2-888-175 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Osborne House - the Garden Front, 1850. Royal residence on the Isle of Wight: 'The entrance tower, with lofty campanile, is a conspicuous object...the main building...contains a great number of rooms for the Royal Family. The pleasure-grounds, or gardens, are very prettily laid out, and contain a profusion of flowering shrubs...The shrubs and dwarf trees, we should mention, are not entirely Royal additions to the beauties of Osborne, as great numbers of them, and especially those of larger growth - were planted by the former possessors of Osborne...the unassuming yet elegant character of Osborne is one of its most agreeable features; and, indeed, to our minds, this perfect simplicity, so opposed to regal grandeur, is proof of the high taste of refinement displayed by the Queen and Prince Albert in making this their retreat from the bustle of a London season'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.