Sandringham House


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colynsmomma

colynsmomma

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Does anyone have pics of Sandringham, then residence of King George and Queen Alexandra.:ermm:
 
Well, it seems one of those neo-Gothic Victorian monsters to me, but the garden is lovely of course. Was it built in 1862 or just aquired by the RF in that year?
 
I think it was built about 100 years earlier, but it looks so Victorian that there must have been extensive additions and renovations in the 19th century.
 
Ah, those Victorians have a lot to awnser for, as Miss Marple said in one of Agatha Cristie's books... They ruined a lot of buildings (not that this one is particulary ugly).

Was it acquired by Queen Victoria or by the Prince of Wales? I usually associate it with Edward & Alexandra but maybe I am wrong in this.

And to end the bombardment of questions, I believe George and Mary received a house on the estate when they married. Much to the displeasure of May the house was so close to the main house that her sisters & mother-in-law dropped by very often (way to often probably, as Queen Alexandra was a possesive mother on all accounts). Anyway, I wondered what happened to their house, is it still there and who owns it? I believe to have read that the rooms were rather small.
 
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Yes, the house on the estate favored by King George V & Queen Mary was York Cottage. Correct me if necessary, but I think I remember from the Duke of Windsor's book that even after his father became King, the King liked to stay in York Cottage, and so the Big House was totally left as domain of Queen Alexandra.
 
I have been to Sandringham House and it is, indeed a lovely building. Quite large, but not very imposing. The reception rooms (or at leat the ones they open up to the paying public) themselves are not very large, even though there are a great many bedrooms.

Not sure if you are aware, but the Queen and Prince Philip usually stay at Home Farm (or a similarly named building) when they visit Sandringham. The main house is typically only used at Christmas, and at other gatherings.
 
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So then, they use the ?? "Wood Farm" house when they visit, except for Christmas? I know the Sandringham park and estate are many thousands of acres, with many villages, farms, forests. And the Queen has two or three stud farms on the estate. And at least one kennel.
Have you seen the official website?

Sandringham Estate - Stately Home, Apple Juice, Norfolk
The flash show on the main page shows you pics. I like the interior a lot. I like the equestrian statue of George V.
 
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CasiraghiTrio said:
So then, they use the ?? "Wood Farm" house when they visit, except for Christmas? I know the Sandringham park and estate are many thousands of acres, with many villages, farms, forests. And the Queen has two or three stud farms on the estate. And at least one kennel.
Have you seen the official website?

Sandringham Estate - Stately Home, Apple Juice, Norfolk
The flash show on the main page shows you pics. I like the interior a lot. I like the equestrian statue of George V.
Click to expand...

Just saw the website, its very nice. If my memory serves me right, they use "Wood Farm" when they usually visit.
 
Yes, Wood Farm is the house where Prince John stayed.

If the tabloids are right, then Wood Farm is also used at Christmas to accommodate Sarah Ferguson. It would make sense with Muriel's information because at Christmas, said Muriel, the royal family uses the Big House.

I remember also that Sandringham is located about six miles from the coast. I think the royal family has a "beach hut" there. I wonder how much "hut" is accurate! :D The Althorp-Spencers, when living at Park House, had a "beach hut" too @ the seaside place called Brancaster. Maybe the royal family's beach house is in brancaster too?
 
CasiraghiTrio said:
Yes, the house on the estate favored by King George V & Queen Mary was York Cottage. Correct me if necessary, but I think I remember from the Duke of Windsor's book that even after his father became King, the King liked to stay in York Cottage, and so the Big House was totally left as domain of Queen Alexandra.
Click to expand...


Part of the reason for that was the Edward VII left Sandringham House to his wife for her lifetime as it was the only home that she could have throughout her life in Britain. She had had to move from Marlborough House to BP and back again.

Sandringham was Edward's personal home and therefore his to leave as he saw fit and he left it to his wife for her lifetime and then to his son, George, who decided to leave it to his son rather than to Mary, or someone else.

That is certainly my understanding from reading various accounts of the lives of Edward and Alexandra and what I was told by the guide at Sandringham itself.
 
Thanks, Iluvbertie. In the Duke of Windsor's biography, the Duke says that his parents were incredibly attached to York Cottage, and especially George V was so very happy with the way it had always been at the cottage and liked nothing better than to relax there and review his stamp collection. The DoW also implied that his father did not want to upset Queen Alexandra by disrupting the established order of things at the Big House.

Well, I just thought of two questions for anyone who might wish to help.

1) What has happened to "York Cottage" and what is it called and used for these days?

2) ANMER HALL -- I think this house was once a home for the Duke & Duchess of Kent, undoubtedly on lease from Her Majesty. But ....... I have read a few books (i.e. Dimbleby & Morton) that state that the van Cutsem family has the lease on this house now. Does someone know about this?

:turkey:
 
I think that York Cottage is now used as offices and such---I may be wrong, but I seem to recall reading that somewhere recently.
 
Thank you so much jcbcode99 for the pics, especially Prince John
 
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CasiraghiTrio said:
Yes, Wood Farm is the house where Prince John stayed.

If the tabloids are right, then Wood Farm is also used at Christmas to accommodate Sarah Ferguson. It would make sense with Muriel's information because at Christmas, said Muriel, the royal family uses the Big House.

I remember also that Sandringham is located about six miles from the coast. I think the royal family has a "beach hut" there. I wonder how much "hut" is accurate! :D The Althorp-Spencers, when living at Park House, had a "beach hut" too @ the seaside place called Brancaster. Maybe the royal family's beach house is in brancaster too?
Click to expand...

If my contention that HM and Prince Philip use Wood Farm regularly is true, I doubt very much that Sarah is accomodated there at Christmas. There are a number of other dwellings on the estate, and I am sure she is given the use of one of them for some time.
 
Iluvbertie said:
Part of the reason for that was the Edward VII left Sandringham House to his wife for her lifetime as it was the only home that she could have throughout her life in Britain. She had had to move from Marlborough House to BP and back again.

Sandringham was Edward's personal home and therefore his to leave as he saw fit and he left it to his wife for her lifetime and then to his son, George, who decided to leave it to his son rather than to Mary, or someone else.

That is certainly my understanding from reading various accounts of the lives of Edward and Alexandra and what I was told by the guide at Sandringham itself.
Click to expand...

Sounds very plausible to me!
 
muriel said:
If my contention that HM and Prince Philip use Wood Farm regularly is true, I doubt very much that Sarah is accomodated there at Christmas. There are a number of other dwellings on the estate, and I am sure she is given the use of one of them for some time.
Click to expand...
Well, it is always the Daily Mail and The sun and or the Mirror that claim Sarah stays in Wood Farm at Christmas, with the royal family all at the big house, so as always with those publications, we should take it with a grain of salt. It's likely that you're right about her using another house and maybe the tabloids just say it's Wood Farm to give it a name. I mean, who would correct them? :doh: Not the royal family.
 
CasiraghiTrio said:
Thanks, Iluvbertie. In the Duke of Windsor's biography, the Duke says that his parents were incredibly attached to York Cottage, and especially George V was so very happy with the way it had always been at the cottage and liked nothing better than to relax there and review his stamp collection. The DoW also implied that his father did not want to upset Queen Alexandra by disrupting the established order of things at the Big House.

Well, I just thought of two questions for anyone who might wish to help.

1) What has happened to "York Cottage" and what is it called and used for these days?

2) ANMER HALL -- I think this house was once a home for the Duke & Duchess of Kent, undoubtedly on lease from Her Majesty. But ....... I have read a few books (i.e. Dimbleby & Morton) that state that the van Cutsem family has the lease on this house now. Does someone know about this?

:turkey:
Click to expand...

But from what i read Queen Mary was not to happy with York Cottage as it was very small and especially when they had guests and after Mary and Albert had married there wasn't enough room for all people.
 
The main lake and boat house are especially beautiful!
 
Stefan said:
But from what i read Queen Mary was not to happy with York Cottage as it was very small and especially when they had guests and after Mary and Albert had married there wasn't enough room for all people.
Click to expand...

From everything I have read Mary did feel that York Cottage was too small and that her mother-in-law should move into York Cottage and the rest of the family move into the big house but Alexandra loved the big house and it was left to her. She was upset at having to leave her London marital home when her husband became King. He knew that she would have been even more upset, on loosing her husband to also have to leave her other marital home, where she had lived since 1863. It was Edward's to leave to whomever he pleased and he chose to leave it to his wife.

Mary, I think, understood that, but just wished it could be different.

I assume when you say 'Albert' you mean George VI, like his grandfather always called Bertie in the family. To me 'Albert' always means Victoria's husband as he was the one who was always called that.
 
It surprised me to see the pic of York Cottage - a very, very large cottage
 
I love the picture of York Cottage. As much as I like the architectural business of the big house, I think personally I would like living in YC better.

Yes, when you guys mention it about Queen Mary thinking YC was too small, I think you are quite right. I think it was fine when she and George V were just the Yorks, and even when they were the Waleses, but after they were crowned, obviously it was hard for the monarchs' households to manage in YC. But King George did love the cottage, and he loved his mother too much to "uproot" her from the big house. I guess it was a case of the son putting his mother first ahead of his wife's comfort. I think in this case he could be forgiven. :D After all, like iluvbertie said, it was the wish of King Edward to leave it to Queen Alex.
 
Is Sandringham House the place where The Queen spend Christmas and New Year? I don't know why I think I've read somewhere that she spends Christmas at Windsor and New Year at Sandringham? Is that correct? After that, the Holiday Season, Sandringham house and estate are open to the public right?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm pretty sure it's Christmas at Sandringham, Easter at Windsor.
 
I believe some of the royals would like Christmas moved to windsor for some reason.
I think Her Majesty stays at Sandringham till February 6th when her father died.
And it's Easter at Windsor.
 
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