Fit for a Queen: Highlights of the Royal Collection
January 27, 2015 - Alwyn Collinson in News & Blog Posts
Some of the finest items in the 200 Objects we’ve chosen to tell the story of Waterloo come from the Royal Collection. These include items on display at royal residences such as Windsor Castle. The Royal Collection is among the largest and most important art collections in the world and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. It comprises almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts and has been shaped by the tastes of monarchs over 500 years.
One of those monarchs was George, Prince Regent, later George IV. At the time of the Battle of Waterloo, the Prince acted in place of his father the King and despite never seeing active service regarded himself as a key player in the defeat of Napoleon. Many of the objects relating to the Battle in the Collection, including the many contemporary prints, drawings and ‘trophies’ from the battlefield were acquired by the Prince and show his fascination with the fallen French Emperor.
Napoleon’s Burnous. Copyright Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Items we’re featuring from the Royal Collection include both ‘trophies’ from the battlefield and objects acquired by the Prince Regent and his successors to commemorate the great victory. A personal favourite of mine is Napoleon’s magnificent Egyptian cloak, seized from his carriage after the battle and now on display at Windsor Castle. Also at Windsor Castle is the Waterloo Chair: this patriotic piece of furniture was carved out of wood from a tree that marked the Duke of Wellington’s command post on the Waterloo battlefield. Every inch of it is covered in heraldry, symbolism, and general celebration of the British victory. We might consider it a bit over the top now, but it shows how overjoyed the people of the time were to have finally ended twenty years of destructive war against the French.
If you would like to see some of these treasures for yourself, in the best possible setting, head to Windsor Castle this year. Rebuilt at the orders of the Prince Regent, this royal residence houses the Waterloo Chamber, the monarch’s spectacular monument to the Allied victory. The chamber includes 38 portraits of the statesmen, politicians, diplomats and military leaders who allied against Napoleon, many by the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The Waterloo Chair, copyright Royal Collection.
Throughout 2015 Historic Royal Palaces is marking the bicentenary with a special themed visit at Windsor Castle, incorporating an exhibition and a themed trail through the State Apartments. ‘Waterloo at Windsor: 1815 – 2015’ sounds like a fantastic exhibition. For the first time in decades, visitors to Windsor will be able to walk through the magnificent Waterloo Chamber, rather than only passing by each end. Waterloo 200 visited the Waterloo Chamber last year to photograph some of the 200 Objects and I would highly recommend it.
Other Royal highlights amongst our 200 Objects includes a macabre keepsake: the bullet that killed Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
We’ll be revealing more of the Queen’s treasures relating to Waterloo as we approach the anniversary of the Battle in June. Later this year we’ll take you behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace to show you another Royal Collection masterpiece, the largest item in our 200 Objects – a vase as tall as a double decker bus!
