Thanks to all those who entered our People’s Palace Quiz. A winner has been found and she will soon receive her prize.
In case you struggled with the questions, here are the answers:
Q1/ An animated film from 1982 in which a boy and his frosty friend fly above the Pavilion on their way to the North Pole. What was the film called?
The Snowman. Author Raymond Briggs lives in Sussex and has close links with Brighton. He formerly taught at the Brighton School of Art.
Q2/ A former US President and general during the American Civil War, he visited the Pavilion on 22 October 1877. Who was he?
Ulysses S Grant. According to John George Bishop, the first historian of the Royal Pavilion, Grant visited the building on Monday 20 October 1877. The purpose of his visit is not clear, but he appears to have followed the Lord and Lady Mayor of London who visited just two days before.
Q3/ 1999 movie based on a Graham Greene novel, and starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore. Some of its later scenes were filmed in the Pavilion. What was the movie?
The End of the Affair. The original novel is one of several works by Greene that deal with personal morality and faith. As local historian Geoffrey Mead points out, Greene seems to have been attracted to the ‘vice’ of Brighton, most notably in Brighton Rock.
Q4/ An explorer and journalist who presumed to find David Livingstone in Africa. He visited the Royal Pavilion on 14 August 1872. Who was he?
Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley visited the Pavilion in order to attend a meeting of the British Association (now known as the British Science Association) held here. Numerous scientific societies held conferences in the Pavilion during the nineteenth century, and were often successful in attracting well-known figures.
Q5/ Actor, famous for both Shakespeare and Gandalf, who starred as Richard III in a 1995 film partly shot in the Pavilion. Who is he?
Sir Ian McKellen. McKellen’s adaptation of Richard III was set in an alternate 1930s’ fascist England. Thankfully, the Royal Pavilion has never been the home of a fascist leader, but it was threatened…
Q6/ During World War Two, Lord Haw Haw is supposed to have claimed that this leading Nazi would use the Pavilion as his personal palace following the invasion of Britain. Who was he?
Adolf Hitler. We have never been able to verify this claim, but it is mentioned in a history of the Pavilion by Clifford Musgrave, a former director. If true, this claim may still have been pure invention on the part of William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw Haw. However, we do know that Brighton was considered a potential landing area for a German invasion force.
