Royal Interiors, Part II

[traditionalist]

The Queen Palace's

New BBC series with fiona Bruce exploring the history of
Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyrood house.

Starts with Buckingham Palace, here is the link to the first episode on BBC i player.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014s302/The_Queens_Palaces_Buckingham_Palace/

[RoyalWatcher]

Alas, apparently one must live in the UK in order to view the BBC version from its website; however, there is a version of it up on YouTube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvx3o48Rc1U

Sadly, it isn't in HD, but, it's gorgeous nonetheless!

[CHRISinUSA]

Very gorgeous indeed.  From my perspective the program is a little heavy on the history of the objects and artists from the royal collection - and a little light on the palaces themselves, but gorgeous none the less.

[Martyn]

Very gorgeous indeed.  From my perspective the program is a little heavy on the history of the objects and artists from the royal collection - and a little light on the palaces themselves, but gorgeous none the less.

I would agree with that Chris.  I was a bit disappointed with the Windsor Castle episode.  One good thing though.  This series really does illustrate what a great debt the Royal Collection owes to George IV! 

The highlight of the Windsor Castle episode was the bit about Queen Mary's dollshouse - the original and inspired creation of Pcss Marie Louise and Edwin Lutyens - amazing!

[ashdean]

The Dolls House indeed was the best part of a v interesting programme.....pity Fiona Bruce who is a excellent narrator couldnt find a good stylist though!

[RoyalWatcher]

The Queen's Palaces: Windsor Castle

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Vi6XtB5hY

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_g8mJfrOx0

[CHRISinUSA]

Just watched the Windsor episode and once again, I felt like it would have been more accurately named "The Royal Collection at Windsor" instead of "The Queen's Palaces".  I found myself fast-forwarding past endless history of particular objects, their artists and royal benefactors.  The castle itself seemed no more than a backdrop for the story-line. 

I so wish the program had instead followed gone room-to-room and explained the name, purpose and decor of each, along with a brief description of the most important objects contained.  A bit more past-to-present display would have also been appreciated (showing the room today and then paintings or drawings of the same room in past eras).

But I was thankful for some of the wide backdrop scenes as the host entered each room.  It truly gives an awe-inspiring perspective of the scale and opulence of the castle.  Stunning..

[RoyalWatcher]

I couldn't agree more. It's curious as to why it was decided to approach these documentaries in that manner. The one interesting bit I really did enjoy was the secret passage that lead one out of the castle in times of battle. For me, it seemed that the first half hour of the program was rather fluffy without much substance.

Onwards to Holyrood Palace!

[RoyalWatcher]

The Queen's Palaces: Holyrood Palace

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCl8L8B74M

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R77izown4us

[Emperor of the Dominions]

Fiona Bruce is always a joy to watch, however I think the opportunity has been missed in this series to give a real sense of the layouts of these palaces. A walk-through by Fiona would have, in my opinion been much more interesting and one could have perhaps been given an idea of the scale and how rooms interconnect etc. Perhaps there were security concerns over such an approach? I believe the last in the series from Hollyrood House lacked focus and seemed more concerned with providing a biography of Mary Queen of Scots; interesting, but nonetheless slightly off topic.

R.I.

[RoyalWatcher]

Emperor of the Dominions, I think you are being to kind to Ms Bruce. I think she royally missed the mark on the last palace, Holyrood. You're absolutely right, it contained a mini-bio of Mary Queen of Scots and to some degree Charles II and (Bonnie) Prince Charles. Why we stayed in France for that long I do not understand. I was becoming a bit impatient actually.

I was really hoping that the series was going to be a walk through of each palace as well as see the flow of the rooms. I bet you're right about it being a security issue; however, why not focus more on the architecture, the ornate finishing of the floors, walls and ceiling as well as the meaning behind each of them. In all of the State Room ceilings in Buckingham Palace, each has a theme and it's carried throughout the room up to and including gorgeous royal badges of royal orders in several rooms. It is stunning. I have never in my life seen anything that rivals its lavishness. As for Windsor Castle, it is stunning in its own right, but it gives off a very different feel than Buckingham Palace. You can feel the history there. The rooms are incredibly grand, but older...much older. It has a warmth that Buckingham Palace does not.

[Soane]

I was really hoping that the series was going to be a walk through of each palace as well as see the flow of the rooms. I bet you're right about it being a security issue; however, why not focus more on the architecture, the ornate finishing of the floors, walls and ceiling as well as the meaning behind each of them. In all of the State Room ceilings in Buckingham Palace, each has a theme and it's carried throughout the room up to and including gorgeous royal badges of royal orders in several rooms.

Exactly. Fiona Bruce is a vacuous presence on our screens. This series was ostensibly a guide to royal palaces, not royal personalities. The indiscretions of Mary, Queen of Scots, however interesting, had no impact on the form of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Was the date of the construction of the original palace (1501-1505/6 if anyone is interested) mentioned once during the entire programme? No. Was the viewer given any sense of the layout of the building and its architectural development over time? No. Is Fiona Bruce a trained architectural historian who has the necessary academic knowledge to both write and present an informative, instructive and interesting television series about buildings that, despite their fame, are relatively poorly understod. No.

Fiona Bruce has a degree in French and Italian (the languages, not the arts or architecture) at Hertford College, Oxford and then embarked on a career as a news presenter. Over the past year she appears to have inveigled herself onto every arts or antiques programme going, including a BBC programme about the recently discovered Salvator Mundi by Leonardo. In future I would suggest that she focus on her position in the news room.

[Emperor of the Dominions]

I was really hoping that the series was going to be a walk through of each palace as well as see the flow of the rooms. I bet you're right about it being a security issue; however, why not focus more on the architecture, the ornate finishing of the floors, walls and ceiling as well as the meaning behind each of them. In all of the State Room ceilings in Buckingham Palace, each has a theme and it's carried throughout the room up to and including gorgeous royal badges of royal orders in several rooms.

Exactly. Fiona Bruce is a vacuous presence on our screens. This series was ostensibly a guide to royal palaces, not royal personalities. The indiscretions of Mary, Queen of Scots, however interesting, had no impact on the form of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Was the date of the construction of the original palace (1501-1505/6 if anyone is interested) mentioned once during the entire programme? No. Was the viewer given any sense of the layout of the building and its architectural development over time? No. Is Fiona Bruce a trained architectural historian who has the necessary academic knowledge to both write and present an informative, instructive and interesting television series about buildings that, despite their fame, are relatively poorly understod. No.

Fiona Bruce has a degree in French and Italian (the languages, not the arts or architecture) at Hertford College, Oxford and then embarked on a career as a news presenter. Over the past year she appears to have inveigled herself onto every arts or antiques programme going, including a BBC programme about the recently discovered Salvator Mundi by Leonardo. In future I would suggest that she focus on her position in the news room.

I think that's a little harsh on Ms Bruce. I suspect the brief she was given for the series was quite prescriptive, so the content may not be entirely her fault. Although I do agree with your observations of the content of the series - which basically mirrored my previous post on the subject.

R.I.

[CHRISinUSA]

Upon hearing today that William and Kate are to move into Princess Margaret's former home - Apartment 1a Kensington Palace, I browsed back through this thread to see what has already been posted about this particular apartment.  We know it lies on the south side of Clock Court, in the Stone Gallery wing which runs from a Vestibule at the far west of the palace to the foot of the King's Staircase in the palace's main block.

Does anyone have any photographs or inside information on this apartment's layout and rooms? 

[CountessKate]

Upon hearing today that William and Kate are to move into Princess Margaret's former home - Apartment 1a Kensington Palace, I browsed back through this thread to see what has already been posted about this particular apartment.  We know it lies on the south side of Clock Court, in the Stone Gallery wing which runs from a Vestibule at the far west of the palace to the foot of the King's Staircase in the palace's main block.

Does anyone have any photographs or inside information on this apartment's layout and rooms? 

It's nothing spectacular, but the Daily Mail has an aerial picture of KP with the apartments indicated and one of Princess Margaret in her drawing room:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058109/Kate-Middleton-Prince-William-to-Kensington-Palace.html