The Royal Pavilion in Aldershot: The Most Unpretentious Royal Residence

In the town of Aldershot in Hampshire, there was an wooden lodge that was dubbed as the most unpretentious of all the homes owned by the BritishRoyal Family. Named Royal Pavilion, it was nevertheless the opposite of the ostentatious Royal Pavilion in Brighton. It was built in 1855 for Queen Victoria by George Myers, as such it was also called the Queen's Pavilion. This wooden lodge was used by members of the British Royal Family when in Aldershot to attend military reviews and other occasions. 

Queen Victoria first visited the Royal Pavilion on June 10, 1855 to take refreshments after inspecting the nearby military camp. The following year, in April, she stayed here when she inspected 14,000 troops at Aldershot. The pavilion’s simplicity “delighted” the queen, while the “charming views from its windows and its seclusion" proved inspiring that she painted some of these views around the residence.

However, not everyone was delighted with the Pavilion’s simplicity. A correspondent for The Illustrated London News described it as a “bald, cold and ugly to an extreme.” 

Constructed using wood, the walls were painted with white, while the window shutters were painted green. The Pavilion had a breakfast room, drawing room, large dining room with salon and a study for Prince Albert. Its interior walls and ceilings were made of canvas stretched over a wooden frame and papered over.  Four large bedrooms accommodated the queen and the prince consort,  while two spare rooms were allotted to important guests. 

King George V, Queen Mary, and several members of the British Royal Family with military officers at the Pavilion in 1921. 

The pavilion opened up to a terrace with a small artificial pond with goldfish. The stable accommodated 40 horses while a separate lodging on the rear portion of the pavilion houses a kitchen and servants' quarters were nearby in a detached building at the rear of the Pavilion. An underground passage with glass roofing connects the kitchens to the Pavilion.

A number of royals resided on the Royal Pavilion for brief periods. The Duke of Connaught lived here for a while in 1879, shortly after his wedding to Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia. In March 1903 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra also occupied the resident. King George V and Queen Mary regularly stayed here on the early years of the king’s reign. In 1914, while the royal pair was in residence, Suffragettes attempted to get into the grounds but were prevented by the police. The Pavilion laid empty for the next nine years, until 1921, when the royals stopped by after attending one of the famous military tattoos in Aldershot.

In 1935, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, resided here when he  took the Army staff course. His wife, the Duchess of Gloucester, described it as a “very simple cabin". In fact, the lodge was plain enough to make her quip that "the only royal thing about it was my husband's presence".

At the height of World War II, The Royal Pavilion was taken over by the Aldershot and District Borough Council and served as officers' mess for various regiments until it was finally dismantled in 1963 to give way for the a training centre of the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. For the occasion, Princess Margaret was invited to lay the foundation stone.  

Here are some early 20th century shots of the Pavilion's interior. Enjoy!

All photographs were taken from Wikimedia Commons and are under the Creative Commons License.