Royal Norfolk - Union Jack image

Royal Norfolk - 1000 years of Royal History

Norfolk has a long association with the King's and Queens of England and Great Britain, from William I, who established Norwich Castle as a royal palace soon after the conquest, to Elizabeth II whose private home, Sandringham is in the west of the county.

Here is a selection of Norfolk's royal links. 

 
Sandringham House - Royal Norfolk. Image (c) Sandringham Estate

Modern Times

  • Sandringham House in West Norfolk has been the private home of four generations of British monarchs - Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II. Queen Victoria purchased the house and estate in 1862 by for Prince Edward (later Edward VII) and his wife Alexandra. The house, museum, gardens and country park are open to the public.
  • The Thursford Collection hosted Prince William and Kate Middleton's first public engagement, when they attended Thursford's Christmas Spectacular last December.
  • HM The Queen officially opened The Forum, Norwich's landmark millennium building on 18 July 2002.
  • HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, visited Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, on 13 April 2008, to mark the reserve's 20th anniversary. The Duke of Edinburgh had officially opened the reserve on 11 July 1988.
  • HRH The Prince Wales, Patron of The National Trust's East Anglia Coast and Countryside Appeal officially opened the gazebo/viewing tower at Sheringham Park in February 1988.
  • King George VI opened City Hall in Norwich in October 1938, making a short speech witnessed by one of the largest crowds Norwich had ever seen and recorded by Pathé Newsreel. He also visited Norwich City FC, Carrow Road on the same day and became the first British monarch to watch a football league match.
  • The late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was patron of the King's Lynn Festival from 1951 until her death in 2002.
  • Lady Diana Spencer, later Princess of Wales was born at Park House on the Sandringham Estate 1 July 1961 and lived there until 1975. Park House is now a hotel run by Leonard Cheshire Disability.
  • The Royal Yacht visited Great Yarmouth in 1912 with Princess Victoria and Prince George of Greece and in 1993 with HM The Queen.
  • HRH Edward Prince of Wales officially opened the The Haven Bridge in Great Yarmouth in 1930
  • The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) visited Britannia Pier, Great Yarmouth in 1931.
  • Royal Cromer Golf Club (founded 1888), Royal West Norfolk Golf Club Brancaster (founded 1892), and Royal Norwich Golf Club (founded 1893) all had their royal prefix granted by Prince Edward, later Edward VII.
  • The Royal Norfolk Show had its royal prefix granted by Edward VII in 1908.
 
Norwich Castle - Royal Norfolk (c) Norfolk Tourism

From William the Conqueror to Queen Victoria

  • Norwich Castle was founded as a Royal Palace by William the Conqueror. William II began the stone keep in 1094, which was completed in 1121. Henry I stayed at the castle at the castle in 1103 and 1108 and visited in 1121 for Christmas.
  • Norwich had royal charters granted in 1158 by Henry II and in 1404, when it was one of the first town's in England to earn the rights granted by Henry IV Charter of Incorporation. The growth in the city's powers led to the building of The Guildhall, one of the largest and most elaborate medieval city hall's outside London.
  • Elizabeth I visited the city in 1578 when she may have stayed at The Maid's Head Hotel. The hotel, which dates form at least the 1280s also played hosted to Edward the Black Prince (son of Edward III) and Catherine of Aragon (first wife of Henry VIII).
  • King's Lynn's charter was granted by King John in 1204, who famously lost the Crown jewels in The Wash in 1216. Great Yarmouth also had its charter granted by King John in 1207. The renaming of the town of Lynn in 1537 from Bishop's Lynn to King's Lynn was by order of a charter from Henry VIII.
  • The Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham, one of Europe's great pilgrimage destinations was visited by most English monarchs from Henry III who made 12 visits from c. 1226 to Henry VIII (1511). Walsingham is an important modern pilgrimage destination, home to both the national Anglican and Roman Catholic Shrines.
  • Castle Rising Castle dates from c1140. The most famous period in its history was when Queen Isabella mother of Edward III, took over ownership following her part in the murder of her husband Edward II. She spent a lot of time at the castle and was visited by Edward III in 1342, 1343, 1344 and 1349. After her death in 1358, the castle passed to Edward The Black Prince and remained in royal hands until 1544.
  • Edward IV fled from King's Lynn by ship in 1470 at the height of the Wars of the Roses. He stayed the night in the house belonging to Walter Coney, which was on the site of the newsagents, opposite Wenns pub, at the south end of the High street. He returned to England a year later with an invasion army travelling in Hanseatic ships.
  • Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth stayed at Oxburgh Hall in 1487. Oxburgh is also home to an intriguing royal heirloom, needlework created by Mary Queen of Scots during her captivity at Tutbury Castle when she worked with 'Bess' of Hardwick, who sewed with her.
  • Blickling Hall (National Trust) is said to be visited by the ghost of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, on the anniversary of her death, 19 May. Blickling was owned by the Boleyn family from1499-1505. Charles II visited Blickling in 1671.
  • Charles I stayed at the Swan Inn in Downham Market in April 1646 when escape abroad through King's Lynn seemed possible. Unfortunately parliamentary watches were kept on the river so no boat could be hired. The King and his two companions retreated to Snore Hall manor house at nearby Fordham until a treaty with the Scots was deemed the best course of action.
  • Princess Victoria came to King's Lynn in 1835; two years before she became Queen, on her way to stay at Holkham Hall. Apparently the townspeople were so excited that they took the horses out of the coach and wanted to pull the carriage themselves. Princess Victoria and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, were so alarmed by this boisterous behaviour that they fled into a house in Buckingham Terrace until they could be reassured and were then pulled through the streets of Lynn by the men.
 
New Royal Wedding commemorative whisky (c) The English Whisky Company

English Whisky Company - Royal Wedding Commemorative Whisky

(25 February 2011)

The English Whisky Company, based at St George's Distillery, Roudham in Norfolk, England's first whisky distillery for more than 100 years, which released its first whisky in December 2009, has produced a Royal Wedding Commemorative Whisky.

The limited edition single malt (all bottles numbered) will be available in mid-March. The whisky is a ‘marriage' of casks, hand picked to create a unique whisky to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

St George's Distillery is open daily from 10am to 5pm. There are regular distillery tours.

For more information contact Andrew Nelstrop, Managing Director, The English Whisky Company, tel. 00 44 (0)1953 717939, email andrew@englishwhisky.co.uk, www.englishwhisky.co.uk.

 

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