Osborne House:
The Royal Love Story on the Isle of Wight

It began as a true love story — a royal partnership built on devotion, ambition, and shared purpose. When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, the young couple inherited three royal residences. Yet despite their grandeur, none provided the comfort, seclusion, or family-friendly atmosphere they longed for to raise their nine children.

Their solution was to create a peaceful, private refuge on the Isle of Wight, and be only three and half hours from London by rail to Gosport’s Royal Victoria Station, where she transfered to the royal yacht for the Solent crossing to Osborne. Today, the same trip today takes four and a half hours due to the increased traffic.

You can explore this seaside sanctuary and include some of their cost-saving design elements in your own home.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married on 10 February 1840 at the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace in London. She was 20 years old and Prince Albert was 21 years old .

When they married in 1840, they had three residences in which to live in England: Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and the Royal Pavillion at Brighton, the fantastical seaside palace created by her uncle, King George IV, and ccess to their official residence of Holyrood House in Scotland.

Brighton had become increasingly crowded, with curious visitors pressing up to the windows of the Royal Pavilion to catch a glimpse inside. Seeking greater privacy and open space for their growing family, Queen Victoria sold the Brighton property and used the proceeds to help finance a new home. In 1845, she and Prince Albert purchased an estate on the Isle of Wight for £28,000—equivalent to over £3.6 million today—creating a secluded royal retreat by the sea.

The Old Osborne House which stood on the property was owned by Lady Isabella Blanchford. Queen Victoria had spent time in the home when she was growing up and loved the setting. Since the Blanchrod house was too small for their family, it was demolished to make way for their new family home.

Queen Victoria wrote "It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot -- we have a charming beach quite to ourselves -- we can walk anywhere without being followed or mobbed." She referred to the location as this ‘Little Paradise’ by the Sea, and it would become her family’s home rather than a royal residence for their nine children.

Situated on the Isle of Wight, Osborne House remains one of Britain’s most significant royal residences, offering glimpses into the private life of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the lifestyle of their growing family.

According to the Osborne Guidebook, Osborne would allow Albert to pursue some of his many passions, including estate management, agricultural improvement, building, landscape design, gardening and education.

Victoria's journal in 1848 referred to him as 'Albert the Creator'.

At their family home, they loved being together and sharing their love of country, family and each other. The construction project unfolded in true “work-in-progress” fashion.

The image below is from 1855. The family home grew larger with additions allowing Queen Victoria to be with her family and carry out her monarchial duties.

The main house, known as The Pavilion, was built in 1846 to house the family's private apartments. Carl Raymond, from the Gilded Gentleman interviewed Dr. Christopher Warleigh-Lack, curator at English Heritage in a podcast on 6 August 2024 describing the compactness of their private home, while still functioning as a palace. The large function rooms are on the ground floor. A suite of rooms for Queen Victoria and Albert are on the first floor and the nursery suite on the second floor.

Two additonal wings were added, the green wing for the main household, and last, the exotic Durbar Wing in blue for formal entertaining.

Prince Albert worked closely with architect and builder Thomas Cubitt to demolish the existing building on the property and create their new home.

According to room attendant Lee, who preferred we use his first name: “Prince Albert loved the Italian design which he had seen in his travels in Italy. This water colour painting hangs in the hallway outside their bedroom. Look closely and you’ll see honey-coloured stone buildings with two towers which may have been the inspiration for the design of Osborne House".

Drawing from Victoria’s Duchy of Lancaster income, Albert’s marriage allowance, the couple dipped into their own private purses and family savings rather than securing funding by Parliament or taxpayers.

That meant working within a budget, but Victoria and Albert were reluctant to sacrifice style. Albert had spent time in Italy and admired the homes along the Bay of Naples. He modeled Osborne on the Italian Renaissance palazzos he had seen during his travels — a touch of Tuscany by The Solent (the strait of the English Channel between the mainland coast of the county of Hampshire, England and the northwestern coast of the Isle of Wight.) The Isle of Wight means raised island or place of division.

As you walk to the front of the house, the honey-coloured stone façade looks very similar to the one in the painting above.

Albert insisted on practical solutions that would still reflect his vision ensuring the house matched his design preferences while avoiding excessive strain on their own funds.

By balancing style with economy, the construction included several cost-saving measures without compromising Albert’s chosen features.

By the 20th century, new features were added to make parts of Osborne more accessible — a reminder that even royal retreats need a little updating now and then.

The Façade

Albert wanted his home to echo the golden sandstone villas he admired on the Italian Riviera; however, importing limestone would have been costly and time-consuming.

Thomas Cubitt used locally-made bricks coated in stucco to mimic sandstone, a technique he had successfully implemented in Belgravia.

The switch in techniques cut costs dramatically: limestone could be three to four times more expensive than brick and stucco, not to mention the added price of quarrying, shipping, and employing skilled stonemasons.

Using bricklayers and plasterers meant the work was faster and more economical. Bricks made on the Isle of Wight avoided shipping delays, and stucco was mixed from simple materials.

The result looked like stone, cost far less, and allowed the royal family to move into their new seaside retreat in just two years, from 1845 to 1847.

The only use of real stone on the exterior is the porte-cochère, built of Portland stone, where guests stepped down from their carriages to enter the house.

Both Albert and Victoria enjoyed playing the piano, including duets together. Albert designed the piano at the far end of the Drawing room which was made by Erard and included Tulipwood, gilt bronze, porcelain, steel, ivory.

Dr. Warleigh-Lack added on the podcast: "After Albert died, she commissioned a portrait of him, and it hangs on the headboard of her bed."

Look closely on the left side of the headboard and you will see a small green satin bag.

Dr. Warleigh-Lack continued, "After Albert died, Victoria placed his pocket watch in the bag each night so she could hear the tickeing of his watch."

Queen Victoria's Death Creates New Traditions

Taylor continued: "There are lots of stories, but when Victoria died, she had been queen for about 63 years, and so there was nobody to really ask: ‘What do we do?’

"So, it was very frantic here, with telegraphs going backwards and forwards to London. Organizing her coffin to be brought down, which ended up hunting somebody local to create one for her. 

“There were all sorts of protocols that they hadn't thought of and didn't realize that she didn't want to be on display in London. She just wanted to be downstairs in a coffin here, and she just had her staff and her family, to pay their respects.

“But before she died, she lay in a day bed brought near the window so she could look out from the bed for three or four days. 

“And she had specifically asked not to have a death mask, which is why there's a watercolour painting. which had been made from photographs.”

Taylor continued, “But she also had said she didn't want to be embalmed. It was January, so it was quite difficult, but they had huge number of flowers, and even down the stairs."

Her coffin was placed in the dining room with four guards, one at each corner. It started the tradition of the changing of the guard around the coffin. Because she refused to be embalmed, the four guards around her were allowed to change every 15 minutes because the smell was overwhelming, even with the masses of flowers.

Taylor explained when she was taken through the streets of London she was on a gun carriage, pulled by horses. The horses found it difficult getting up the hills, and a couple of the horses tried to bolt.

The situation was frantic, and the tradition now is anybody who is having a royal funeral will be on a gun carriage, however, they're only pulled by Royal Navy sailors and never horses.

Since then, sailors—about 98 pulling and 40 steadying behind—have drawn the carriage in every major state and royal funeral.

Taylor added: So, all sorts of traditions have come out of Victoria's death. As soon as anybody ascends the throne now, the first thing that's organized is their funeral.

Victoria is buried in Frogmore, with Albert. Her mother died the same year that Albert died.

They are burried at the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore.

Durbar Corridor

Walk along the Durbar Corridor, which leads into the grand Durbar Room beyond. The corridor is lined with portraits that reflect Queen Victoria’s deep fascination with India, especially after the title Empress of India was conferred upon her in 1876.

Many of these portraits were painted by the Austrian artist Rudolf Swoboda. In 1886, Victoria sent him to India with a very specific mission to show the diversity of India: to paint people from different regions, faiths, and communities. He returned with about forty works, an extraordinary snapshot of the diversity of India at that time.

The most famous person is Abdul Karim, her Indian attendant who became her teacher, or Munshi, in Urdu. Their close relationship stirred controversy at court but fascinated Victoria—so much so that his portrait has pride of place here. If you saw the movie, Victoria and Abdul, made in 2017, this is the person who was so instrumental to her life.

Walk into the separate, small museum Albert built for the children to learn about the world by viewing the gifts and collectables the family acquired. It's an astonishing arrary of artifacts.

The Seaside

Part of the charm of the estate is to stroll on the path from the house through the woods until you reach the sea.

In Victoria’s time, between the 1840s–1890’s, swimming was all about modesty. Her bathing outfit was a dress with bloomers, often weighted so the fabric wouldn’t float up in the water. Some costumes used nearly nine yards of fabric. They were usually made of wool or flannel, which made swimming quite difficult and took a long time to dry.

To protect her privacy, Queen Victoria used a special bathing machine—a wooden hut on wheels that rolled straight into the sea. From inside, she could step directly into the water, hidden from view. Hers was especially ornate, complete with a veranda and curtains.

The Children Grow Up and Marry

Queen Victoria was known as the "grandmother of Europe" through the marriages of her nine children into European royal families. Her eldest daughter, Victoria, married the Crown Prince of Prussia in 1858. Her eldest son, Edward (later Edward VII), married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. Other children also married into royal lines such as her second daughter, Alice, who married the Grand Duke of Hesse.

Prince Albert is best known for the Great Exhibition of 1851, which showcased Britain’s industry. The profits funded South Kensington museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum. He helped design Osborne House, Balmoral Castle, and modernized royal residences. He supported education, factory reform, sanitation, and science.

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, Victoria carried a sprig of myrtle from a bush given to her by her German grandmother, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. That bush was planted in the gardens at Osborne House.

It flourished, and ever since, sprigs of myrtle from this same plant have been included in the wedding bouquets of many royal brides including:

*Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) – 1923, when she married the future George VI.
*Princess Elizabeth (later *Queen Elizabeth II) – 1947, when she married Prince Philip.
*Princess Margaret – 1960, when she married Antony Armstrong-Jones.
*Princess Anne – 1973, when she married Mark Phillips.
*Princess Diana (Lady Diana Spencer) – 1981, when she married Prince Charles.*
*Sarah Ferguson – 1986, when she married Prince Andrew.
*Sophie Rhys-Jones – 1999, when she married Prince Edward.
*Catherine Middleton (Kate) – 2011, when she married Prince William.
*Meghan Markle – 2018, when she married Prince Harry.
*Princess Eugenie – 2018, when she married Jack Brooksbank.
*Princess Beatrice – 2020, when she married Edoardo Mapelli Moz