Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2011/January 2012 | Page 64

FEATURE

A glimpse into Christmas
past at Osborne House

In a special series for Island Life we are going behind the scenes
at Osborne House, one of the Isle of Wight’s most popular tourist
attractions. In this first part we are revealing how Queen Victoria and
her family spent Christmas at Osborne, and how those scenes are still
replicated for the modern day visitors.
This Christmas marks the 150th
anniversary of Queen Victoria
spending her first Christmas at
Osborne House. Contrary to popular
belief she and her husband Prince
Albert always spent Christmas at
Windsor Castle until Albert’s death in
December, 1861.
So Christmas at Osborne 150 years
ago would have been a very subdued
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affair for the recently widowed
Victoria, and her family who gathered
around her. For virtually every
Christmas until her death on January
22, 1901, Victoria and members of her
family returned to Osborne, with the
jollity of the festive season gradually
coming back into her life, particularly
with the arrival of grandchildren.
Another significant step came in

1885 when her youngest daughter
Princess Beatrice married fun-loving
Prince Henry of Battenberg, and he
did much to restore the magic of
Christmas to Osborne. Normally
Victoria would arrive at Osborne in
the middle of December and stay until
mid-February.
Michael Hunter, curator at Osborne
House explained: “Fortunately