West Sussex

England Tourist Royal Pavilion Brighton Sussex

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• published: 10 Aug 2015
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In the 16th century Brighton, then called Brighthelmston, was a fishing village. In the 18th century the fishing industry went into decline, people moved away to look for work and those that remained were poverty stricken, too poor to pay their rates. Today it is a lively cosmopolitan metropolis, often referred to as London-by-the-Sea. Due to its close proximity to the capital city, being less than one hour’s journey time away, Londoners flock to Brighton at week-ends, which probably gave rise to the saying ‘a dirty weekend in Brighton’ helped, no doubt, by the antics of the future King of England, George IV, at the time of his visits to the town. The town’s fortunes were reversed, in part, by some doctors claiming that diseases could be cured by bathing in sea-water. King George III was the first royal to regularly visit the seaside town of Weymouth to swim. His son, later to become King George IV, favoured Brighton where he rented a respectable farm-house, which he then purchased and extended into what is now the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. Being away from London and his parents, who he never got on well with and they him, allowed him the freedom to indulge in his extravagant lifestyle and his passions of drinking, womanising and gambling that scandalised the country and got him heavily into debt. It was also a discreet location for the Prince to enjoy liaisons with his long-time companion, Maria Fitzherbert, whom he later married in secret. Travel in the 18th century was expansive so only rich towns people could afford to holiday at the seaside. The rich have a tendency to follow in the footsteps of the royals, so houses for the wealthy were built as Brighton attracted everyone of importance. Queen Victoria made her first visit to the Royal Pavilion in 1837. Wanting to distance herself and her family from her Uncle’s lavish lifestyle and extravagance she adopted a frugal lifestyle. She hated the lack of privacy and space that the Royal Pavilion offered her and her growing family so finally she sold it to the town of Brighton for £50,000 in 1850. She ordered the building to be stripped of all interior decorations, fittings and furnishings for use in other royal homes. Some of these have been returned but it is nothing like it was in its heyday. During the First World War the Pavilion was transformed into a military hospital. From December 1914 to January 1916, sick and wounded soldiers from the Indian Army were treated in the former palace. Tags: Brighton royal pavilion, The Lanes Brighton, Brighton Tourist, England Tourist, King George IV, England landmarks, English landmarks, Brighton Historic Buildings, Royal Pavilion Brighton, Touring England Brighton, Touring South England, England tourist places, Touring England,