Half Term week, Saturday 11 – Sunday 19 February
Family focused guided tours taking a fascinating peek into the family life of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their nine children, will be on offer at Osborne House this February half term week.
From surprisingly informal everyday life to royal occasions and important anniversaries, the tours offer an historical journey through their special times spent at the house and provide an introduction to Queen Victoria’s extensive family.
Taking in some of Osborne’s ground floor rooms, the tours begin with a look at the early part of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s love story in 1843, and explain why – married for three years, both aged just 24, with three children and another on the way – they wanted somewhere to escape the glare of public life. They will end with an intimate look at Queen Victoria’s later life when she spent almost every Christmas at the house with her children and grandchildren.
Visitors will be able to ‘meet’ the family….introduced to them by expert guides through the portraits and statues of the royal children, including plaster casts of their hands and feet as babies, commissioned by their doting parents.
Prince Albert was an enlightened father by Victorian standards and the tours also reveal how he delighted in spending time with his children, often going with them into Osborne’s grounds to catch butterflies, fly kites, sail or swim.
Before or after their tour, families can stretch their legs around the terraces and Walled Garden and have fun looking out for red squirrels which can be seen scurrying around the lawns or leaping from tree to tree.
Osborne House will be open for guided tours from Saturday 11 until Sunday 19 February, 10am until 4pm (grounds open until 5pm). Tours begin 10am (last tour 2.30pm) and pre-booking is advisable. Normal admission prices apply: £11.50 for adults; £10.40 for concessions and £6.90 for children, family ticket £29.90. Free entry for English Heritage Members. To pre-book, call the house on 01983 200022.
For more information on English Heritage properties to visit in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire during the winter months visit www.english-heritage.org.uk or call 0870 333 1181.
