Windslar Palace Part 1: King Edmund IX's Wing
Windslar Palace, situated eighteen miles away from the city of Windenburg, has stood as a symbol of royalty for nearly six centuries. Once the favored summer retreat of the Royal Family, the palace served not merely as a seasonal residence but as the heart of the monarchy for generations. Though it no longer serves its original function, Windslar Palace remains a monument to the monarchy's legacy.
In 1755, King Edmund IX commissioned the construction of a new wing at Windslar Palace to accommodate his expanding family. The newly built addition, later known as the King Edmund IX Wing, featured a series of elegant apartments on the ground floor, designed specifically for his beloved consort, Queen Odette, and their seven children. Edmund's presence in Odette's bedchambers every night was highly unusual for the time, but a testament to their close and loving relationship with one another.
Following Edmund’s death, his son and successor, King George I, continued to reside with his mother in her apartments, but later moved out after his marriage. Queen Odette remained in these rooms until 1810, when she retired permanently to her country residence, Queen’s Lodge.
After George’s marriage to Princess Josephine of Corrilea (@theroyalsofcorrilea), the new Queen Consort took up residence in the north block of the Edmund IX Wing. She redecorated her apartments with opulence and flair, most notably adorning her drawing room with elaborate chinoiserie wallpaper. A devoted and overbearing mother, Josephine transformed that same drawing room into a bedroom to remain close to her only child, the sickly and kind Princess Margaret. Margaret spent most of her short life at Windslar Palace, and Josephine remained in her apartments until she died in 1826.
In 1817, Queen Odette’s former suite was occupied by Princess Caroline Sophie, Dowager Duchess of Rochester (@simming-in-the-rain), following the accession of her son, King George II. Caroline Sophie, regarded as ambitious and calculating, viewed her move into Odette’s apartments as a symbol of her elevated status as mother to the monarch. She redecorated much of the suite with furnishings brought from her previous residence at Hertford Castle and removed paintings of Odette. That same year, her favored sister-in-law, Princess Elizabeth, was installed in adjacent rooms.
Tragedy struck when King George II died in 1818, and was succeeded by his younger brother, King Edmund XI, who would reign briefly before he died in 1821. The crown then passed to Caroline Sophie’s daughter, Queen Mary II. Mary’s relationship with her mother had always been distant, complicated by Caroline Sophie’s preference for her sons and disapproval of Mary’s 1820 marriage to Charles Statford, 10th Earl of Statford. Upon ascending the throne, Queen Mary II ordered her mother’s eviction from Windslar Palace entirely.
Mary chose not to inhabit the Edmund IX Wing. Instead, she made her home in the apartments once occupied by Queen Sophie (formerly Princess Sophie of Dresden) in the King Joseph IV Wing. The ground-floor suites of the Edmund IX Wing were converted into guest accommodations for visiting royals and foreign dignitaries, while the upper floors became the private quarters for Mary’s eight children. These rooms, sometimes used by the Royal Family, remain largely closed to the public today.
In later years, Mary’s daughter, Princess Charlotte, was in charge of the restoration of the ground-floor apartments, returning many of Queen Odette’s original furnishings. Today, these historic rooms form part of the Windslar Palace Museum, and share a glimpse into the lives of Queen Odette and her family.
