Sandringham House
The Sandringham estate in Norfolk was purchased by Queen Victoria for £22,000 in 1863, intended as the home of her eldest son and heir, Albert Edward, the future Edward VII.
Victoria's husband Albert, Prince Consort, had recently died and the Queen was still in deep mourning at her loss. The existing house on the estate was demolished and replaced in 1869 by the present Jacobean style red brick structure. There 'Bertie' as he was known in the family, lived with his beautiful Danish wife, Princess Alexandra. The house was badly damaged by fire in 1892 and as a result was enlarged.
The house parties often held at Sandringham were gay and informal. Bertie and Alexandra loved company and entertaining. . Queen Victoria herself visited the house in 1871, when Bertie was dangerously ill with typhoid, the disease that killed his father, he later made a full recovery.
Sandringham was to witness the death of Bertie's eldest son and heir, Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. 'Eddy' as he was known to the family, contracted influenza during the Christmas period of 1891, which was customarily spent at Sandringham. His illness turned to pnuemonia and Eddy died there on 14 January, 1892. His brother and the next in line to the throne, Prince George, also inherited Eddy's fiance, Princess Mary of Teck.
George V and Queen Mary, as the couple became, did not move into Sandringham House until after the death of Queen Alexandra in 1925. He and his family stayed at the cramped York Cottage, a house in the grounds of the estate, where their family where brought up. The King adored the estate, referring to it as "Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world."
The house has seen the deaths of two British monarchs, George V, who died at Sandringham on 20 January, 1936, helped on his way by the royal physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, who administered a lethal dose of morphia to the dying King and that of George VI, the father of the present Queen, unaware that he was suffering from lung cancer, he died peacefully in his sleep at Sandringham on 6 February, 1952. Over a century has passed since Sandringham became a royal home.
Sandringham House is entered through the large but cosy entrance hall, known as the Saloon. It boasts a minstrel's gallery over the entrance, built to house the band when the room was used as a ballroom. The royal family like to spend their evenings here. The room contains several royal portraits, including those of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort by Winterhalter and that of the Prince and Princess of Wales with their eldest son, Albert Victor and youngest daughter Maud, who was destined to become Queen of Norway.
The small drawing room is used by the Queen's Lady-in-Waiting and is dominated by a portrait of Queen Louise of Denmark, the mother of the Queen's great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra.
In the large drawing room a portrait of Queen Alexandra when Princess of Wales is on display, painted by Edward Hughes. Many of the objects in the room where purchased by the Queen's grandmother, Queen Mary, an avid royal collector. The dining room houses a collection of tapestries, presented to the Prince of Wales in 1876 by Alphonso XII.
The gardens of Sandringham House are entered through elaborate wrought iron gates, known as the Norwich gates, which were given as a wedding present to the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1863. The gardens have two lakes and contain a magnificent collection of azaleas and rhododendrons and also some fine camellias.
The grounds contain the Sandringham Museum and the Queen's thoroughbred stud. The Queen regularly spends Christmas at Sandringham and stays there until the following February, her annual Christmas broadcasts, a tradition established by her grandfather, George V, are generally made from Sandringham.
Opening Times
22 March - 25 July, re-opens 3 August - 26 October:-
Sandringham House - Opens -11.00am Last entry 4.45pm
Sandringham Museum - Opens 11.00am Closes 5.00pm
Sandringham Gardens - Opens 10.30am Last entry 5.00pm
See also:-