Diamond Jubilee Celebrations begin at White Lodge

Former Royal Ballet School student and Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, Lauren Cuthbertson, together with the School’s Chairman, the Marchioness of Douro OBE, are to plant The Princess May Jubilee Tree on Wednesday 25 April, launching local Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  Joining them will be all 125 pupils of The Royal Ballet School.

The tree is to be a Cedar of Lebanon, replacing the 180-year old cedar which was felled in 2009 following severe weather damage and which towered over the gardens of White Lodge.

The Princess May Jubilee Tree is named to commemorate Queen Mary (known as Princess May) who spent much of her early life at White Lodge and who married the future King George V in 1893. This event marks the start of a programme of Jubilee events being held at White Lodge as part of borough-wide collaboration between The Royal Ballet School’s White Lodge Museum and Orleans House Gallery, Marble Hill House, The Holly Lodge Centre, Hampton Court Palace, Ham House, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

On the birth certificate of HM Queen Elizabeth ll (on permanent display at the White Lodge Museum & Ballet Resource Centre) White Lodge is given as her parents’ address. In 1923, White Lodge became the first marital home of TRH Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and King George Vl.

The Princess May Jubilee Tree is sponsored by Timothy and Madeleine Plaut.

Information on public events at White Lodge celebrating the Diamond Jubilee can be seen at http://www.royalballetschool.co.uk/wl_museum.php?s=1

Pictured: Students of The Royal Ballet School under the old Cedar of Lebanon, White Lodge, c. 1957

Photo: Photographer unknown. The Royal Ballet School Collections, White Lodge Museum