Marlborough House

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Marlborough House

Marlborough House is a mansion in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross....
, London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, in Pall Mall

Pall Mall, London

Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, situated in London SW1 and parallel to The Mall , from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square....
just east of St James's Palace.

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Marlboroughhousethshepherdpubl1850s Edited

Marlborough House is a mansion in Westminster

Westminster

London

Pall Mall, London

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

Sarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Anne of Great Britain....
, the favourite

Favourite

In historical writings, when used in reference to a person, favourite, also spelled favorite , means the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person....
and confidante of Queen Anne

Anne of Great Britain

Anne became Queen of England, Queen of Scots and Kingdom of Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England. Her Roman Catholic father, James II of England, was Glorious Revolution in 1688/9; her brother-in-law and her sister then became joint monarchs as William III & II and Mary II of England, the only such c...
. The Duchess wanted her new house to be "strong, plain and convenient". Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren was a 17th century England designer, astronomer, geometer, and one of the greatest English architects in history. Wren designed 53 London churches, including St Paul's Cathedral, as well as many secular buildings of note....
, both father and son, designed a brick building with rusticated stone quoins that was completed in 1711. For over a century it served as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough

Duke of Marlborough

The Dukedom of Marlborough , is a hereditary title of British nobility in the Peerage of Peerage of England. The first holder of the title was John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , the noted English general, and indeed an unqualified reference to the Duke of Marlborough in a historical text will almost certainly be a reference to him...
.

The house was taken up by the Crown in 1817 (Pevsner). In the 1820s plans were drawn up to demolish Marlborough House and replace it with a terrace of similar dimensions to the two in Carlton House Terrace

Carlton House Terrace

Carlton House Terrace refers to a street in the St. James's district of London, England, and in particular to two terraces of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of the street overlooking St....
, and this idea even featured on some contemporary maps, including Christopher and John Greenwood's large-scale London map of 1830, but the proposal was not implemented. The house was used by members of the Royal Family

British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in his or her Commonwealth realm#The Crown in the Commonwealth realmss, thus sometimes at variance with official national terms for the family....
and from 1853 to 1861 Prince Albert

Prince Albert

Prince Albert may refer to:...
arranged for it to be used by the "National Art Training School", later the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is a university in London, England, United Kingdom. It is the world?s only wholly postgraduate art and design institution, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy....
. After they vacated it was substantially enlarged for the Prince of Wales to designs by Sir James Pennethorne

James Pennethorne

Sir James Pennethorne was a notable 19th century England architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London....
(1861-63), who added a range of rooms on the north side and a deep porch. From 1863 until he became King Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910....
in 1901, it was the home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. During this period Marlborough House became the social centre of London.

The nearly cubical Saloon retains wall-paintings by Louis Laguerre

Louis Laguerre

Louis Laguerre was a French decorative painter mainly working in England.Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Antonio Verrio, and then on his own....
of the battle of Blenheim

Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim , fought on 13 August 1704, was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV of France of Kingdom of France sought to knock Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg Monarchy capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement....
. A cupola inserted in the ceiling is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi

Orazio Gentileschi

Orazio Lomi Gentileschi was an Italy Baroque painter, one of more important painters influenced by Caravaggio . He was the father of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi....
for the Queen's House, Greenwich, 1636. There are paired staircases flanking the Saloon, with further battle pieces by Laguerre. Most of the interiors have been altered (Pevsner).

A late Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international Art movement and style of art, architecture and applied art?especially the decorative arts?that peaked in popularity at Fin de si?cle of the 20th century ....
-Gothic memorial fountain by Alfred Gilbert

Alfred Gilbert

Sir Alfred Gilbert was an England sculpture and goldsmith who enthusiastically experimented with metallurgy innovations. He was a central ? if idiosyncratic ? participant in the New Sculpture movement that invigorated sculpture in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century....
(1926-32) in the Marlborough Road wall of the house commemorates Alexandra

Alexandra of Denmark

Alexandra of Denmark was queen consort to Edward VII of the United Kingdom and thus Empress of India during her husband's reign, 1901 to 1910....
, Edward's queen.

In 1936 Marlborough House became the London residence of the Queen Dowager

Queen Dowager

A queen dowager or dowager queen is a title or status generally held by the widow of a deceased king. Its full meaning is clear from the two words from which it is composed: queen indicates someone who served as queen consort , while dowager indicates a widow who holds the title from her deceased husband....
, Queen Mary

Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck was the queen consort of George V of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India. Before her husband's accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales....
, widow of King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha....
. Following Queen Mary's death in 1953 Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms: Monarchy of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, Monarchy of Australia, Monarchy of New Zealand, Monarchy of Jamaica, Monarchy of Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Monarchy of the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Sain...
donated it for use by the Commonwealth Secretariat

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating cooperation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings ; assisting and advising on policy development; and providing assistance to coun...
, which continues to use it today.

Marlborough House is usually open to the public for Open House Weekend each September.

Marlborough House

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