Marlborough House - expecting the Prince

An illustration of a crowd waiting outside Marlborough House, Pall Mall, to see the Prince of Wales, from the book 'London: a Pilgrimage' by Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré, 1872. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren for the first Duke of Marlborough, the building was constructed from 1709-1711. From 1863 until his Coronation as King Edward VII it was the London home of the Prince of Wales. Jerrold writes: 'See the crowd - composed of representatives of all classes - who wait at the gates of Marlborough House on a fine evening in June. The Prince is coming forth en route for Willis's, or the Freemason's, or the London Tavern, on one of those missions of Charity which were the delight of Albert the Good, and have become among the most valued inheritances of his son.' Jerrold notes that one of the most popular forms of charitable giving was the charity dinner. 'Twelve and fifteen hundred pounds are often coaxed from the pockets of a hundred and fifty gentlemen, after a dinner at the London Tavern, the Freemason's, or Willis's Rooms.'