The Georgian Marquess: July 2013

This weekend, I watched a movie that combined four of my great loves. My love of Dame Maggie Smith, my love of England, my love of Opera and classical music, and my love of great Georgian architecture. I'm referring to the movie Quartet. The main setting for this movie is the fictional Beecham house, which is filmed at the beautiful Hedsor House.

Once a Victorian house, it has since been renovated into Georgian style house. It was once the residence of Princess Augusta, the Dowager Princess of Wales. She was the wife of the heir apparent to the British throne, son of George II who died before his father, meaning that he never became king. Instead, their oldest son became the notorious King George III who is known as being the longest reigning monarch of England before being overtaken by Elizabeth II and his granddaughter Victoria, as well as for going mad for the last 10 years before his death (1810-1820) at which point his son became the Prince Regent. The park was frequently visited by Queen Victoria.