Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Part of the interior of the King's Mews in 1808. It seems more of a
palace for horses than a stables.
The Prince Regent insisted that Princess Charlotte lived here in order to separate her
from the influence of his estranged wife Princess Caroline. On 16 July 1814 Charlotte, who
was in disgrace with her father for flirting, left the house, scrambled into the first hackney
carriage she saw in Cockspur Street and ran away to her mother who was living in Con-
naught Place.
Retrace your steps towards Trafalgar Square and cross to look at the bronze plaques
around Nelson's Column. They were cast from captured French cannon and show the
battles of Cape St Vincent, Nile and Copenhagen and Nelson's death at Trafalgar. With two
brothers in the Navy, Jane and all the family would have had a keen interest in Nelson and
the conduct of the war at sea.
From here you can walk across to the National Gallery, climb the steps and admire the
view. The King's Mews, designed by William Kent in 1732, stood on the site of the Gallery
and the area in front of you was a mix of buildings grown up over the years like coral on
a reef. They served at different times as virtually everything from a Civil Wa r barracks to
a menagerie. In the centre of the area was the Golden Cross, a large coaching inn serving
routes to the south of England. It was all swept away by John Nash's Charing Cross im-
provement scheme andTrafalgar Square was paved, if not completed, by 1840.
The portico of the National Gallery with re-used pillars from Carlton
House.