His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh celebrated rock history with a visit to the Mayfair home of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix at Handel Hendrix House museum on Brook Street, Mayfair on Monday, April 13, 2026
The visit coincided with the museum’s preparations for a new display about Jimi Hendrix, featuring previously unseen archive material about Hendrix’s life and music, which will open on Friday, June 19, 2026. The documents are from the corporate records of Anim Records, the company that managed The Jimi Hendrix Experience and other acts, including The Animals. Whilst Anim Records founder Mike Jeffrey was officially Hendrix’s manager, the day-to-day affairs of Hendrix and the bands was looked after by Patricia ‘Trixie’ Sullivan. Then a single mother in her twenties, Trixie forged an incredible career in music, entertainment and fashion throughout the swinging sixties and beyond, blazing a trail for other women to follow.
His Royal Highness was shown records that will help visitors to the museum picture the everyday life of the rock star – from dry cleaning tickets for his incredible clothes to unpaid phone bills and entries on Trixie’s calendar which mention the memorable performances on the Lulu show and at the Royal Albert Hall. The Duke also saw Trixie’s 60s diaries, in which stories of gigs, late nights and parties dance off the page. These items were recently acquired by Handel Hendrix House with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The archive will go on display in an exhibition at Handel Hendrix House that sets Jimi’s life in London in context, after which museum visitors explore the bedroom of the flat, he shared with Kathy Etchingham which has been meticulously recreated. Guitarist Nigel Jones, a regular performer and teacher at Handel Hendrix House, brought the flat to life with a burst of Hendrix-inspired music improvised for His Royal Highness.
The Duke also explored the home of the great baroque composer G.F. Handel, who lived in the house next door to Hendrix, which completes the Handel Hendrix House museum. Here, His Royal Highness enjoyed a performance by Nathaniel Mander on a 1750s harpsichord in Handel’s own music room, and saw the exhibition Handel Through Mozart’s Eyes, which includes a score in Mozart’s hand of a string quartet based on Handel’s music.
Handel was employed as a composer and teacher for the Hanoverian monarchs, and his music manuscripts were acquired by King George III. It was most likely King George III who acquired a portrait of Handel by Thomas Hudson in an elaborate, oval frame decorated with bullrushes alluding to Handel’s support for the Foundling Hospital. This portrait, part of The Royal Collection, was originally hung at Windsor Castle but is now on display at Handel Hendrix House.
The Duke also heard about the museum’s plans this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the museum which first opened in November 2001, which will include an exhibition about Handel opening in September and a special musical celebration in November. After meeting some of the museum’s band of volunteers, whose passion and dedication are essential for the museum to open to the public, His Royal Highness learned about Handel Hendrix House’s education programme and its creative work in partnership with refugee charities.
The Duke is passionate about the arts and gives much of his time to organisations that enable young people to develop their skills through theatre and music.
Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, Chairman of the charity that runs Handel Hendrix House said: “It was a great honour to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to Handel Hendrix House today. His Royal Highness is an ambassador for creativity, the arts and heritage in this country and we were delighted to be able to share our 25-year story and future plans with him, and to show him some fascinating new items we are about to display. Our volunteers in particular were thrilled to meet His Royal Highness and appreciated his recognition of their dedication and service.”
Simon Daniels, Director of Handel Hendrix House said: “We are hugely grateful to His Royal Highness for visiting the museum today and for his encouragement for all that we do to look after the incredible musical heritage at Brook Street, and to inspire everyone with the stories and music of Handel and Hendrix. As we enter our 25th year as a museum, it was a privilege to share the work we do with The Duke, and we hope more people will want to experience the museum – the home of ‘Baroque ‘n’ Roll’.”
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Hendrix In London is made possible with The National
Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, Handel Hendrix House has been able to acquire as yet unresearched material related to Jimi Hendrix, and we will soon be putting them on display at Handel Hendrix House and making a digital catalogue of the collection accessible online.
