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 Home Park in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is about half a mile south of Windsor Castle.
For many years, different people rented Frogmore House. Then, in the late 1700s, it became a home for members of the British royal family. Queen Charlotte loved spending time here. Later, Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, lived there. Her large tomb, called a mausoleum, is in the estate's gardens.
Even though it was sometimes used as a quiet getaway in the early 1900s, the house has been mostly empty since 1872. Queen Mary often stayed there when she was first married. For the rest of 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 here. Today, the royal family uses Frogmore House for private and official events.
Contents
History of Frogmore House
Early Owners and Builders
The Frogmore estate has been owned by the royal family since the 1500s. For a long time, it was rented out to different people. Building on Frogmore House itself started in 1680. It was built for tenants 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, but 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 Getaway
Queen Charlotte used Frogmore House as a peaceful country retreat. She and her unmarried daughters enjoyed escaping court life here. They spent their time on hobbies like painting, drawing, needlework, and reading. The Queen was very interested in plants. This love for botany can be seen in many rooms at Frogmore. One room has beautiful 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 decorative buildings called follies. The house was in good shape, but Queen Charlotte wanted to make it even better for royal use. So, James Wyatt was hired to make it bigger and more modern. Between 1795 and 1804, Wyatt added a second floor. He also built new sections on the north and south sides. These additions made space for a new dining room and a library.
As part of improving the gardens, Queen Charlotte also built a simpler house in 1801. This house is now known as Frogmore Cottage. When Queen Charlotte died in 1818, she left Frogmore House to her daughter, Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom. Princess Augusta Sophia lived there until she passed away in 1840.
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The Dining Room, 1819
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The Japan Room, 1819
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The Queen's Library, 1817
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The Green Pavilion, 1817
After Princess Augusta Sophia's death, Queen Victoria gave Frogmore to her mother, the Duchess of Kent. The house was changed quite a bit during this time. The Duchess of Kent had different tastes than Queen Charlotte. Many of Queen Charlotte's decorations were 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 at Frogmore, "All is peace and quiet."
More Recent History
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, Queen Victoria's third daughter, and her husband Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Helena and her husband 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 (who later became King George V and Queen Mary) often stayed there. From 1925 until her death in 1953, Queen Mary collected and arranged royal family souvenirs in the house. She called it a "family souvenir museum."
In 1997, the Royal Yacht Britannia was taken out of service. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, then decorated what used to be Queen Charlotte's library and the Duchess of York's dining room. He used items from the 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 after Peter Phillips married Autumn Kelly in May 2008. It was also used for the reception after the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. In May 2019, it hosted the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston.
Restoration Work
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. The restoration work cost about £2.5 million and was finished in 1990.
See also
In Spanish: Frogmore House para niños
