'Feel a bit like Gulliver': look inside a 100-year-old royal dollhouse

The silver crown is set with diamonds. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds and seed pearls are peppered throughout the design. And the red velvet hood it contained would be fit to protect the head of a monarch.

Except the whole thing is only an inch tall.

The jewelry miniaturea copy of the British Imperial State Crown, is part of Queen Mary's Dollhouseon display at Windsor Castle outside London, where the everyday objects, luxuries and curiosities of early 20th century royal life are reproduced at a twelfth scale.

Scrutiny of the British royal family was heightened last week with the announcement of King Charles III's cancer diagnosis, which followed the hospital admission of Catherine, Princess of Wales, in January.

But while the modern monarchy is under a sometimes unwanted microscope, the dollhouse has for a century allowed visitors to peer inside the rooms of a palace – albeit on a small scale.

The house was given to Queen Mary, wife of King George V, in 1924, not as a child's toy, but as a carefully constructed display of the finest British craftsmanship for a royal man who loved all things miniature.

a Report of January 1924 in The Times of London described how Queen Mary, then 57, had inspected her gift 'and expressed her greatest appreciation of its wonders', which included running water and electric lifts.

To celebrate the centenary, visitors can now get closer to objects normally kept indoors, such as the famous miniature crown, a selection of which is presented in a special exhibition outside the walls.

“It has an immediate charm,” says Kathryn Jones, senior curator at the Royal Collection Trust. “But even if you delve into it, I think you will notice that it is quite layered.”

The steady stream of guests at Windsor Castle often look up: at the impressively large castle Round tower fortress looming over the palace grounds, from the ornate ceilings of the formal banquet hall and from the murals hanging high on imposing walls.

But now they are also encouraged to gaze at the meticulous details of the dollhouse, with some of the smallest artefacts placed in low cabinets for close inspection.

On a recent winter afternoon, two women crouched down to look at the miniatures on display here in the Waterlook Room. There is a small grand piano, complete with working keys; a Singer sewing machine with small thread spools; and a Hoover vacuum cleaner, its cord carefully wrapped around the handle.

As Ms. Jones, the curator, noted, “You start to see the world in a completely different way because you look over these little things.”

“You feel a bit like Gulliver,” she added.

The dollhouse, in the style of an Edwardian-era mansion, was designed by Edwin Lutyens, a leading British architect. It was built from 1921 to 1924 and was put on display at Windsor Castle the following year.

The house is behind a large glass case in a large room in the state apartments, the facade of which has been lifted to reveal the rooms within.

Sally Isherwood, 70, lifted her 3-year-old granddaughter, Demi, to get a better look at the dining room. “Can you see the table, Demi?” she asked, pointing to the wooden table with fourteen small place settings full of plates, cups, glassware, forks and knives.

“Yes!” her granddaughter replied as she pressed her face against the glass and talked about her own dollhouse. “But I don't have one that big.”

“It's absolutely beautiful,” Ms Isherwood said. “For me it's great, but maybe for the younger kids I think they want to get their hands on it and play with all the things,” she said, laughing.

Despite the name, no dolls ever lived in the house and children were never intended to play with them.

It was created after the First World War by Princess Marie Louise, a cousin of King George V and a friend of Queen Mary. She involved Mr Lutyens, who was also a friend, and approached some 1,500 artists, craftsmen and manufacturers for contributions.

One of Ms. Jones' favorite parts of the centennial celebration was hearing from the descendants of the original creators who created elements of the house, she said.

“I think a lot of people see the 1920s as somewhat whimsical, but I do think there is quite a serious underlying message of conservation in it, and that it was intended to stimulate British craftsmanship after the First World War,” she said of the dolls. house project.

Dozens of writers contributed works to supplement the dollhouse library, including Arthur Conan Doyle – who helmed a new Sherlock Holmes story – AA Milne, JM Barrie and others.

To mark the centenary, a selection of books by contemporary authors – including Philippa Gregory, Charlie Mackesy and Bernardine Evaristo – was commissioned by Queen Camilla, although these new titles will not be placed in the house's library because they would not fit.

Back at the exhibition, a group of young schoolchildren arrived in matching blue safety vests, their hands and faces pressed against the glass as they stared into the small rooms and walked single file around the dollhouse.

“Look at the cars!” a little boy exclaimed, pointing to the miniature Daimler and Rolls-Royce peeking out of an underground garage.

One floor higher is a study room complete with the traditional ministerial red boxes which are still used by the monarch. Despite undergoing cancer treatment, King Charles will continue to process the official documents delivered to him daily in the full versions of those boxes, Buckingham Palace said last week.

In the queen's bedroom, a Tiffany blue vanity set sits on a table with a hairbrush, comb and perfume bottles that look ready for their little owner's return.

But perhaps it is the rooms and objects that provide a glimpse into the daily life of the royal household that enchant visitors more than the grandeur. In the linen room, small towels and sheets are neatly folded and placed on wooden shelves. On the stove is a small copper whistling kettle, made from a penny.

Allison Thistlewood, 49, who was visiting with a friend, said: “There's that kind of top-to-bottom stuff, and the behind-the-scenes stuff, that is often the most fascinating.”

“It's very 'Downton Abbey,'” she added.

Ms Jones said she hoped the fact the items were all handmade would not be lost on today's visitors. She has a particular fondness for the kitchen, she said, which in 1924 was stocked with real food from British producers, including mustard, marmalade and preserves. Look closely and you can see where the 100 year old blackberry jam has seeped into the paper lid.

“I think it's the time and effort that people have put into making these things that when you see them up close you can really be amazed by them,” Ms Jones said. “The dedication they put into creating these things is extraordinary.”