, following the death of the Duke of York in 1827, William found himself king against all expectations. Apart from a family tendency to corpulence, the two brothers had very little in common. George IV was a patron of the arts with a taste for lavish decor. William IV, by contrast, was a bluff naval man whose interest in the arts was minimal. Shown one of the masterpieces in George IV’s collection, he did his best to appreciate it: ‘Aye, it seems pretty’, he commented. ‘I dare say it is. My brother was fond of this sort of nick-nackery.’ The extravagance of the newly remodelled, and still unfinished, Buckingham Palace therefore held no appeal for William IV. He and Queen Adelaide opted to stay where they were at Clarence House, which was comfortable and convenient, simply adding a corridor at first-floor level to connect the house with the State Apartments in St James’s Palace where official business was carried out. None of their children survived infancy, and when William died in 1837, he was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, the daughter of his younger brother, the Duke of Kent.
William IV in c.1795, when he was Duke of Clarence, by Richard Cosway. Queen Adelaide in c.1833, by Anthony Stewart.
Johann Zoffany’s 1770 portrait of George III, Queen Charlotte and their six eldest children shows Prince William, later Duke of Clarence, in blue, playing with a cockatoo.
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
WILLIAM, DUKE OF CLARENCE (1827–1837) t h e t h i r d s o n of George III and Queen Charlotte, Prince William was born at Buckingham House (later Buckingham Palace) in 1765 and was sent to sea as an able seaman at the age of fourteen. Life at sea suited William perfectly, and he spent the next thirty years in the Navy, serving under Lord Nelson and seeing action in the Channel, in the West Indies and in the campaign against the rebel colonists in America. In 1781, when in New York, he was even the object of a failed kidnap attempt sanctioned in person by General Washington. In 1789 George III suffered the first serious bout of the porphyria that would lead to his withdrawal from public life and the establishment of the Regency under the Prince of Wales, later George IV. By then an Admiral of the Fleet, William was created Duke of Clarence and given his own establishment for the first time, including a country house, Bushy Park in Surrey, and bachelor apartments in St James’s Palace to accommodate the Duke, his mistress, the celebrated comic actress known as Mrs Jordan, and their ten children, all of whom, unusually for the time, survived infancy. The question of the succession became more urgent when George IV’s daughter and heir, Princess Charlotte, died in 1817. As next in line to the throne, George IV’s brothers, the Duke of York and William, Duke of Clarence, were forced to embrace respectability and to marry, although both were in their fifties by then. Mrs Jordan was put aside, but their children were given the surname Fitzclarence and continued to live at Bushy Park. In 1818 William married Adelaide, daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. At twenty-five, she was less than half his age. Until his marriage, William had been content with the sparsely furnished apartments in St James’s, but they were not good enough for his ‘amiable and excellent’ new Duchess. The Duke wrote to the Keeper of the Privy Purse, urging him to represent to the King ‘the wretched state and dirt of our apartments’. George IV was sympathetic to the need for a more princely setting for his brother and gave permission for a new house to be built on the site of William’s old apartments on the south-western corner of St James’s Palace.
9
8
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
A Royal Residence: The Inhabitants of Clarence House
When George IV died in 1830, following the death of the Duke of York in 1827, William found himself king against all expectations. Apart from a family tendency to corpulence, the two brothers had very little in common. George IV was a patron of the arts with a taste for lavish decor. William IV, by contrast, was a bluff naval man whose interest in the arts was minimal. Shown one of the masterpieces in George IV’s collection, he did his best to appreciate it: ‘Aye, it seems pretty’, he commented. ‘I dare say it is. My brother was fond of this sort of nick-nackery.’ The extravagance of the newly remodelled, and still unfinished, Buckingham Palace therefore held no appeal for William IV. He and Queen Adelaide opted to stay where they were at Clarence House, which was comfortable and convenient, simply adding a corridor at first-floor level to connect the house with the State Apartments in St James’s Palace where official business was carried out. None of their children survived infancy, and when William died in 1837, he was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, the daughter of his younger brother, the Duke of Kent.
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF EDINB URGH (1949–1952) After their marriage in 1947, Princess Elizabeth, now known as The Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, were in need of a London home, and Clarence House was the obvious choice. Like many buildings after the war, however, it required major refurbishment, and it was not until June 1949 that the royal couple were able to move in with their baby, Prince Charles, who had been born at Buckingham Palace the previous November. The renovations had been overseen by The Duke of Edinburgh and the overall effect was one of simplicity and modernity, with an emphasis on pale colours and labour-saving devices. ‘The Princess runs her home on one of the smallest staffs ever employed at a major London residence’ noted Marguerite Peacock in her book on Clarence House published in 1949. Princess Anne was born at Clarence House in August 1950. Two years later, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh set off on a tour of East Africa, Australia and New Zealand that was interrupted by news of George VI’s death while they were in Kenya. The Duchess’s accession as Queen changed everything. After less than four years in the comfort of Clarence House, the young family had to move to Buckingham Palace, leaving the house for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
right
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh with Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the Sitting Room at Clarence House, soon after the accession in 1952, by Edward Halliday. TRH The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the grounds of Clarence House in 1951.
left
12
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
Prince Charles plays hideand-seek at Clarence House with his mother, then Princess Elizabeth, in 1950.
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF EDINB URGH (1949–1952) After their marriage in 1947, Princess Elizabeth, now known as The Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, were in need of a London home, and Clarence House was the obvious choice. Like many buildings after the war, however, it required major refurbishment, and it was not until June 1949 that the royal couple were able to move in with their baby, Prince Charles, who had been born at Buckingham Palace the previous November. The renovations had been overseen by The Duke of Edinburgh and the overall effect was one of simplicity and modernity, with an emphasis on pale colours and labour-saving devices. ‘The Princess runs her home on one of the smallest staffs ever employed at a major London residence’ noted Marguerite Peacock in her book on Clarence House published in 1949. Princess Anne was born at Clarence House in August 1950. Two years later, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh set off on a tour of East Africa, Australia and New Zealand that was interrupted by news of George VI’s death while they were in Kenya. The Duchess’s accession as Queen changed everything. After less than four years in the comfort of Clarence House, the young family had to move to Buckingham Palace, leaving the house for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
right
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh with Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the Sitting Room at Clarence House, soon after the accession in 1952, by Edward Halliday. TRH The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the grounds of Clarence House in 1951.
left
12
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
Prince Charles plays hideand-seek at Clarence House with his mother, then Princess Elizabeth, in 1950.
left
Queen Elizabeth with her grandson, Prince Andrew, on her lap in the garden of Clarence House in 1960, with Prince Charles, Princess Anne and an admiring corgi. Queen Elizabeth waves to crowds of well-wishers from the balcony at Clarence House on her 90th birthday.
Q UEEN ELIZABETH THE Q UEEN MOTHER (1953–2002) Clarence House was granted to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother for her lifetime in 1952, and she moved there with Princess Margaret in May 1953, shortly before the Coronation. The house remained her London home until her death in 2002, and its distinct atmosphere still owes much to her personality and taste. For many years after the death of George VI, Queen Elizabeth continued to entertain a wide range of people, officially and privately. Clarence House was notable for its welcoming feel and its unique blend of grandeur and informality. The simplicity of the rooms was the perfect foil, too, for the many works of art acquired by Queen Elizabeth over sixty years as a collector and patron of artists. When Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th birthday on 4 August 1970, the Royal Family gathered at Clarence House to mark the occasion. This was the first of what became a traditional birthday appearance to well-wishers in Stable Yard Road. In 1990 and 2000, to mark her 90th and 100th birthdays, the celebrations were extended, with gala parades in The Mall and on Horse Guards Road.
right
15
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 99th birthday outside Clarence House with The Prince of Wales, Prince Harry and Prince William.
left
Queen Elizabeth with her grandson, Prince Andrew, on her lap in the garden of Clarence House in 1960, with Prince Charles, Princess Anne and an admiring corgi. Queen Elizabeth waves to crowds of well-wishers from the balcony at Clarence House on her 90th birthday.
Q UEEN ELIZABETH THE Q UEEN MOTHER (1953–2002) Clarence House was granted to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother for her lifetime in 1952, and she moved there with Princess Margaret in May 1953, shortly before the Coronation. The house remained her London home until her death in 2002, and its distinct atmosphere still owes much to her personality and taste. For many years after the death of George VI, Queen Elizabeth continued to entertain a wide range of people, officially and privately. Clarence House was notable for its welcoming feel and its unique blend of grandeur and informality. The simplicity of the rooms was the perfect foil, too, for the many works of art acquired by Queen Elizabeth over sixty years as a collector and patron of artists. When Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th birthday on 4 August 1970, the Royal Family gathered at Clarence House to mark the occasion. This was the first of what became a traditional birthday appearance to well-wishers in Stable Yard Road. In 1990 and 2000, to mark her 90th and 100th birthdays, the celebrations were extended, with gala parades in The Mall and on Horse Guards Road.
right
15
a roya l r e s i d e n ce
Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 99th birthday outside Clarence House with The Prince of Wales, Prince Harry and Prince William.
The Horse Corridor
of the works of art in Clarence House, the paintings in the Horse Corridor reflect the interests of Queen Elizabeth, who was a passionate owner and breeder of racehorses. Her racing career was marked by over four hundred wins, and a number of the pictures in the corridor celebrate her horses and victories on the turf. A horse called The Rip won thirteen races for her; the painting by Peter Biegel shows him going down at Cheltenham. Double Star, Makaldar and Laffy were some of her most successful horses, whose pictures hang in the Horse Corridor. Queen Elizabeth came from a long line of breeders, trainers and riders. The painting by John Frederick Herring Snr of a bay racehorse called Touchstone with a stable lad commemorates one of the remarkable successes of John Bowes (1811–85). The illegitimate son of one of Queen Elizabeth’s ancestors, the 10th Earl of Strathmore, Bowes had a string of notable wins and bred some of the most influential sires of the nineteenth century. In 1843 Bowes won the Derby with his horse Cotherstone, sired by Touchstone. An elaborately framed painting that also hangs in the Horse Corridor shows Cotherstone and his jockey surrounded by portraits of Touchstone, his dam, Emma, and two grandsires and grandams.
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the house and gardens
like so many
Touchstone, painted to celebrate his victory at the St Leger in 1834, by John Frederick Herring Snr.
‘Cotherstone’, winner of the Derby, 1843, with W. Scott up in the colours of John Bowes Esq., 1843, by John Frederick Herring Snr.
right
The Horse Corridor.
The Horse Corridor
of the works of art in Clarence House, the paintings in the Horse Corridor reflect the interests of Queen Elizabeth, who was a passionate owner and breeder of racehorses. Her racing career was marked by over four hundred wins, and a number of the pictures in the corridor celebrate her horses and victories on the turf. A horse called The Rip won thirteen races for her; the painting by Peter Biegel shows him going down at Cheltenham. Double Star, Makaldar and Laffy were some of her most successful horses, whose pictures hang in the Horse Corridor. Queen Elizabeth came from a long line of breeders, trainers and riders. The painting by John Frederick Herring Snr of a bay racehorse called Touchstone with a stable lad commemorates one of the remarkable successes of John Bowes (1811–85). The illegitimate son of one of Queen Elizabeth’s ancestors, the 10th Earl of Strathmore, Bowes had a string of notable wins and bred some of the most influential sires of the nineteenth century. In 1843 Bowes won the Derby with his horse Cotherstone, sired by Touchstone. An elaborately framed painting that also hangs in the Horse Corridor shows Cotherstone and his jockey surrounded by portraits of Touchstone, his dam, Emma, and two grandsires and grandams.
44
the house and gardens
like so many
Touchstone, painted to celebrate his victory at the St Leger in 1834, by John Frederick Herring Snr.
‘Cotherstone’, winner of the Derby, 1843, with W. Scott up in the colours of John Bowes Esq., 1843, by John Frederick Herring Snr.
right
The Horse Corridor.
The Garden Room
was created by Queen Elizabeth from two rooms that formed part of the extension built in the 1870s. The larger of the two rooms was Princess Margaret’s sitting room when she lived at Clarence House with her mother before her marriage in 1960, while the smaller was for the use of her ladyin-waiting. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the room was completely redecorated for The Prince of Wales, who now uses it for meetings with visiting heads of state and other dignitaries. The Garden Room contains two striking paintings of birds by Jakob Bogdani. They were purchased by Queen Anne in 1710 and show birds from an aviary at Windsor. Queen Elizabeth used the mid-eighteenth-century writing desk when this room was her study. the garden room
right
The Garden Room. Birds in a Landscape, c.1708–10, one of two eighteenth-century paintings of the same name by Jakob Bogdani that hang in the Garden Room. It can be seen next to a tapestry depicting Mahommed Ali’s Massacre of the Mamelukes at Cairo, presented to Queen Victoria by Emperor Napoleon III.
left
46
the house and gardens
A quiet corner in the Garden Room.
The Garden Room
was created by Queen Elizabeth from two rooms that formed part of the extension built in the 1870s. The larger of the two rooms was Princess Margaret’s sitting room when she lived at Clarence House with her mother before her marriage in 1960, while the smaller was for the use of her ladyin-waiting. After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the room was completely redecorated for The Prince of Wales, who now uses it for meetings with visiting heads of state and other dignitaries. The Garden Room contains two striking paintings of birds by Jakob Bogdani. They were purchased by Queen Anne in 1710 and show birds from an aviary at Windsor. Queen Elizabeth used the mid-eighteenth-century writing desk when this room was her study. the garden room
right
The Garden Room. Birds in a Landscape, c.1708–10, one of two eighteenth-century paintings of the same name by Jakob Bogdani that hang in the Garden Room. It can be seen next to a tapestry depicting Mahommed Ali’s Massacre of the Mamelukes at Cairo, presented to Queen Victoria by Emperor Napoleon III.
left
46
the house and gardens
A quiet corner in the Garden Room.
