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Osborne house, the beloved Isle of Wight seaside home of Queen Victoria, is playing host to a spectacular contemporary reimagining of the Christmas tree this year. From the 1st December 2023 until the 7th January 2024, you will be able to view ‘Freedom’ in the magnificent Durbar Room, the decoration of which was inspired by Victoria’s status as Empress of India.
The ‘Freedom’ tree is made from a series of metal poles which suspend 200 ornately folded white paper origami birds, each engraved in silver with the initials ‘V&A’. The work, designed by Anna Hünnerkopf, was originally made to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s birth. It is intended to provide you with a moment of peaceful reflection during the busy Christmas period.
The tree is on loan to English Heritage from the City of Coburg, the birthplace of Prince Albert. Hünnerkopf originally designed the tree in 2019 as part of a competition between students at the University of Applied Sciences in Coburg to reimagine the Christmas tree for the modern age. It was installed in the V&A museum in 2019 but has not been displayed in the UK since. Coburg and the Isle of Wight also celebrated the 40th anniversary of their twinning earlier this year.
The rest of Osborne will also be dusted with Christmas magic come December with decorations in the house. While Christmas trees had been introduced to the English court before his time, Prince Albert widely popularised our beloved tradition of decorating the Christmas tree in the Victorian period. The city of Coburg gifted a tree to Windsor Castle every year during Prince Albert’s lifetime, and recently reinstated the tradition a few years ago.
Access to the inside of Osborne House, where visitors can view ‘Freedom’, will be through guided tours only this winter. Except between Christmas and New Year, when the ground floor of the house is open as normal. The tours will be hosted by staff dressed as characters from Osborne’s past – including the housekeeper Mrs Smith and a footman named Thomas Newell, as listed in the 1861 census at Osborne. The tours will offer a unique glimpse into the stories behind this incredible English Heritage property with an emphasis on life as part of the Royal Household. The route will conclude in the Durbar Room to enable visitors to enjoy viewing ‘Freedom’.
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