Royal London walks make for an intriguing way to discover London’s Palace quarter around St James’s and Buckingham Palace.
There are many anecdotes and fascinating facts that those who take the Discovery Tours London walk around this lovely area can get to know. The cast of characters include Royals and aristocrats, not to mention one or two ordinary citizens who would probably have never dreamed that one day in the future their actions would be immortalised on our London walks.
Among the famous names who crop up on our walks through Royal London is Charlie Chaplin who made his first appearance on film in London on the corner of Queen’s Walk in 1896. At the time an early newsreel was being shot at the junction and Chaplain, who was then seven years old, hung around until the camera started rolling. The moment it did so he leapt in front of the camera and began performing acrobatics to the delight of onlookers and the extreme annoyance of the camera man who finally managed to drive the precocious child away and continue with his shoot.
Near to this junction is Green Park, which in the 18th century was a popular spot for the fighting of duels. One such encounter that we love to tell the story of on our London walks is the encounter between Count Alfieri who was having an affair with the wife of Lord Ligonier.
As the two men sat watching the opening scenes of a performance at the Opera House, Lord Ligonier challenged Alfieri to a duel. The two men duly stood up and left the performance. But, just as the last act was about to begin, Alfieri arrived back at the Opera House with his arm in a sling. People were anxious to know what had occurred between the two adversaries, to which Alfieri replied airily, ‘My view is that Ligonier did not kill me because he did not want to, and I did not kill him because I did not know how.’
Of course no Royal London walk would be complete without the inclusion of Buckingham Palace and we have many anecdotes to tell about members of the Royal family throughout the centuries.
One such anecdote concerns Edward V11 who, in 1905, in an office on the top floor of the wing that faces out onto the Mall enjoyed an encoutner that he would joke about for the rest of his life.
An art galllery porter had been sent to deliver a picture to the Palace and was left alone in the office to unwrap it and prepapre it for hanging.
Having finished the job he sat down at a writing desk and noticed the stationary which was heavily embossed with the words Buckingham Palace.
Unable to resist, he began scribbling a letter on to a piece of writing paper, but had only managed two lines when he heard a cough behind him. Turning he was horrified to see King Edward V11 standing behind him.
Leaping to his feet the embarrassed porter stammered an apology. The King picked up his letter and burst out laughing. The two lines that the porter had scrawled read simply ‘Dear Father, Please note the change of address…’
The delighted King handed the red-faced porter a sovereign and sent him on his way.
Tags: Charlie Chaplin, london walking tours, London walks, Queen's Walk, Royal London. Buckingham Palace, Sightseeing in London
