1.
Richmond Park
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Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park. The largest of Londons Royal Parks, it is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation and its landscapes have inspired many famous artists and it has been a location for several films and TV series. Richmond Park includes many buildings of architectural or historic interest, the Grade I-listed White Lodge was formerly a royal residence and is now home to the Royal Ballet School. Historically the preserve of the monarch, the park is now open for all to use and includes a course and other facilities for sport. It played an important role in world wars and in the 1948 and 2012 Olympics. Richmond Park is the largest of Londons Royal Parks and it is the second-largest park in London and is Britains second-largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. Measuring 3.69 square miles, it is comparable in size to Pariss Bois de Vincennes and it is almost half the size of Casa de Campo and around three times the size of Central Park in New York. Of national and international importance for conservation, most of Richmond Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The largest Site of Special Scientific Interest in London, it was designated as an SSSI in 1992, excluding the area of the course, Pembroke Lodge Gardens. In its citation, Natural England said, Richmond Park has been managed as a deer park since the seventeenth century. In particular, Richmond Park is of importance for its diverse deadwood beetle fauna associated with the ancient trees found throughout the parkland, in addition the park supports the most extensive area of dry acid grassland in Greater London. The park was designated as an SAC in April 2005 on account of its having a number of ancient trees with decaying timber. A public open space since the mid C19, Richmond Park is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton, day-to-day management of the Royal Parks has been delegated to The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks Board sets the direction for the agency. Appointments to the Board are made by the Mayor of London, the Friends of Richmond Park and the Friends of Bushy Park co-chair the Richmond and Bushy Parks Forum, comprising 38 local groups of local stakeholder organisations. Although welcoming the principles of the new arrangements, the forum. Richmond Park is enclosed by a wall with several gates
2.
John Soane
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Sir John Soane RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and he received a knighthood in 1831. His best-known work was the Bank of England, a building which had an effect on commercial architecture. He also designed Dulwich Picture Gallery, which, with its galleries, was a major influence on the planning of subsequent art galleries. The museum is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as one of the most complex, intricate, Soane was born in Goring-on-Thames on 10 September 1753. He was the surviving son of John Soan and his wife Martha. The e was added to the surname by the architect in 1784 on his marriage and his father was a builder or bricklayer, and died when Soane was fourteen in April 1768. He was educated in nearby Reading in a school run by William Baker. After his fathers death Soanes family moved to nearby Chertsey to live with Soanes brother William,12 years his elder, William Soane introduced his brother to James Peacock, a surveyor who worked with George Dance the Younger. Soane began his training as an architect age 15 under George Dance the Younger and joining the architect at his home and office in the City of London at the corner of Moorfields and Chiswell Street. Dance was a member of the Royal Academy and doubtless encouraged Soane to join the schools there on 25 October 1771 as they were free. There he would have attended the lectures delivered by Thomas Sandby. Dances growing family was probably the reason that in 1772 Soane continued his education by joining the household, Soane, a non-swimmer, was going to be with the party but decided to stay home and work on his design for a Triumphal Bridge. By 1777, Soane was living in his own accommodation in Hamilton Street, in 1778 he published his first book Designs in Architecture. He sought advice from Sir William Chambers on what to study, must discover their true beauties, and the secrets by which they are produced. Using his traveling scholarship of £60 per annum for three years, plus an additional £30 travelling expenses for each leg of the journey, Soane set sail on his Grand Tour, his ultimate destination being Rome, at 5,00 am,18 March 1778. His travelling companion was Robert Furze Brettingham, they travelled via Paris and they finally reached Rome on 2 May 1778. Soane wrote home my attention is taken up in the seeing and examining the numerous
3.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
4.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
5.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
6.
Thatching
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Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge, rushes, heather, or Palm fronds, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry, and is densely packed - trapping air - thatching also functions as a quite significant insulation material and it is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates. Thatch is still employed by builders in developing countries, usually with low-cost, in some equatorial countries, thatch is the prevalent local material for roofs, and often walls. There are diverse building techniques from the ancient Hawaiian hale shelter made from the local ti leaves, Palm leaves are also often used. For example, in Na Bure, Fiji, thatchers combine fan palm leave roofs with layered reed walls, feathered palm leaf roofs are used in Dominica. Alang-alang thatched roofs are used in Hawaii and Bali, in Southeast Asia, mangrove nipa palm leaves are used as thatched roof material known as attap dwelling. In Bali, Indonesia, the fibres of Arenga pinnata called ijuk is also used as thatched roof materials, usually used in Balinese temple roof. Sugar cane leaf roofs are used in Kikuyu tribal homes in Kenya, many indigenous people, such as the Maya, the Inca, and the Triple Alliance, lived in thatched buildings. Evidence of the complex buildings with fiber-based roofing material was not rediscovered until the early 2000s. French and British settlers built temporary thatched dwellings with local vegetation as soon as arrived in New France and New England. In most of England, thatch remained the only roofing material available to the bulk of the population in the countryside, in towns and villages. Commercial production of Welsh slate began in 1820, and the mobility provided by canals, gradually, thatch became a mark of poverty, and the number of thatched properties gradually declined, as did the number of professional thatchers. Thatch has become more popular in the UK over the past 30 years. Although thatch is popular in Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, parts of France, Sicily, Belgium and Ireland, good quality straw thatch can last for more than 50 years when applied by a skilled thatcher. Traditionally, a new layer of straw was simply applied over the surface. The straw is bundled into yelms before it is taken up to the roof and then is attached using staples, known as spars, almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat, rye, or a maslin mixture of both. Medieval wheat grew to almost 6 feet tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof, technological change in the farming industry significantly affected the popularity of thatching. The availability of good quality thatching straw declined in England after the introduction of the harvester in the late 1930s and 1940s
7.
Summer house
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A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. It can also refer to a residence, usually located in the country. Especially in Scandinavia, sommerhus/sommarhus is applied to residences, which rather than simple shelters can be larger dwellings such as cottages. Most of them are timber constructions, often suitable for year-round use, increasingly they have additions such as saunas, heating ovens, fireplaces or attractive gardens. Increasingly, English speakers call them summerhouses, a Swedish sommarstuga is traditionally painted with a special red colour called falu rödfärg and has white trimmed corners, windows and doors. Many of the Danish resorts depend on the rental of summerhouses to accommodate national and foreign tourists who can rent them, usually on a weekly basis, at prices well below those of hotels. But Scandinavians often spend an amount of time in their summerhouses which are often the venue for family reunions or simply weekends away from the office. In recent years, the popularity and thus the cost of summerhouses has increased appreciably, particularly in Denmarks coastal resorts, while under Danish law, owners are not normally permitted to use these houses as permanent homes, an exception is made for pensioners. In some attractive areas of Norway there is residence duty, meaning that an owner of a house must use it as their main home, other areas of Norway are defined as summer house areas, where it is forbidden to live permanently. This is because there are quality requirements for permanent homes that do not apply to cottages, sweden has no ban against using summer houses all of the year, or against using a normal house in summer only. This has made Swedish summer houses popular for Danes, Norwegians and Germans, but in some very attractive coastal areas prices are so high that residents cant afford a house, making some traditional coastal villages very silent in winter
8.
Stable
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A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals, the term stable is also used to describe a group of animals kept by one owner, regardless of housing or location. The exterior design of a stable can vary widely, based on climate, building materials, historical period, a wide range of building materials can be used, including masonry, wood and steel. Stables can range widely in size, from a building housing one or two animals to facilities at agricultural shows or race tracks that can house hundreds of animals. The stable is typically historically the second-oldest building type on the farm, the world’s oldest horse stables were discovered in the ancient city of Pi-Ramesses in Qantir, in Ancient Egypt, and were established by Ramesses II. These stables covered approximately 182,986 square feet, had floors sloped for drainage, free-standing stables began to be built from the 16th century. They were well built and placed near the house due to the value that the horses had as draught animals, high-status examples could have plastered ceilings to prevent dust falling through into the horses’ eyes. Relatively few examples survive of complete interiors from the century or earlier. Traditionally, stables in Great Britain had a hayloft on their first floor, doors and windows were symmetrically arranged. Their interiors were divided into stalls and usually included a stall for a foaling mare or sick horse. The floors were cobbled and featured drainage channels, outside steps to the first floor were common for farm hands to live in the building. For horses, stables are often part of a complex which includes trainers, vets. Stable is used metaphorically to refer to a group of people – often sportspeople – trained, coached, supervised or managed by the person or organisation. For example, art galleries typically refer to the artists they represent as their stable of artists, historically, the headquarters of a unit of cavalry, not simply their horses accommodation, would be known as a stable. Media related to stables at Wikimedia Commons, horse care, Barns and stables Glossary of equestrian terms Livery stable Nativity of Jesus Pen
9.
William Kent
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William Kent was an eminent English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century. As a landscape gardener he revolutionised the layout of estates, but had limited knowledge of horticulture and he complemented his houses and gardens with stately furniture for major buildings including Hampton Court Palace, Chiswick House, Devonshire House and Rousham. Kent was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, and baptised, on 1 January 1686, Kents career began as a sign and coach painter who was encouraged to study art, design and architecture by his employer. A group of Yorkshire gentlemen sent Kent for a period of study in Rome, by 18 November he was in Florence, staying there until April 1710 before finally setting off for Rome. In 1713 he was awarded the medal in the second class for painting in the annual competition run by the Accademia di San Luca for his painting of A Miracle of S. Andrea Avellino. During his stay in Rome, he painted the ceiling of the church of San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi with the Apotheosis of St. Julian, the most significant meeting was between Kent and Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. Kent started practising as a relatively late, in the 1730s. He is better remembered as an architect of the revived Palladian style in England, Burlington gave him the task of editing The Designs of Inigo Jones. With some additional designs in the Palladian/Jonesian taste by Burlington and Kent and these neo-antique buildings were inspired as much by the architecture of Raphael and Giulio Romano as by Palladio. Walpoles son Horace described Kent as below mediocrity as a painter, a restorer of science as an architect, a theatrically Baroque staircase and parade rooms in London, at 44 Berkeley Square, are also notable. Kents domed pavilions were erected at Badminton House and at Euston Hall, Kent could provide sympathetic Gothic designs, free of serious antiquarian tendencies, when the context called, he worked on the Gothic screens in Westminster Hall and Gloucester Cathedral. When Kent died, the work was completed by Stephen Wright, as a landscape designer, Kent was one of the originators of the English landscape garden, a style of natural gardening that revolutionised the laying out of gardens and estates. Smaller Kent works can be found at Shotover Park, Oxfordshire, including a faux Gothic eyecatcher and his all-but-lost gardens at Claremont, Surrey, have recently been restored. It is often said that he was not above planting dead trees to create the mood he required. Kents only real downfall was said to be his lack of knowledge and technical skill. Claremont, Stowe, and Rousham are places where their joint efforts can be viewed, Stowe and Rousham are Kents most famous works. At the latter, Kent elaborated on Bridgemans 1720s design for the property, adding walls, at Stowe, Kent used his Italian experience, particularly with the Palladian Bridge. At both sites Kent incorporated his naturalistic approach, the royal barge he designed for Frederick, Prince of Wales can still be seen at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
10.
Robert Walpole
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Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC, known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Although the exact dates of his dominance are a matter of scholarly debate and he dominated the Walpole–Townshend ministry and the Walpole ministry and holds the record as the longest-serving Prime Minister in British history. Speck says that Walpoles uninterrupted run of 20 years as Prime Minister is rightly regarded as one of the feats of British political history. He was a Whig from the class, who was first elected to Parliament in 1701. He was a squire and looked to country gentlemen for his political base. Hoppit says Walpoles policies sought moderation, he worked for peace, lower taxes, growing exports and he avoided controversy and high-intensity disputes, as his middle way attracted moderates from both the Whig and Tory camps. Dickinson sums up his role, Walpole was one of the greatest politicians in British history. He played a significant role in sustaining the Whig party, safeguarding the Hanoverian succession and he established a stable political supremacy for the Whig party and taught succeeding ministers how best to establish an effective working relationship between Crown and Parliament. Walpole was born in Houghton, Norfolk, in 1676, Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole was his younger brother. As a child, Walpole attended a school at Massingham. Walpole entered Eton College in 1690 where he was considered an excellent scholar and he left Eton on 2 April 1696 and matriculated at Kings College, Cambridge on the same day. On 25 May 1698 he left Cambridge after the death of his only remaining brother, Edward. Walpole had planned to become a clergyman but as he was now the eldest surviving son in the family, in November 1700 his father died, and Walpole succeeded to the estate. A paper in his fathers handwriting, dated 9 June 1700, shows the estate in Norfolk and Suffolk to have been nine manors in Norfolk. As a young man, Walpole had bought shares in the South Sea Company, which monopolized trade with Spain, the speculative market for slaves, rum and mahogany spawned a frenzy that had ramifications throughout Europe when it collapsed. However, Walpole had bought at the bottom and sold at the top, adding greatly to his inherited wealth, Walpoles political career began in January 1701 when he won a seat in the general election at Castle Rising. He left Castle Rising in 1702 so that he could represent the borough of Kings Lynn. Like his father, Robert Walpole was a member of the Whig Party, in 1705, Walpole was appointed by Queen Anne to be a member of the council for her husband, Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral
11.
Albert, Prince Consort
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Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the husband of Queen Victoria. He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europes ruling monarchs, at the age of 20, he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria, they had nine children. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Queen came to depend more and more on his support and guidance. Albert died at the young age of 42, plunging the Queen into deep mourning for the rest of her life. Upon Queen Victorias death in 1901, their eldest son succeeded as Edward VII, Albert was born at Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg, Germany, the second son of Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Alberts future wife, Victoria, was earlier in the same year with the assistance of the same midwife. Albert was baptised into the Lutheran Evangelical Church on 19 September 1819 in the Marble Hall at Schloss Rosenau with water taken from the local river, in 1825, Alberts great-uncle, Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died. His death led to a realignment of Saxon duchies the following year and Alberts father became the first reigning duke of Saxe-Coburg, Albert and his elder brother, Ernest, spent their youth in a close companionship marred by their parents turbulent marriage and eventual separation and divorce. After their mother was exiled from court in 1824, she married her lover, Alexander von Hanstein, Count of Polzig and she presumably never saw her children again, and died of cancer at the age of 30 in 1831. The brothers were educated privately at home by Christoph Florschütz and later studied in Brussels, like many other German princes, Albert attended the University of Bonn, where he studied law, political economics, philosophy and the history of art. He played music and excelled at sport, especially fencing and riding and his tutors at Bonn included the philosopher Fichte and the poet Schlegel. By 1836, the idea of marriage between Albert and his cousin, Victoria, had arisen in the mind of their ambitious uncle Leopold, at this time, Victoria was the heiress presumptive to the British throne. Her father, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, the son of King George III, had died when she was a baby. Her mother the Duchess of Kent, was the sister of both Alberts father—the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and King Leopold. Leopold arranged for his sister, Victorias mother, to invite the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander, second son of the Prince of Orange. Victoria was well aware of the matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes. Alexander, on the hand, she described as very plain. Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold to thank him for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me and he possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy
