Frogmore House, Windsor

[CatherineJ]

I don't see Frogmore, on this thread of homes.
Can someone give a description of this one?
I know there are several persons who have been close to the Royal Families, that are buried there. It is also where Prince William held the stag for Peter Philips..

I have always felt that this is where Diana, Princess of Wales should have been buried and not in the middle of a pond. IMO, of course

 

[Warren]

New thread made

Frogmore House
From Wiki:

In 1790, Queen Charlotte, wanting a country retreat for herself and her unmarried daughters, purchased the lease on Little Frogmore. Two years later, she took on Great Frogmore instead and the smaller dwelling was demolished. James Wyatt was employed to enlarge and modernise Frogmore House. On her death in 1818, Frogmore House passed to her eldest unmarried daughter, Princess Augusta. After the Princess's death in 1840, Queen Victoria gave it to her mother, the Duchess of Kent. The Duchess died there in 1861.

From 1866 to 1873, the house was home to Princess Helena, third daughter of Queen Victoria, and her husband Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Since then, the Royal Family have used the home intermittently. In 1900, the future Earl Mountbatten of Burma was born there. From 1902 to 1910, the future King George V and Queen Mary were frequent residents. From 1925 until her death in 1953, Queen Mary collected and arranged in the house souvenirs of the Royal Family, making it a sort of private museum.

During the 1980s the house underwent extensive restoration, revealing the lost early-18th-century wall paintings by Louis Laguerre. In 1988, it was planned that the newly married Duke and Duchess of York would move into Frogmore House, but they decided against doing so. The house was opened to the public in 1990. It is open for the late Bank Holiday weekend in May and August plus group tours during August to the end of September each year.

Frogmore House has 18 bedrooms, and a number of rooms retain 18th- and 19th-century decoration. These include the Duchess of Kent's sitting room, Mary Moser's Room, Cross Gallery, and a dining room by Wyatt.

In the 33-acre (130,000 m2) gardens, which are open when the house is, are the Royal Mausoleum (burial place of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert) and the Duchess of Kent's Mausoleum, together with a 'Gothic Ruin', and 'Queen Victoria's Tea House'.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Genericlicense.
Attribution: Gill Hicks

 

[CatherineJ]

Thank you Warren, for this information. I have to say that I find this partricular house extremely interesting and it is on my "to see" list before I depart this world.
I wonder as well, why none of the Royals ever use this home or want it as their home> Perhaps William and Catherine, may look at it one day and decide they like it and use it, or even Prince Harry.
Again, thank you for the write up.

 

[sirhon11234]

I guess beacuse its in Windsor and not in London. They do need London bases. But it is a gorgeus structure.

 

[muriel]

It is also where Prince William held the stag for Peter Philips..

This is where the wedding reception for the wedding of Peter and Autumn was held.

 

[muriel]

Thank you Warren, for this information. I have to say that I find this partricular house extremely interesting and it is on my "to see" list before I depart this world.
I wonder as well, why none of the Royals ever use this home or want it as their home> Perhaps William and Catherine, may look at it one day and decide they like it and use it, or even Prince Harry.
Again, thank you for the write up.

You are right, it could potentially be used in time, by either William or Harry as their country home. They will both still need homes in London though.

 

[Hissy]

Happy there is a thread for Frogmore. This place is just so tranquil and beautiful. Those often seen photos of the royal family when Prince Edward is a baby were supposed to have been taken at Frogmore, which was usually described as a modern picnic site for the current royal family.

I think it would be a wonderful choice for one of the modern couples to reside in but I guess it is not perceived as fancy enough, or something, because the York's, as well as Prince Edward turned Frogmore down!


Can't quite see Prince William living there either, but I hope someone wonderful does soon....

 

[muriel]

Can't quite see Prince William living there either, but I hope someone wonderful does soon....

Why is that?

 

[scooter]

I think it would make a great Windsor house for William and Kate, rather than being the Queen's guest at the main Castle during the time of the year when the court is at Windsor. Especially when they have some children.

 

[Hissy]

Hi Muriel! I guess I can't see them living there because after doing the next years of being tucked away, fending for themselves in a little cottage, they are going to want something more than what the family considers a "picnic site". It has been turned down by everyone offered it so far for huge rampant houses in every case like Bagshot, etc. With what knowledge I have of them as a couple I believe they are more the very near the big city club and fancy restaurant types at this point.

Oh, Scooter, I think the grounds especially are ideal, and picturesque, and I can easily imagine little kids running around there!

I think it is so pretty and unique and I do hope someone will live there as I wrote. Perhaps Prince Harry will be the one to surprise me...!

 

[KittyAtlanta]

I think Frogmore is wonderful, too. It would be my pick of them all. It's only 20 miles from London.

 

[muriel]

If W&K were to choose Frogmore, this would be their country house. I have no doubt, in time, they will get a London base as well - be it at KP or at one of the existing royal palaces. That London base would be close enough to the clubs, bars and restaurants that you may be referring to.

I have absolutely no idea why Andrew and Edward and their respective spouses turned down Frogmore. Taking on Bagshot was probably not a very wise move financially, but I am sure the Wessex's have discovered that since.

 

[jemagre]

This would be a nice house for Harry in the future. I think that it is "grand" enough to be a royal house but small enough to be a home.
Is it owned by the royal family or the government? The place must be pretty large because I think I read that Peter and Autumn hosted their wedding reception there.

 

[royski1]

There have been rumors for years that Frogmore is on reserve for Prince Philip in case he should survive the Queen. I am not sure how true that is.

Go to Google Earth or Maps and put in "Frogmore house berkshire uk" and click on satellite and you can see the house, the lake and Victoria's & Albert's Mausoleum, plus Victoria's Mother's Mausoleum.

 

[muriel]

There have been rumors for years that Frogmore is on reserve for Prince Philip in case he should survive the Queen. I am not sure how true that is.

It is certainly a possibility that Frogmore is kept in reserve for Prince Philip. It is a lovely house in close reach of Windsor, which has been one of the favourtie homes of HM and the DoE. It is also close enough to London for Philip to use it as his main house, and possibily keep a suite of rooms at BP for use when in London.

 

[jemagre]

I had not heard that either but it would not be a bad idea. Thanks for the picture information, it is a beautiful house.

 

[Mark O]

Frogmore house and gardens are open on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of this week, though the Mausoleum is closed for this year, it's a beautiful, intimate house, I believe Queen Mary loved it also because of it's cosiness, there are many artefacts and nick-knacks of the royal family collected by her in store at the house, beautiful grounds to have a picnic in also.

 

[jemagre]

For me it is weird to think of the royals having nick nacks. Lol!

 

[NGalitzine]

For me it is weird to think of the royals having nick nacks. Lol!

Well in Queen Mary's case her nick nacks were made by Faberge

 

[Meadow]

Very expensive nick nacks and they have people to do their dusting. That's why I don't collect so many nick nacks I hate dusting!

 

[sirhon11234]

If Kate and William moved there what will they do with all of those 18 bedrooms?

Here is a bird view of Frogmore it is truly beautiful. If I were a member of the family I would live there.
Bing Maps - driving directions, routes, and traffic
click on home park.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/440627000_bea57b4dd6.jpg
Travels of a Texas Gal: Frogmore House
http://www.wikigallery.org/paintings/154501-155000/154760/painting1.jpg
Panoramio - Photo of Frogmore House
In post 1134 on this site shows some interior shots of the house
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=4097.msg435849;topicseen#msg435849

I wonder if Frogmore is the smallest of the palaces in Britain. Aside from being on reserve for DOE I can't see why the royals turned down this beautiful estate. Maybe Harry will make it his weekend retreat in years to come.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

Interior of Frogmore.

Here are some interior photo's of Frogmore.

 

[Daisiesforever]

Ooh I do love Frogmore. It is so pictureaque and peaceful and certainly a wonderful holiday retreat for any royal. Thank you Vanya for these photographs.

 

[sirhon11234]

These are paintings from the Royal Collection
Royal Collection - Search Results

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

Here is a photo of the Drawing Room.

 

[Princess of Durham]

It is lovely, BUT for a modern young couple I can see why they would not want to live there if they had to retain the existing decor. It's fine for museum but not a place I would want to live on a daily basis and I like rather formal interiors.

BTW, can anyone tell me what looks to be the ruin of a small chapel ... or not?

 

[Meadow]

I agree it would need some updating for a young couple to live there and then what would happen with the opening season when the public come to view the place? Unless certain rooms were retained and others were used for the couple.

 

[sirhon11234]

I believe there are private floors for anyone who moves there. I can't see anyone changing the decor of the state rooms since the decor is one of the purposes of the tours.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

An Interesting View of the Front Entrance Side.

The front door of Frogmore house.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

The staircase and colonnade.