This October half-term, visitors to Windsor Castle can see a display of books drawn from the Royal Library each afternoon as part of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary this year of Jane Austen’s birth.
On public display for the first time will be a copy of Pride and Prejudice, which came from Prince Albert’s private library and was the very copy from which he read aloud to Queen Victoria. Alongside it, George IV’s specially bound copy of Emma, which was personally dedicated by Jane Austen to the king (then Prince Regent), will be on display for visitors.
Pride and Prejudice was one of many books that Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert read together; she recorded in her journal how in July 1853, while she was recovering from measles, Albert ‘in the evening began reading to me Miss Austen’s Pride & Prejudice’. He continued to read it over several days, and the Queen was evidently hooked, describing it as ‘very amusing’, ‘admirably written’ and ‘interesting & entertaining’.
Alongside it and also on public display for the first time will be a well-read first edition copy of Pride and Prejudice, which was possibly once part of the Servants’ Library before entering the present Royal Library. Pride and Prejudice was published anonymously in 1813 and the first edition sold out within the first year, with the book remaining one of the most popular novels in the English language.
George IV was an avid reader of novels, keeping a set of Jane Austen’s works in each of his residences. The copy of Emma on display was dedicated to the then Prince Regent after Austen was given a tour of Carlton House, his London residence before he became King, by his librarian James Stanier Clarke. The three-volume work was specially bound for presentation with gold tooling and was sent to him before Christmas 1815, when it was placed in his library at Carlton House.
Two books of colourful regency costume and fashion illustrations, Costume of England and Costume of the Ladies of Paris, published in the same period as Austen’s works, will also form part of the display. The books are all drawn from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, which cares for over 240,000 items and is a record of the books collected and read by centuries of monarchs.
The books will go on display in the Queen’s Drawing Room, which was once one of the most important reception rooms at the Castle. It originally led to the bedchamber of Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, which today forms part of the Royal Library. Today the Queen’s Drawing Room contains some of the most important Tudor and Stuart portraits in the Royal Collection, including a painting of Queen Elizabeth I when just a Princess and paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger.
Family activities will be on offer at the Castle’s Pug Yard Learning Centre, which include a Georgian-themed dressing-up box and arts and craft activities. Children visiting can create their own silhouette portrait, an activity which was popular in the Georgian period, or use a trail to learn more about the Georgians as they explore the Castle.
This autumn and winter, visitors can also see the opulent Semi-State Rooms, which were the private apartments created for George IV. They are some of the most richly decorated rooms in the Castle, with a selection of furnishings and fittings taken from Carlton House.
£1 tickets are available for visitors to Windsor Castle who receive Universal Credit and other named benefits. The display and all activities are included with standard admission to the Castle, and a range of concessions are also available, including half-price entry for children aged 5–17, free entry for under-5s and a Young Person discount for 18–24-year-olds.
Families visiting this half-term can also convert their admission ticket into a 1-Year Pass, offering unlimited re-entry to Windsor Castle for 12 months. Passholders will then be able to return for free to enjoy festive family activities at Christmastime, offering excellent value for a full year of historical adventures and seasonal celebrations.
