Donation of unique Royal vase to Brighton & Hove Museums 

Royal Pavilion & Museums
Press Release 4 October 2011

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Date: Wednesday 26 October
Time: 10.30am
Place: Red Drawing Room, Royal Pavilion
Handover of vase by Mr Ronald Pedley to representatives from Brighton & Hove Museums and City Council

Brighton & Hove Museums are the recipients of the generous donation of a unique and valuable vase depicting Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent.  The vase will be officially handed over to the museums service by its current owner, Mr Ronald Pedley on Wednesday 26 October 2011.  It will go on show to the public in the Royal Pavilion as the star object in a new exhibition on Princess Charlotte that opens on 10 March 2012.

Princess Charlotte died in childbirth aged 21 in 1817.  Many of the happiest times in her short life had been spent at her father’s palace, Brighton’s Royal Pavilion.  It is fitting that the vase should find a permanent home in the collections of the city’s museums.

The vase has been donated by Mr Ronald Pedley, who was born in Yorkshire in 1926 and emigrated to the USA. Inspired by his British roots, he started collecting British Royal Commemoratives when on overseas trips to countries which were once part  of the British Empire or had strong associations with Britain. The Princess Charlotte vase was discovered in 1987 in the unlikely setting of an antique shop in Mexico - a country that has never been a British colony.

Mr Pedley spent several years of his retirement researching how the vase had ended up in Mexico.  He established that the probable sequence of events was that the vase had been commissioned by King William IV, then passed to Queen Victoria who gave it to the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (1832-1867) on his marriage in 1857 to Princess Charlotte of Belgium. Princess Charlotte was the daughter of King Leopold 1st of Belgium by his second wife, Princess Marie Louise of France. Leopold’s first wife was Princess Charlotte of Wales, as depicted on the vase. In 1863 Archduke Ferdinand was installed in Mexico as a puppet Emperor by Napoleon 111 of France. He was executed by Mexican troops in 1867 and after the execution Chapultepec Palace was looted by revolutionary forces, so it is probable that the Princess Charlotte vase was acquired as spoils of war. Its history between 1867 and 1987 is unknown.

The Royal Pavilion & Museums Foundation, the museums’ registered charity, will make Mr Pedley an Honorary Patron in recognition of his gift.

Ends

Information for editors

Royal Pavilion
Brighton
BN1 1EE
UK
Open daily
October to March 10am–5.15pm (last tickets at 4.30pm)
April to September 9.30am–5.45pm (last tickets at 5pm)
Closed 24 December (from 2.30pm) and all day on 25 and 26 December
Closed 23 January to 3 February 2012 for essential maintenance
Admission fee payable. Brighton & Hove residents can enjoy half-price admission to the Royal Pavilion with up to four accompanying children free (bring proof of residency, one item required per adult eg council tax or other utility bill.)
Ground floor accessible
Café, shop

Press enquiries:
Marketing & Audience Development 03000 290906 museums.marketing@brighton-hove.gov.uk

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