{"id":16633,"date":"2022-06-09T14:57:21","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T12:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=16633"},"modified":"2022-06-09T18:06:40","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T16:06:40","slug":"palace-of-the-solent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2022\/06\/09\/palace-of-the-solent\/","title":{"rendered":"Palace of the Solent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JUBILEE WALKS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

DAY OUT: <\/strong>Osborne House, Isle of Wight <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Palace of the Solent<\/p>\n\n

Feel a sense of regal history in the sumptuous rooms and stunning parkland of Osborne House, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert\u2019s much-loved summer retreat, says Fi Darby <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Osborne\u2019s ornate terrace gardens were renovated in 2017 as part of a large conservation project <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

P<\/span>erhaps the best views of Osborne House are from the Solent itself. Standing proudly at the top of a sloping valley amid 323 hectares of parkland, terraces and gardens, and with its own beach, this is a holiday home fit for royalty. For Queen Victoria, Osborne House was more than a summer home. <\/p>\n\n

Designed by architect Thomas Cubitt under Prince Albert\u2019s direction, this palatial Italianate villa was a place where family life and royal entertainment duties could co-exist. After the death of Albert in 1861, it also served as a welcome retreat. Queen <\/p>\n\n

Victoria herself died at Osborne House in 1901. <\/p>\n\n

PRESERVING HISTORY <\/span><\/h4>\n\n

After his mother\u2019s death, Edward VII ordered his parents\u2019 private rooms to be sealed, then gave the estate to the nation. These chambers weren\u2019t reopened to the public until 1954, when Queen Elizabeth II permitted access. <\/p>\n\n

In 1952, Her Majesty the Queen reportedly considered creating an apartment at Osborne for herself and Prince Philip, but plans never came to fruition. <\/p>\n\n

Today, Osborne House is managed by English Heritage. <\/p>\n\n

Visitors can enjoy the state and family rooms, explore the gardens, stroll on the beach, and delight in the Swiss Cottage. For the family, there are two playgrounds and a garden adventure trail, as well a choice of eateries. <\/p>\n\n

Food has always played a big part of life at Osborne, from the royal children\u2019s home-grown, home-cooked meals to world-famous Victoria sponges and Osborne puddings. Not to mention plenty of fine dining for foreign dignitaries in the Durbar Wing. <\/p>\n\n

JUBILEE TREES <\/span><\/h4>\n\n

Celebrations at Osborne for the Queen\u2019s Platinum Jubilee are already underway. In <\/p>\n\n

March, a Nootka cypress was planted as part of the Queen\u2019s Green Canopy initiative, while local primary children have taken part in a competition to design a new commemorative flowerbed for the gardens. <\/p>\n\n

Join in the jubilee joy at Victoria\u2019s Family Day Out, 31 May to 2 June. There will be all the fun of an old-fashioned fair, with a dose of Punch and Judy, too. Free for English Heritage Members; advance booking is recommended. english-heritage.org.uk<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Fi Darby is a Devon-based outdoor writer and navigation specialist.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photo: Alamy <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAY OUT: Osborne House, Isle of Wight <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"92","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"92","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_92-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_92-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"June-2022","purple_external_id":"June-2022-92-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"June-2022-92-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000084057||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000084057||","purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.191","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.191","purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.191","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.191","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"91da22fd-9e7f-40d1-a93f-fc46e9516d91","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-06-09T12:57:29Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"42ace132-92fe-420d-b653-c004d4ffd6bd","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-06-09T16:06:46Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AQqzhMpL-Qg22U8AE1P_WvQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[30],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265.jpg",2048,1330,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265-300x195.jpg",300,195,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265-768x499.jpg",768,499,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265-1024x665.jpg",800,520,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265-1536x998.jpg",1536,998,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/05\/68aeb319-3ac0-495a-95e4-4c8cef816265.jpg",2048,1330,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"DAY OUT: Osborne House, Isle of Wight","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16633"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17073,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16633\/revisions\/17073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}