Menu dated: 10th February 1897

Dinner at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, hosted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria of Great Britain to mark the 57th Anniversary of her marriage to His Late Royal Highness, the Prince Consort.

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Over 170 years ago, on 10 February 1840, the twenty year-old Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.



Prince Albert would die in 1861, but each year thereafter the Queen would still celebrate the anniversary of her marriage.



This menu for “Her Majesty’s Dinner” was for Queen Victoria’s wedding anniversary in 1897 while she was staying at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, which is depicted on the menu's mast.



In her journal on this day she wrote:



“This beloved day returned for the 57th time; 36 years of which spent alone without, without him who was my life!  - A dull foggy morning – Went out with Vicky and went to the Swiss Cottage. It was very mild. – Drove in the afternoon with Beatrice and Marie.” - Queen Victoria, 10 February 1897​



The Queen was joined by most members of the royal family for this dinner excepting the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII) who was instead watching a revival of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.



The first course on the menu, Potage a la Cressy, was a soup originally created by of one of the Queen’s earlier royal chefs, Charles Francatelli  - born in London to an Italian family and trained in France.



Despite his ability to satisfy the royal palate, Francatelli was the author of many cook books including “A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes”.

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