Osborne House, Isle of Wight

The Ladies Wimbledon Final Prize, the Rose Bowl is a replica of the top

Noble

The gates, after Queen Victoria's death two metal gates were installed to seal her apartments. It wasnt until 1954 the apartments were opened up.

Queen Victorias desk on the left and Prince Albert's on right

John Brown

Queen Victoria's bedroon. Here in 1901 she died. Afterwards the family placed the plaque above the bed.

The royal lift

Abdul Karim

The magnificent Durbar Room

Many of the Trees are plantred by members of the Royal Family

OSBORNE HOUSE

This is a place I had wanted to visit since I was little, and I chose a special day to visit, my Birthday!

Staying juts opposite the gates to the House made it an ideal location. Although we still did drive in (free parking) as the weather so inclement coats/ umbrellas were in the car!

The first hurdle was the car park and the strange way it was laud out, like a jigsaw puzzle with many car owners getting out and scratching their heads!

Then onwards to the house, in sunshine.

It was as I had imagined, magnificent.

So many rooms to walk in, with furniture, family photographs and ornaments all around. It had an air that someone did live here (many stately homes / houses can feel empty and a shell, this didn't)

You are alowed to take photographs (non-flash) and wander at your own pace. There are guides dotted around if you have a question.

Each room was a wow monent for me.

Two rooms stood out for different reasons.

The Durbar Room, created soon after Victoria became Empress of India in 1876 was visually stunning. The white plaster looked as new. There were chairs dotted around so you could sit and look up. The magnificent Dining Room set up as though the guests were about to enter.

Queen Victoria's bedroom. Very poignant to see. 

A place she used every day when at Osborne, and where she died in January 1901 surrounded by her family.

As I left I noticed there had been two large gates, mounted on the wall so asked a guide. They were placed at each entrance to her apartments by her family to seal them. In 1954 they were unsealed by the then new Queen Elizabeth  II.

As we came out, the heavens opened! So the short sleeved shirts (at first a great idea) now meant a run to the car to change to coats!!

Back into the house and gardens . The entrance (Ticket office and shop bit of a mish mash, some people walking by unchecked, and our tickets hadnt been scanned out (we were told to just walk out and return!) so after all that confusion sorted it was a tour of the gardens! and yiu guessed it, the rain stopped and it warmed uo again!

There were shuttle buses near the entrance to take you down to Swiss Cottage and the Beach. Its quite a walk so this was lovely!

Swiss Cottage was only partially opened. The top all closed off, so all you could see were some wall displays and the kitchen area so that was a little diusappointing. 

Swiss Cottage was where the royal children came, and pretended to play house. Above were their rooms, and they cooked and also had little plots of gardens each. Outside there was a small garden tool shed with their tools inside.

I forgot about the museum (Next tine!!) as so eager to get to the beach for an Ice Cream!!!

There you can see Queen Vuctoria's bathing machine (where she would get dressed inside and them be wheeled out to the water so prying eyes couldn't see her) You cant go inside just look from the outside.

The Ice Cream was delicious! Strawberry!!!

The beach area was lovely. Small areas dotted alongside where you can walk down alongside the waters edge and seeall the boats in the distance. There's also a small alcove where Queen Victoria sat to look out across the water.

Then it was a walk around the magnificent gardens. The gardeners were changing to summer bedding and it looked wonderful. So many statues were dotted around. From the outside it does look very Italian (Albert was inspired by Italian visits) and as a visitor you will love it!

There's also a walled fruit and flower garden with greenhouses to visit.

If you can go DO! If you have always wanted to go DO!

Osborne was truly beautiful.

Prices are from £26 for adults to £68 for a family. Cheaper if you book in advance. I joined English Heritage (who maintain the property) to get the most out of my brief visit to the Isle of Wight.

Photographs Copyright Paul Ratcliffe