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A group surrounds a harpsichord playing instruments
Music in the Royal Collection

Many members of the royal family were talented musicians

JAMES STEPHANOFF (1789-1874)

Buckingham House: The Queen’s Breakfast Room

1817

RCIN 922145

The mahogany organ to the left of the chimneypiece is probably that supplied by John Bradburn in 1766/7; it is now in The Queen’s Chapel, St James’s Palace.

On top of the organ is a bust of Handel, placed there by Queen Charlotte. From the time of George III onward there was an established practice of placing portraits, reliefs or busts of Handel on brackets above organs and harpsichords at Buckingham Palace Windsor, and Brighton. This continued well into the nineteenth century (see the Lincoln organ at Buckingham Palace).

Roundels of Handel flank the top of the Lincoln organ in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace©

    The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.