Titania's Palace, Ireland 1900's, Denmark today

Titania's Palace is a beautiful dollhouse palace commissioned in the early 1900's by Sir Nevile Wilkinson, an accomplished British Army officer, during his post in Ireland as Ulster King of Arms in 1908 until his death in 1940.  Sir Wilkinson spared no expense and hired skilled Irish Furniture Makers to help with the construction, along with the contributions of other nobles of the time.  After his death, it remained in his family until about 1960 when it was put on auction a few times but more on this later.

Inspiration.  At first glance, you would never think an accomplished military general would be inspired to build dollhouses, but Titania's palace is one of two palaces Sir Wilkinson built, the second is Pembroke Palace in Wiltshire.  It appears he may have been inspired by one of his daughters, who claimed to have seen the fairy Titania running into the barks of a tree Sir Wilkinson planted at their home. Egeskov castle advises he built this palace in honor of the magical Queen of the fairies, Titania, inspired from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.     

The Palace  Titania's Palace is in 1:12 scale, approximately 4 feet tall, has 18 rooms and salons of different themes, including several rooms for children, multiple bathrooms, several courtyards, an elaborate banquet hall, and many more.  The palace is said to contain about 3000 different pieces which includes hand carved mahogany furniture and musical instruments, custom art (Sir Wilkinson himself a skilled painter, contributed paintings also), and special artifacts from around the world such as authentic Ming Vases. 

Purpose.   During his lifetime, Sir Wilkinson loaned the palace to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, who held exhibitions throughout the United Kingdom raising money for children in need.  Today, the palace continues in this mission made possible by contributions by visitors to the palace annually.   

The Auctions.  After his death in 1940, the dollhouses remained in his family until about 1960 when it went up for auction and then again in 1978, at which point Legoland Denmark won the bid and acquired the palace. There is an equally incredible story pertaining to the losers in this bid, but we'll tackle that in a later article).  Through an arrangement with the Danish Count of Ahlefeldt, the palace is now on display at Egeskov castle in Denmark, who continues to keep the stories and magic of the castle alive and thriving for children and adults of all ages!

If you go to see Titania's Palace at Egeskov castle, and want to share your pics, do message me so I can add them to this post.  In the meantime, please enjoy this silent film of authentic footage of Sir Wilkinson himself, giving a tour of the palace.  I think it's pretty spectacular that his love for this castle comes right through film that's over 100 years old. ❤️