Queen Mother turns house into home for
the arts(Electronic Telegraph)
By Matt Born
QUEEN Elizabeth the Queen Mother yesterday declared the former archive
for births, deaths and marriages records, Somerset House, open to the public
for the first time in its 300-year history.
The ceremony marked the completion of a £48 million renovation of the 18th
century building on the Thames Embankment, central London, which has seen
the country's first purpose-built government offices transformed into a
museum and its courtyard into a concert venue.
For the 99-year-old Queen Mother, wearing royal blue and using a walking
cane, the sight of the courtyard would have been a poignant moment. Ten
years ago, on a tour of the public records office, she had peered out of a
window at the huge cobbled courtyard, then being used as a car park for the
Inland Revenue, and declared: "What a wonderful space. It is a shame about
the cars."
Yesterday the 33,000 sq ft courtyard was clear of cars and restored to its
original splendour. It can hold up to 3,000 people and will be used as an
open-air venue during the summer months. The Queen Mother also formally
accepted for the nation 800 artefacts, including Frederick the Great's
diamond-encrusted snuff boxes, which were donated by Sir Albert Gilbert, an
87-year-old property tycoon.
The highlight of the £50 million collection is a pair of 7ft tall silver gates,
commissioned by Catherine the Great for an Orthodox monastery in Kiev. As
well as the Gilbert Collection, a gallery is being built for the Courtauld Institute
of Art, and a third gallery, displaying highlights from the Hermitage Museum in
St Petersburg, Russia, will open in the autumn. The inaugural event takes
place on Monday, when the London Gospel Community Choir gives a free
concert.
Timothy Sainsbury, chairman of the private trust, which has funded the
redevelopment of Somerset House, declared the building "a wonderful thing
for London". The former government minister refused to be drawn on how the
renovated Somerset House compared with the other new attractions along the
river, such as the Dome, Tate Modern or National Maritime Museum.
He said: "These are all very different places. This is a centre for culture and
the arts. The courtyard and terrace mean there is an enormous public space
right in the heart of the capital."
The site won earlier royal approval and a palace used to stand there. But the
land came into public hands when the government, needing office space for its
burgeoning civil service, acquired it from the Crown in exchange for
Buckingham Palace, or Buckingham House as it was then known.
Somerset House was the end result of the trade, the vision of Sir William
Chambers, King George III's architectural adviser.
~*~
Prince's green fingers fail at Chelsea (UK Times)
BY LAURA PEEK
THE Prince of Wales prides himself on having a winning way with all things green, so it is unfortunate that one of the most magnificent plants at the Chelsea Flower Show, the giant water lily Victoria amazonica, should wither so soon after his visit.
It seems the specimen, which caught the Prince's eye during his tour of the show on Monday, mistook his green fingers for the kiss-of-death, for shortly after he left its leaves began to brown.
The lily is the centrepiece of Lady Walton's exotic garden, which is a riot of tropical colour bristling with pink, sticky orchid tongues, but she was in a forgiving mood yesterday. "I don't think it is any reflection on the Prince," she said. "The Victoria amazonica has quite a short life span."
And she has sympathy for Prince Charles in light of their shared interests. "Like Prince Charles, I talk to my plants and I have green thumbs. And that is not an imaginary talent. The skin of the fingers exudes urea - concentrated pee - and this is a very particular and concentrated fertiliser. Therefore if I touch a plant, I make it grow."
The huge pads of Lady Walton's giant water lily are spread across a pool fed by a gaping-mouthed stone Titan which is modeled on John Piper's set design for Façade, the popular ballet composed by Sir William, Lady Walton's late husband.
The extraordinary garden has been a labour of love for Lady Walton, 76, who says that she has risked bankruptcy to create it. It is modelled on La Mortella, the couple's famous Italian garden where Sir William was inspired to compose his greatest works.
The plants at the Chelsea replica have been transported from Italy. Lady Walton said: "I had to pay for the mounting of the site and the journey of the plants which I grew from seed in Italy. The bill is huge, £60,000. I've risked bankruptcy as I sold my securities to do this - money in shares I had put aside in case I go ga ga."