Isle of Plenty
Where was Queen Victoria most amused? The answer may lie on the Isle of Wight at Osborne House, the royal’s most southerly residence. Set among leafy grounds and veteran oaks and yews, Osborne was described by the queen as her “little paradise”, her bolthole from the busyness of London.
The queen had a life-long soft spot for the island, having visited twice as a child. Her Husband, Prince Albert, was equally smitten, to the extent he, perhaps over-excitedly, compared its location overlooking the Solent to a view of the Bay of Naples. He extended the Italianate theme by designing the house –
