Tuesday 24 May 2022 02:40 PM Treasures of Buckingham Palace's Bow Room trends now
It typically hosts visiting dignitaries and garden party guests.
But today the Bow Room at Buckingham Palace welcomed Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby for a special Platinum Jubilee edition of This Morning.
The TV presenters were joined by former MP Gyles Brandreth as they shared anecdotes about the royal family ahead of the Queen's bumper weekend of celebrations next week.
The trio were surrounded by pieces of priceless royal history, including a dinner and dessert service commissioned by George III and portraits of his grandchildren.
The Bow Room, named after the window that runs along one side, is situated in the centre of the West Wing of the palace, behind the Marble Hall, but is rarely seen by the public.
This is where the Queen traditionally hosts an arrival lunch for a visiting heads of state, although they are not photographed in this room. It is also where guests make their entrance to the Buckingham Palace garden parties.
The room has direct access to the 39-acre garden via a set of double doors.
Here, as This Morning introduces viewers to this corner of Buckingham Palace, FEMAIL takes a closer look at the treasures it contains...
Inside Buckingham Palace Bow Room: Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were joined by former MP Gyles Brandreth for the special Jubilee episode of This Morning today. They were surrounded by treasures including: 1. 19th century armchairs; 2. King George III's dinner and dessert service; 3. Portrait of F rederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; 4. Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; 5. Pair of 18th century Chinese vases; 6. Portrait of Ernst, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; 7. Portrait of Princess Mary of Cambridge; 8. Set of Victorian-era lights; 9. Portrait of Marie Alexandrina of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover; 10. Pair of ornamental mirrors; 11. George IV's candelabra; 12. 19th century occasional table
1. 19th century armchairs upholstered in red silk damask
Fit for a king! Holly and Phil swapped the This Morning sofa for 19th century armchairs for this morning's broadcast. The gilt wood chairs are part of a set of eight that are kept on display in the Bow Room. Mr Brandreth was also given a chair
The gilt wood chairs are part of a set of eight that are kept on display in the Bow Room
Holly and Phil swapped the This Morning sofa for 19th century armchairs for this morning's broadcast.
The gilt wood chairs are part of a set of eight that are kept on display in the Bow Room.
Mr Brandreth was also given a chair and others lined the walls.
The rectangular-backed armchairs are upholstered in red silk damask and feature four slender cabriole legs, carved with shell motifs.
It is part of a furniture set that also includes a pair of mahogany sofas and a pair of long settees, all upholstered in the same fabric.
The settees were commissioned by King George III and made by the Adair family, who ran prominent carving and gilding businesses, active over two generations, in London in the late eighteenth century.
2. King George III's dinner and dessert service
Royal banquet: Two corners of the room are dominated by a display of a dinner and dessert service that belonged to George III and his wife Queen Charlotte, now known to a generation of viewers as the monarch on Bridgerton
Two corners of the room are dominated by a display of a dinner and dessert service that belonged to George III and his wife Queen Charlotte, now known to a generation of viewers as the monarch on Bridgerton.
The set, known as the Mecklenberg Service, was presented to her brother, Adolphus Frederick IV, Duke of Mecklenberg-Strelitz in 1764 and remained in his family until 1919.
It was returned to the Royal Family in 1947 to mark King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's silver wedding anniversary.
The service includes a pair of soft-paste bone-ash porcelain oval platters featuring a scalloped gilt rim and painted at the centre with exotic birds in landscape vignettes.
There are also plates, sauce boats and a candelabra.
3. Portrait of Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Overlooking the room is a 1853 portrait of Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the great-nephew of Queen Charlotte and a close friend of Prince Albert.
Royal couple: A portrait of Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (top). The portrait below has been replaced with one of Princess Augusta of Cambridge
The portrait was commissioned by his wife Queen Victoria.
It is the work of Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who first brought to the attention of the English court by the Queen of the Belgians and went on to paint a number of royal portraits.
The Grand Duke was the son of Grand Duke George of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, whom he succeeded in 1863, and great-nephew of Queen Charlotte. In 1843 he married Princess Augusta of Cambridge, his first cousin.
4. Princess Augusta of Cambridge, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Below the portrait of Frederick William is one of his wife, Princess Augusta of Cambridge.
Princess Augusta was the daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, the seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. Her mother was Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel.
The Princess spent her earlier years in Hanover, where her father was the viceroy on behalf of his brother, George IV.
Princess Augusta had one brother, Prince George, later 2nd Duke of Cambridge; and one sister, Princess
