Thursday, February 23, 2012

Staying Downton Syle

An article on stately homes in England where people go for vacation. One of the homes mentioned is Hartwell House, which is known to readers of the novel Madame Royale.
 ...Hartwell House has a history that stretches back almost one thousand years to the reign of Edward the Confessor. It’s been the seat of William Peveral the natural son of William the Conqueror; of John Earl of Mortaigne who succeeded his brother Richard the Lion Heart as King of England in 1199; and of Louis XVIII, the exiled King of France who held court there from 1809 to 1814. Louis was joined at Hartwell by his Queen, Marie-Josephine de Savoie, his niece the Duchesse D’Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, his brother the Comte d’Artois, later Charles X, and Gustavus IV the exiled King of Sweden. During the residence of the French Court the roof was converted into a miniature farm, where birds and rabbits were reared in cages, while vegetables and herbs were cultivated in densely planted tubs.(Read entire article.)
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