Gorgeous George & a right royal childhood
And so he turned one. Captured in a charming offi cial photograph, little Prince George celebrated his fi rst birthday alongside his parents – and among fl otillas of exotic butterfl ies – at the Natural History Museum in London. Reaching out towards one of the colourful insects, the future king’s face is a picture of unbridled, childish wonder.
But what exactly is it like to grow up as royalty? Is it, truly, a fairytale?
Well, a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace seeks to answer that question. Royal Childhood, which is part of the annual Summer Opening of the State Rooms, covers a period of 250 years, off ering a fascinating peek into the lives of the children of the world’s most famous family.
Like childhood itself, the exhibition is short but sweet, and fi lled with memories, treasures and the occasional oddity. Some of the objects on display wouldn’t have looked out of place in our own childhoods: the wooden wheelbarrow the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret used to push their corgis around Windsor’s Royal Lodge; the simple height chart used by King George V and Queen Mary to measure their growing children and the current Queen’s rabbit tea set and Knockemdown Ninepin skittles.
1. The Queen Mother in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, c. 1954 2. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at Royal Lodge in Windsor, April 1940 3. The dogshaped wooden wheelbarrow (also left) used to push the corgis around 4. Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret on a rocking horse, August 1932
Others, however, are relics from a rather more gilded infancy. In one charming fi lm, a young Prince Andrew, under the watchful eye of a grinning Duke of Edinburgh, is presented with a replica of James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 car. Big enough for the little prince to sit in, it comes with rotating number plates, machine guns (dummies, of course), and a working smoke screen.
Or how about the exquisite silver fi ligree rattle presented to the future George III in 1763. Most of us would hesitate to handle such an object with kid gloves, let alone leave it in the clutches of a disgruntled baby. And though many of us were pushed around town as a baby beneath a woollen blanket, it is worth noting that the young Prince Charles’s was trimmed with ermine.
5. Silver-gilt lily font, 1841 6. A pink tea set in the shape of a rabbit belonging to Princess Elizabeth 7. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret’s matching pink coats, made by Smith & Co, c. 1934 8. Velvet shoes worn by Prince Albert Edward (Queen Victoria’s eldest son) at the age of eight months, 1842 9. A toy horse on wheels used by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, c. 1930s
But while there are a handful of peculiarly macabre exhibits – such as the rather gaudy gold and purple casket used by Queen Victoria to store the fi rst teeth of her children – many paint a portrait of royal childhood that is surprisingly light-hearted, joyous and fun.
Prince Philip comes out of the exhibition particularly well, captured on fi lm smirking and grinning and racing his young son, Prince Charles, on a stupendously undersized tricycle. There are wooden slides and dances and broad grins and rocking horses.
Early talents are on show, too. Three paintings by an eight- and nine-year-old Prince Charles reveal a developing penchant for paint and brush. In fact, two of the works are reminiscent of Van Gogh, at least in subject matter: a simple chair in the corner of a bare room and a vase of yellow and red and blue fl owers.
From a ‘behaviour book’ we also hear that the 12-year-old Queen Victoria was often ‘very good’, but occasionally ‘very naughty’. Reportedly, she could be ‘rather impertinent’, too.
10. The Duchess of York with her daughters, Princess Elizabeth and the newborn Princess Margaret 11. Princess Margaret with a Parisian doll, photographed by Marcus Adams
Surely that’s something all of us have in common with our little royals.
No one’s perfect, after all.
12. Knockemdown Ninepins belonging to Princess Elizabeth 13. The silver ligree rattle presented to the infant Prince of Wales (the future George III), 1763 14. The two-yearold Princess Elizabeth with her wicker pram (15.) in the grounds of her home in Piccadilly, London, 1928
Royal Childhood is part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, until 28 September 2014. Reservations and visitor information: 020-7766 7300, www.royalcollection.org.uk
But what exactly is it like to grow up as royalty? Is it, truly, a fairytale?
Well, a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace seeks to answer that question. Royal Childhood, which is part of the annual Summer Opening of the State Rooms, covers a period of 250 years, off ering a fascinating peek into the lives of the children of the world’s most famous family.
Like childhood itself, the exhibition is short but sweet, and fi lled with memories, treasures and the occasional oddity. Some of the objects on display wouldn’t have looked out of place in our own childhoods: the wooden wheelbarrow the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret used to push their corgis around Windsor’s Royal Lodge; the simple height chart used by King George V and Queen Mary to measure their growing children and the current Queen’s rabbit tea set and Knockemdown Ninepin skittles.
1. The Queen Mother in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor with Prince Charles and Princess Anne, c. 1954 2. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret at Royal Lodge in Windsor, April 1940 3. The dogshaped wooden wheelbarrow (also left) used to push the corgis around 4. Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret on a rocking horse, August 1932Others, however, are relics from a rather more gilded infancy. In one charming fi lm, a young Prince Andrew, under the watchful eye of a grinning Duke of Edinburgh, is presented with a replica of James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 car. Big enough for the little prince to sit in, it comes with rotating number plates, machine guns (dummies, of course), and a working smoke screen.
Or how about the exquisite silver fi ligree rattle presented to the future George III in 1763. Most of us would hesitate to handle such an object with kid gloves, let alone leave it in the clutches of a disgruntled baby. And though many of us were pushed around town as a baby beneath a woollen blanket, it is worth noting that the young Prince Charles’s was trimmed with ermine.
5. Silver-gilt lily font, 1841 6. A pink tea set in the shape of a rabbit belonging to Princess Elizabeth 7. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret’s matching pink coats, made by Smith & Co, c. 1934 8. Velvet shoes worn by Prince Albert Edward (Queen Victoria’s eldest son) at the age of eight months, 1842 9. A toy horse on wheels used by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, c. 1930s But while there are a handful of peculiarly macabre exhibits – such as the rather gaudy gold and purple casket used by Queen Victoria to store the fi rst teeth of her children – many paint a portrait of royal childhood that is surprisingly light-hearted, joyous and fun.
Prince Philip comes out of the exhibition particularly well, captured on fi lm smirking and grinning and racing his young son, Prince Charles, on a stupendously undersized tricycle. There are wooden slides and dances and broad grins and rocking horses.
Early talents are on show, too. Three paintings by an eight- and nine-year-old Prince Charles reveal a developing penchant for paint and brush. In fact, two of the works are reminiscent of Van Gogh, at least in subject matter: a simple chair in the corner of a bare room and a vase of yellow and red and blue fl owers.
From a ‘behaviour book’ we also hear that the 12-year-old Queen Victoria was often ‘very good’, but occasionally ‘very naughty’. Reportedly, she could be ‘rather impertinent’, too.
10. The Duchess of York with her daughters, Princess Elizabeth and the newborn Princess Margaret 11. Princess Margaret with a Parisian doll, photographed by Marcus AdamsSurely that’s something all of us have in common with our little royals.
No one’s perfect, after all.
12. Knockemdown Ninepins belonging to Princess Elizabeth 13. The silver ligree rattle presented to the infant Prince of Wales (the future George III), 1763 14. The two-yearold Princess Elizabeth with her wicker pram (15.) in the grounds of her home in Piccadilly, London, 1928 Royal Childhood is part of a visit to the Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, until 28 September 2014. Reservations and visitor information: 020-7766 7300, www.royalcollection.org.uk