Queen Elizabeth II Visits Hartlebury Castle

When the Queen visited Hartlebury to celebrate the 1300 years of the Diocese of Worcester, she was continuing a close relationship between the reigning monarch and the Bishop of Worcester. This can be traced back to the donation of the Manor of Hartlebury to the bishop in the 800s by the King of West Mercia, Burghred. Since then the bishops have been host to several visiting monarchs - King Edward I, Queen Elizabeth I, King George III, and the present Queen, Elizabeth II. There is also a possibility that Charles I and Charles II may have called here at some stage of the Civil Wars when Hartlebury and the crossing over the River Severn were strategically important. Had Napoleon successfully invaded this country some of George III's children would have found refuge at the castle under an agreement reached between the king and his close friend Bishop Richard Hurd.

In 1970 the then Dean of Windsor and Domestic Chaplain to the Queen, the Rt Rev. Robin Woods, was appointed Bishop of Worcester and received the KCVO - the Knight Commander of the Victorian Order; a decoration in the personal gift of the sovereign. During his episcopacy there were several visits by members of the Royal family. Included in these was one by Prince Charles. Through this visit there arose a connection with an earlier heir to the throne. On 26 September 1807 the then Prince of Wales, later Prince Regent and ultimately King George IV, visited Bishop Hurd. As the prince was expected to stay overnight a bedroom was especially decorated and furnished for him. Included amongst the furnishings was a canopied 'four poster' bed decorated with the Prince of Wales' feathers. Unfortunately the Prince did not stay the night after all, and the bed went unused. The present Prince of Wales did, however, take advantage of this personalised bed, and so after a gap of some 170 years, the bed came into its own!