Queen Victoria Would Be Amused
Queen Victoria would be amused After sensitive restoration, one of the great royal castles of Europe is lowering the drawbridge for the first time and Julian Allason is entranced by the secrets it reveals f Saxe-Coburg and Gotha has a familiar higher, the most handsome being that of the ring, it should, and not just to Britons. Judengasse, marking the entrance to the old The dynasty—which continues to flour- Jewish quarter. The magnificent church of ish here as the House of Windsor—has St Moriz is undergoing restoration, which Ialso furnished Belgium, Portugal and Bulgaria is scheduled to be completed before the with sovereigns. Indeed, the descendants 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of The elegant Landestheater remains open Saxe-Coburg and Gotha have ruled Germany, and boasts a playbill of productions remark- Russia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Spain, able for a town with a population of just Norway, Sweden and Denmark—and still 42,000. As a centre of advanced engineering, do in the last four. As a result, it’s unsurprising Coburg is prosperous and proud of a heritage The layout that the ducal house has been somewhat inseparable from the dynasty. eclipsed, however, the family continues to thrive Its head, Prince Andreas, has recently is nothing if not in northern Bavaria at Coburg and has opened handed over the running of ducal affairs— eccentric:‘ the its seat, Callenberg Castle, to public view. including large-scale forestry—to his son. Coburg lies between frankfurt and Munich, A tall, engaging figure with Wall Street audience room reached from London by British Airways banking experience and possessed of a self- flights into either city thence by train through deprecating manner, the 39-year-old Prince opens onto a rose Railbookers.
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