You might wonder why we are visiting the Isle of Wight at this cold and dreary time of year. The short answer would be Osborne House.
Faced with a growing family and the increasing pressures of court life, Queen Victoria pined for “a place of one’s own—quiet and retired.” Fondly remembering childhood holidays spent on the Isle of Wight, Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the Osborne estate in East Cowes in 1845 for £28,000—about $4.2 million in today’s money.
Rather than expand the original house, they demolished it and started over. Prince Albert was actively involved in the design of both house and garden and the nearby Swiss House, a full-size playhouse for the children. The Royal Family used the house for long vacations several times a year. They traditionally observed the Queen’s birthday there in May and spent much of July and August in celebration of Prince Albert’s birthday. When we visited, Osborne House was decorated for Christmas as it would have been when the Family came for the holidays.
Osborne was very much Prince Albert’s creation and things weren’t the same after his passing in 1861. Victoria continued to visit Osborne House, spending more and more time in one of her favorite residences. She made several changes to the house, the most striking being the Indian-inspired Durbar Wing where both her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were held. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House in 1901 and her successor, King Edward VII, despite her instructions, donated the entire estate as a national gift.
I had never pictured Queen Victoria as a vibrant, young woman juggling the duties of State with raising a family—even in absentia. But after visiting Osborne it was obvious that she and Albert had of a good relationship as the Victorian Age would permit.