future Home Of Princess Damaged

Northern Advocate, 1 September 1947, Page 5

future Home Of Princess Damaged

LONDON, August 30

Fire soon after midnight seriously damaged about half of Sunninghill Park, Windsor, the 25-roomed mansion which the King recently granted to Princess Elizabeth as her future country home. The building was well alight when 10 fire engines arrived. Firemen pumped thousands of gallons of water from a lake in the grounds on to the flames. The heat kept the firemen at a distance, but some of them mounted turntable ladders and poured water into the burning building.

The first rooms to be burned were those in the south wing, which, according to local residents, were the rooms which the Princess and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten were to have occupied. » ARSON RULED OUT Only one wing of the "house escaped. Cne side of the house is a shell, about half the roof has fallen in, and water and smoke have damaged every room in the main block. The fire is believed to have started in the library, which had been newly timbered.

The Berkshire police superintendent said the police had definitely ruled out any possibility of arson. They were inclined to believe a cigarette end caused the outbreak.

The house was unoccupied and did not contain any furniture. It was badly damaged in 1942, when the American Air Force used it for a headquarters. The King, on August 14, granted Sunninghill Park to Princess Elizabeth as a “grace and favour” residence. It was stated that the mansion would be the country home of the Princess and Lieutenant Mountbatten after their marriage.