Frogmore House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Frogmore House |
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Frogmore House in 2006
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| General information | |
| Location | Frogmore, Home Park |
| Town or city | Windsor, Berkshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°28′27″N 0°35′39″W / 51.4743°N 0.5943°W |
| Completed | 1684 |
| Client | Anne Aldworth and Thomas May |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Attributed to Hugh May |
Frogmore House is a beautiful country house from the 1600s. It is owned by the Crown Estate, which manages royal properties. This historic building is located on the Frogmore estate. You can find it within the large grounds of Home Park in Windsor, Berkshire, England.
Frogmore House is about half a mile south of Windsor Castle. For many years, it was rented out to different people. Then, in the late 1700s, it became a home for members of the British royal family.
Queen Charlotte loved spending time at Frogmore. Later, Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, lived there. The Duchess of Kent has a large mausoleum in the estate's 33-acre gardens.
The house was used as a quiet escape until the early 1900s. However, it has been mostly empty since 1872. Queen Mary often stayed there when she was first married. Throughout her life, she enjoyed filling the house with special family items. In the late 1900s, Prince Philip placed keepsakes from the royal yacht HMY Britannia at Frogmore after it was no longer used. Today, the royal family uses Frogmore House for both private and official events.
Contents
History of Frogmore House
Early Days and Owners
The Frogmore estate has belonged to the royal family since the 1500s. For a long time, it was rented out to various people. Building on Frogmore House itself began in 1680. It was built for tenants named Anne Aldworth and Thomas May. The work finished in 1684. It is believed that Hugh May, an architect who worked for King Charles II at Windsor Castle, designed the house. Hugh May was also the uncle of Thomas May.
The first royal person to live in the house was George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland. He was the son of King Charles II and Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland. The Duke passed away in 1716. His wife continued to live at Frogmore until 1738. After them, several other people rented the house, including Edward Walpole. In 1792, King George III bought the house for his wife, Queen Charlotte.
A Royal Retreat
Queen Charlotte used Frogmore House as a peaceful country escape. She and her unmarried daughters enjoyed their hobbies there. They loved painting, drawing, needlework, and reading. They also enjoyed "botanising," which means studying plants.
The Queen's love for plants can be seen in many rooms at Frogmore. One room is decorated with painted flowers by the artist Mary Moser. The gardens were also very important to the Queen. She planted many Spanish chestnut, laburnum, and birch trees. She also added several follies, which are decorative buildings in a garden.
The house was in good shape, but it needed updates for royal residents. So, James Wyatt was hired to make Frogmore House bigger and more modern. Between 1795 and 1804, Wyatt added a second floor. He also built new sections on the north and south sides of the house. These additions made space for a new dining room and a library. As part of improving the gardens, Queen Charlotte also built a simpler retreat house in 1801. This house is now known as Frogmore Cottage.
When Queen Charlotte died in 1818, she left the house to her daughter, Princess Augusta Sophia. The Princess lived there until she passed away in 1840.
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The Dining Room in 1819
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The Japan Room in 1819
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The Queen's Library in 1817
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The Green Pavilion in 1817
After Princess Augusta Sophia's death, Queen Victoria gave Frogmore to her mother, the Duchess of Kent. During this time, the house was changed quite a bit. The Duchess had different tastes than Queen Charlotte. Much of the earlier decoration was removed. The house was used regularly from 1841 until the Duchess of Kent died in 1861. Queen Victoria often visited, and many family events were held there. Victoria wrote that Frogmore was a place of "peace and quiet." She said you could only hear "the hum of the bees, the singing of the birds."
Recent Royal Connections
Frogmore House was used on and off for the rest of the 1800s. Princess Alexandra (who later became Princess of Wales) gave birth to her first child, Prince Albert Victor, at the house in 1864. After that, it was home to Princess Helena. She was Queen Victoria's third daughter. Princess Helena and her husband, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, moved to Cumberland Lodge in 1872.
Queen Victoria's great-grandson, Louis Mountbatten, was born on the estate in 1900. From 1902 to 1910, the Prince and Princess of Wales often stayed there. They later became King George V and Queen Mary. From 1925 until her death in 1953, Queen Mary collected and arranged royal souvenirs in the house. She called it a "family souvenir museum."
Around 1925, King George V allowed his cousin, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia, to live at Frogmore Cottage. She had escaped the Russian February Revolution. Xenia was very thankful for her cousin's kindness. By March 1937, Xenia moved from Frogmore Cottage to Wilderness House. Since 1928, most members of the royal family (except for kings and queens) have been buried at the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore, which is also on the Frogmore Estate.
In 1997, the Royal Yacht Britannia was no longer used. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, then furnished what used to be Queen Charlotte's library. He also furnished the Duchess of York's dining room. He used items from the royal yacht, including a mahogany table made for Britannia around 1950.
The royal family continues to use Frogmore House for events. It was the place for the wedding reception of the Queen's grandson, Peter Phillips, and Autumn Kelly in May 2008. It was also used for the reception after the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. In May 2019, it hosted the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston.
Restoring Frogmore House
In the 1980s, Frogmore House went through a big restoration project. During this work, old wall paintings from the early 1700s by Louis Laguerre were uncovered. Work was also done on the Green Pavilion. The goal was to make it look like it did when Queen Charlotte lived there. Changes were made to the decorative moldings and fireplace. These still show the detailed work of architect James Wyatt. The restorations cost a total of £2.5 million and were finished in 1990.
See also
In Spanish: Frogmore House para niños
