Museum ID: WNDRB : 1996.14.2
1 of 4 photographs in the museum collection of the Royalty & Empire Exhibition in the Windsor Central Station, depicting Queen Victoria and her royal guests, the Coldstream Guards, a Victorian flower girl and a road sweeper. The exhibition ran from 1983-1997. In 1982, British railway and Madam Tussauds restored the old station and created the exhibition. Originally called ‘Royalty and Railways’, the exhibition showed an interpretation of the celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The displays featured wax models and an audio-visual show featuring audio-anamatronic models – said to be the first seen in Europe at the time After entering the exhibition via the old ticket office, visitors would be greeted by a scene on the platform depicting the arrival of the Royal Train, with wax models of station staff and a full size replica of the train The Queen. After leaving the platform, visitors could see the restored royal waiting room, featuring wax figures of Queen Victoria and the Prince and Princess of Wales, before entering 'The Royal Parade' area. A walkway was constructed up and around the canopy, allowing visitors to view figures of the royal party exiting the waiting room and the queen boarding her Ascot landau. There were over seventy wax figures of 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards on display as part of the scene. The final part of the exhibition was an audio-visual show called 'Sixty Glorious Years'. Using slides and projections, it described the growth of Great Britain and then the screen sank to reveal moving animatronic figures of some of the great personalities of the Victorian age, including Queen Victoria herself. The exhibition closed in about 1997 and almost all of the exhibits were taken away. The Royal Waiting Room still stands and is now part of the All Bar One Restaurant on the concourse. The locomotive The Queen was too expensive and heavy to be removed, so it remained and was incorporated as a feature at the station.Measurements: 150 x 155
Materials: Card
Categorised under: Home Life and Leisure