HRH Princess Royal Visit
HRH The Princess Royal Visits D’Oyly Carte Island
The activities at the island are entirely in keeping with what the island was intended for in 1890 and have resulted in a local community enjoying this jewel in Weybridge’s rich crown of history and culture. A further benefit comes when 30 plus people are directly or indirectly employed from the local community which was precisely what the King experienced at Dumfries House.
As Shakespeare declared in his play Twelfth Night…..If music be the food of love, play on! Welcome to D’Oyly Carte Island, an island built for music.
HRH The Princess Royal has visited D’Oyly Carte Island to support its restoration which brings together the house, gardens and community whilst simultaneously preserving a historic building with such a rich history of British music success and culture.
The visit was to celebrate bringing the island back to life having been empty for 12 years during which time negligence, squatters and vandals did their worst.
In the late 1800’s the most prominent music impresario of that century, Richard D’Oyly Carte, created a global business with his wife and partners WS Gilbert & Sir Athur Sullivan. They created their famous comic operas, the popular music of the time, and initially performed them at the Savoy Theatre.
To great acclaim, this phenomenal British success was exported around the world using the extraordinary business acumen of Helen D’Oyly Carte. This enabled the Carte’s to build and own the Savoy Hotel which was added to when they bought Clarridges, the Connaught and Simpsons.
The music mogul and hotelier D’Oyly Carte bought a two-acre island near London. When the local Council denied an alcohol license, he and his wife, Helen, made it their private residence, still entertaining notable figures like Gilbert, Sullivan, Oscar Wilde, and JM Barrie. After D’Oyly and his family, the island changed hands multiple times—serving as a nightclub, bedsits, and a mooring business—before being abandoned for 12 years, falling into ruin due to vandalism and squatters. In 2019, Andy and Sheila Hill, with the help of their architect daughter and son-in-law, began restoring it.
When the new owners, Hill's, bought the island and house, the magnificent cedar tree in the east garden, originally planted by Kew Gardens 130 years ago, had died, and, amongst other things, HRH The Princess Royal planted another cedar tree to symbolise islands new lease of life.
HRH spends time reviewing the progress to date, studying the plans for the future, meeting architects, renovators, and supporters, and enjoying a hilarious updated performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's “A Little List” that can be viewed at www.doylycarteisland.com.
In 2024, the Mayor unveiled a Blue Plaque to commemorate the life of Helen D’Oyly Carte, who lived on the island and was a visionary, pioneering entrepreneur, superbly documented in the book “The Queen of the Savoy”. Whilst at the island, HRH unveiled a plaque alongside the blue plaque to commemorate the visit of HRH The Princess Royal.
Mrs. Hill concludes: “It was a privilege and honour to welcome HRH to D’Oyly Carte Island to join us in thanking all of the people who have contributed to bringing this island and house back to life. With HRH as the first signature in the visitors book, the planting of a new cedar tree by HRH to replace the one planed by Kew Gardens 130 years ago, and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to record the visit by HRH will all be reminders to Andy, me, and all our guests, to double up on our efforts to restore this magical island and we would be delighted to welcome HRH back to review our progress and enjoy another updated version of “A Little List."
Andy and Sheila Hill, supported by their family’s architects and property specialists—PARTI and ARC—took a leap of faith in buying D’Oyly Carte Island as their family home, despite its poor condition. Inspired by the model of linking historic properties with the local community, as seen in the renovation of Dumfries House, they restored the island and created a local community of moorers, established D’Oyly’s waterside café, bar, and restaurant, and now host summer concerts as part of the annual Weybridge Festival.
"Mr Hill comments: “The D’Oyly Carte Island Summer Concerts in 2024 were a huge success with 6,000 guests attending six events over 3 days, providing another opportunity to bring together the house, gardens and community.”
One of the Summer Concerts in 2024 was dedicated to Gilbert & Sullivan music, with an opportunity to see the largest collection of Gilbert & Sullivan memorabilia displayed throughout the house, including Sullivan's grand piano. The five other events are contemporary music, which would appeal to the wider community. A large stage was erected on the east patio, with guests enjoying the performances from the gardens near the hog roast, Pimm’s tent, and other hospitality choices.
"Hill Continues: It’s extraordinary what happens when you have an amazing venue like D’Oyly Carte Island, and you decide to bring it back to life after years of neglect, vandals and squatters. One day, you get a visit from the Weybridge Festival organisers, and the next thing you know, we are organising three days of summer concerts for 6,000 people from the local community. From this, we are then put in touch with a young company called Folc, an award-winning and truly delicious English rosé from Surrey, and we then have a Floc tent at the Summer Concerts that the local community enjoyed a little bit too much! The benefits to the local community, the local finances, and local employment from this one small event are quite extraordinary.”
