Bad weather has brought down a tree at Queen Victoria’s coastal residence.
Friday’s severe winds brought down one of the cedars of Lebanon on the grounds of Osborne House in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, according to English Heritage.
It was to be cut down due to its poor health, but “nature beat us to the punch.”
Robert Pope Blanchford, owner of Osborne before the Queen and Prince Albert, planted the cedar in the 1770s.
Prince Albert retrained the tree when he improved the gardens.But it had been leaning “noticeably” since a storm in either 1987 or 1990, according to the organization.
There are still other Lebanese Cedars at Osborne. And English Heritage plans to plant a replacement in the same location as the one that fell.
Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Queen Victoria, buried her dog Blenny at the base of the tree in 1893.
The fallen tree has displaced the memorial headstone, but it will be reinstalled next to the newly planted tree.
In 1901, Queen Victoria passed away at Osborne. King Edward VII donated the estate to the nation on his coronation day the following year.
