The perfect day trip out of London is a visit to the ROYAL PAVILION at Brighton. A visit to the Pavilion is one of the most amazing experiences; you have never seen any place like it. When one realizes that one King, even when Prince Regent, was responsible for the majority of the finest items in the Royal Collection, for Buckingham Palace as we know it today (except for the facade), and for the Royal Pavilion, we understand the hatred for the personage of the King for his excesses by the government and by the society of his day. But for us, the Prince Regent’s unending collections of the most exquisite art, architecture, and furnishings have brought immense pleasure. Excesses? I suppose so. Exoticism? Certainly! Extravagant? Indeed! Perfect for a visitor to Britain? YES, SIR. The Royal Pavilion at Brighton was a work in progress from a modest house designed for the Prince Regent by Henry Holland from 1787 and enlarged beyond belief by Nash between 1815 and 1822–the same time Nash was rebuilding Buckingham House. The Indo-Saraconic style of the exterior is a wonderful contrast to the chinoiserie of the interior. I love all the lanterns, the exquisite black lacquer furniture, the fabulous gilt silver services, the Japan pattern dinner services, the fabulous chandeliers, the dragons, the fabrics, and Chinese porcelain figures and pagodas. I love the exotic interior and exterior which cause one to stand silent more than once while wandering through the incredible Pavilion. By time the King died in 1830, he had nearly bankrupted the treasury and made an enemy of the nation and the government. But for us, what a treasure! William IV used the Pavilion for his eight-year reign, but in a much more domestic manner. Queen Victoria inherited the Pavilion upon becoming Queen, but sold it to the city of Brighton for 50,000 pounds because she could not find any privacy , and she could not identify with the lavishness of the interiors. The funds were used toward the building of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. The furnishings were largely removed and put into storage by Queen Victoria, later to be used by Queen Mary who decorated several rooms in Buckingham Palace in the chinoiserie style. However, the vast collection which went into storage was far greater than could be used by Queen Mary; in 1952 the current Queen sent more than 100 pieces of furniture which were in storage back to the Royal Pavilion on permanent loan. Visitors to the Pavilion today will appreciate the Queen’s permanent loan to the Pavilion because the rooms have a stunning impression of what they must have looked like during the days of King George IV. A day trip from London? ABSOLUTELY
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
