The Pavilion

Short Story This whimsical short story is wound around the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Florence and Herbert Hardcastle come from Yorkshire and have been married for over thirty years. It has always been Florence’s wish to see the Pavilion so when they go to Brighton for a short break, Herbert books an interactive tour for them both. Herbert doesn’t realise it but the tour he has booked is more interactive than he could have ever imagined. Both Herbert and Florence are transported back in time and take on different personalities of staff and guests. This gives them a unique insight into life at the Pavilion both as a Palace and as a hospital in the First World War. The Royal Pavilion, Brighton is a magical building the very antithesis of a normal National Trust property. It has minarets on the outside in an Indian style although I think it looks more like the palace created for Aladdin by his Genie. On the inside it has been extravagantly decorated in the Chinese style with dragons cheekily popping up everywhere. It was built for for the Prince Regent, later George IV in the nineteenth century by John Nash and its exotic design gave credence to Brighton’s reputation. I wrote this story after a visit to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, something I hadn’t done since childhood and was knocked out by the exuberance of it’s interior design and intrigued by the contrast in its use firstly by the Prince Regent with society balls and then as a hospital in the First World Wa