Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Between 1783 and 1812 Henry Holland worked to create a home of astounding opu-
lence. Even the Regent was forced to admit the cost was 'enormous'. Priscilla Wakefield
gives us a glimpse of the lavish interior:
The Screen across the Pall Mall frontage of Carlton House in 1809.
The principal apartments are splendidly furnished in the modern style. The grand salon is superb. Four
chandeliers, of unrivalled brilliancy, reflect the light to the most remote corner of the room. These lamps
resemble a Gothic tower, eight feet in height, without the chains ... The lustre is supported by four very
elegant and massy chains, composed of bronze and or moulu. In the interior are four other chains of sil-
ver … the whole taken together, is so radiant and beautiful, that it may be compared to the descriptions
in the Arabian Nights.
The Prince Regent was an admirer of Miss Austen's novels and, when he became aware
of her presence in London, an invitation was issued by the Reverend James Stanier Clarke,
his domestic chaplain and librarian. Jane visited Carlton House on 13 November 1815.
It was made clear that the dedication of her next novel to the Prince Regent would be ac-
ceptable, but as a supporter of Princess Caroline, rather than of her estranged husband, Jane
was reluctant at first. Two days after the visit she wrote to Doctor Stanier Clarke for clari-
fication of whether she had received a request, an order or a suggestion. 'I shd be equally
concerned to appear either presumptuous or Ungrateful.'
Eventually her publisher John Murray and her family persuaded her that this was a royal
command and a fine presentation set of
Emma
with a respectful dedication was sent to
Carlton House in December.
The Reverend Stanier Clarke became rather tiresomely persistent with suggestions for
characters and plots and influenced Jane's humorous
Plan of a Novel, according to Hints
from Various Quarters
, written in 1816.
When the Prince Regent became George IV in 1820 he decided that Carlton House and
St James's Palace were inadequate for a king and ordered Buckingham House redesigned
and extended as his main London residence. Despite the amount that had been spent on it,
Carlton House was demolished.
Pall Mall was the home of many superior lodging houses and clubs - Edward Ferrars
stays in Pall Mall after his mother cuts him off for refusing to break his engagement to
Lucy Steele (
Sense and Sensibility
). In 1807 it was the first London street to be gas-lit in a
temporary display for the king's birthday.
