Royal Pavilion, Brighton

The Royal Pavilion was built as a seaside palace for George, Prince of Wales, who became Prince Regent in 1811. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style of 19th Century India, and its interiors are in contrast Chinese with some Mughal influence, then the height of fashionable taste.

George liked Brighton because it was distant from London and thus a discreet location for meeting his mistress Mrs Fitzherbert. The sea-water also was thought to treat his gout.

Begun in 1787 the current building is the work of John Nash between 1815 and 1822.
After the death of George IV in 1830, William IV also stayed in the Pavilion on his visits to Brighton. However Queen Victoria disliked Brighton and the lack of privacy the Pavilion gave her and her family - especially after the railway connection to London opened in 1841. Her last visit was in 1845, and 5 years later the Brighton civic authorities purchased the Pavilion.

The Town used it as Assembly rooms and between 1914 and 1916 it was appropriately enough used as a hospital for wounded Indian soldiers serving with the BEF in France.