Brighton Revisited

The Royal Pavilion at Brighton stands out as an icon in the world of Regency fiction. Brighton became the place for the haute ton  in the summer with its libraries, Assembly Rooms, sea bathing and promenading all under the eye of the Prince of Wales. If you were in with the in crowd, then you would also be invited to a ball a the Pavilion.

It was here that Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold spent time together before Prinny gave his assent to their engagement. Some of that story, you can find in my short story, Princess Charlotte's Choice.

But that is not the only reason Brighton means a great deal to me. My very dear mother-in-law, while not born here, grew up here. Later my husband spent many happy childhood holidays on Brighton Beach while staying at his grandmother's boarding house.

So this particular visit to Brighton was not only a visit to one of the hearts of Regency England, it was also a walk down memory lane.  And typical of memory lane, the weather was also typically wet all day. It drizzled on and off for the first part of our day, and as you can see the minarets of the Pavilion barely stood out against the grey of the sky.

 By the way, not everyone holds George IV as he later became, in contempt.

This is a statue of him erected by public subscription in 1828.  He was, of course, instrumental in changing Brighton from a small fishing village known as Brighthelmstone.  The town itself adored our Prinny for the wealth he brought to their City.










Walking south from the Pavilion you come to Old Stein, where our characters can promenade and strut their stuff in the fashionable quarter of Prinny's Brighton.

The Old Stein was originally an open green with a stream running through it to the east of the village used by fishermen for the drying of their nets and of course ended at the beach. During our period it was enclosed and became much smaller than when Brighton had been simply Brighhelmston.

We had a lovely time wandering around the area and I will share more about this next time.....