Prince's Banjo

[Ray Jones]

Prince%27s%20Banjo.JPGI recently came across this little article on page 6 in the Melbourne, Argus dated 30th January, 1926.    I started to wonder what had happened to the Canadian Banjo made for Edward VII.    I wouldn't think that the Palace was in the habit of throwing thing into the rubbish bin, especially if it was valuable.  So could this time piece of a banjo be rotting away in the Royal Vaults?   Maybe someone out there in the UK knows.

[Richard William Ineson]

There does seem to be a reluctance by the present Royal family to acknowledge that Edward VII played the banjo. Pat Doyle compiled a small booklet, some years ago, detailing the various members of the Royal family who had played the instrument and presented a copy to the Royal library at Windsor. Queen Victoria  was a great fan of the banjo, and had Joe Sweeney give a Command performance either at Windsor or when she was in Scotland; she presented Sweeney with a money belt filled with sovereigns and also a jeweled ring which I believe are still in the possession of the Sweeney family (the sovereigns have disappeared but they have the belt).

I remember seeing a photograph of an early Minstrel banjo which had belonged to Edward VII, in the B.M.G. magazine, this banjo had come into the possession of someone on the Isle of Wight.

I seem to remember that Pete Kennedy made some enquiries about the Royal family and the banjo, when he was visiting Osbourne House,  a few years ago, and he was shown to the door. The banjo seems to be a touchy subject with their Royal Highnesses, I cannot understand why.

Edward VII also had a Weaver banjo, the case to which, is now in the possession of a descendent of Charlie Rogers, this was probably made for him at the time that he was having lessons from the Bohee Brothers, the zither banjo mentioned in the newspaper article seems to have disappeared.

Servants in the service of the landed gentry often used to purloin the forgotten possessions of their employers, a practice which I believe, still continues, so perhaps the banjos found their way into some pawn shop, along time ago. Edward VIII had a couple of Abbott uke banjos which would be worth finding, but I think that someone will have had those by now.

[Jody Stecher]

Very Interesting! Thanks for this.

Richard William Ineson said:

There does seem to be a reluctance by the present Royal family to acknowledge that Edward VII played the banjo. Pat Doyle compiled a small booklet, some years ago, detailing the various members of the Royal family who had played the instrument and presented a copy to the Royal library at Windsor. Queen Victoria  was a great fan of the banjo, and had Joe Sweeney give a Command performance either at Windsor or when she was in Scotland; she presented Sweeney with a money belt filled with sovereigns and also a jeweled ring which I believe are still in the possession of the Sweeney family (the sovereigns have disappeared but they have the belt).

I remember seeing a photograph of an early Minstrel banjo which had belonged to Edward VII, in the B.M.G. magazine, this banjo had come into the possession of someone on the Isle of Wight.

I seem to remember that Pete Kennedy made some enquiries about the Royal family and the banjo, when he was visiting Osbourne House,  a few years ago, and he was shown to the door. The banjo seems to be a touchy subject with their Royal Highnesses, I cannot understand why.

Edward VII also had a Weaver banjo, the case to which, is now in the possession of a descendent of Charlie Rogers, this was probably made for him at the time that he was having lessons from the Bohee Brothers, the zither banjo mentioned in the newspaper article seems to have disappeared.

Servants in the service of the landed gentry often used to purloin the forgotten possessions of their employers, a practice which I believe, still continues, so perhaps the banjos found their way into some pawn shop, along time ago. Edward VIII had a couple of Abbott uke banjos which would be worth finding, but I think that someone will have had those by now.

[marc dalmasso]

amazing ; they all ( edouard 7 , georges 5 , the Queen ) were in Nice sometime , exactly  5 mn ' walking from my parents ' place ; they all have today their avenue in the Nice cimiez ' neighborhood .

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/nice-htel-excelsior-regina.cfm

All lil ' story more ,amazing too :
; in the 80 th ' , i was playing bluegrass in a small restaurant in Nice , old town , called " the cheap "
 (american  ' cooking )
  . one of these night , the wife of the landlord asked me if i could drive her back to her place ; i said OK and " her place " was a small villa  near the " Queen Victoria ' Hotel ( which is not anymore an hotel  today )
 , something impossible to buy even in the 80 th because ....... of the price ; i asked some explanations and she said her grandfather was sebastien marcel Biasini ,
 , ..... the architect of the regina excelsior ' palace, and in those times , she still had the house ..

Did SM Biasini  saw   a banjo in the Hotel ?  mistery.. 

[Ray Jones]

The Plot thickens!!!   I have sent an email to the Palace, maybe I'll get a right royal answer.    There is a photo of Elizabeth tuning up a Windsor in Hal's Classic Banjo website ( in the Shoebox section ).

[Trapdoor2]

As I recall, Bob Carlin investigated that story for his book on Sweeney. The family makes no such claim and he was able to look at some sort of Royal documentation for the period and no mention is made of Sweeney at all...even though other musicians and entertainers are listed.

Of course, I've slept since I read the book...and it wasn't an easy read (read: yawn!)
 
Richard William Ineson said:

Queen Victoria  was a great fan of the banjo, and had Joe Sweeney give a Command performance either at Windsor or when she was in Scotland; she presented Sweeney with a money belt filled with sovereigns and also a jeweled ring which I believe are still in the possession of the Sweeney family (the sovereigns have disappeared but they have the belt).

 

[Ray Jones]

This queen was such a fan of the zither banjo that she changed her name to Windsor.   True or false?
 
Trapdoor2 said:

As I recall, Bob Carlin investigated that story for his book on Sweeney. The family makes no such claim and he was able to look at some sort of Royal documentation for the period and no mention is made of Sweeney at all...even though other musicians and entertainers are listed.

Of course, I've slept since I read the book...and it wasn't an easy read (read: yawn!)
 
Richard William Ineson said:

Queen Victoria  was a great fan of the banjo, and had Joe Sweeney give a Command performance either at Windsor or when she was in Scotland; she presented Sweeney with a money belt filled with sovereigns and also a jeweled ring which I believe are still in the possession of the Sweeney family (the sovereigns have disappeared but they have the belt).

 

[Jody Stecher]

True, Ray, True. Absolutely that's what happened. I know because it was my uncle who suggested it to her.

Ray Jones said:

This queen was such a fan of the zither banjo that she changed her name to Windsor.   True or false?
 

[Ray Jones]

Thank you for putting my mind at rest on that point Jody.    Was that your Uncle Alfred? or was it the famous Bob?.     I shall sleep easy tonight mate.

[Richard William Ineson]

It is true, but it was George V who changed their name around the time of the 1st World War when they were called Battenburg; he realised that being named after a kind of cake was not very dignified and decided to rename the family after the first thing that caught his eye, which turned out to be Queen Mary's banjo, which as you so rightly say, was a Windsor.

Queen Victoria was a great banjo fan and formed a minstrel troupe with her children, John Brown and The Munchie (Her Indian manservant and close  personal friend) and they performed, incognito, on the sands at Cowes, Isle of Wight over several summers. She also played the tymps on a couple of Ossman's London cylinder recordings.

[Richard William Ineson]

I've only just realised that this banjo must have been made for Edward VIII when he was the Prince of Wales, Edward VII died in 1911 and was succeeded by George V. Eddie the Prince of Wales, was, even by Royal standards, a waste of space, presumably he took all of his banjos and his drum kit with him when he abdicated (remember the 'Greatest Love Story' ever told?) and continued his career as a full time playboy, in France. I think that that chap who used to own Harrods', Mohammed somebody or other AKA as 'The Phony Pharaoh' got the house that Eddie and Mrs. Simpson lived in, together with the contents. 

[Ray Jones]

Richard and Jody, I wish you would not say these things ( true as they are ) because just when we settle down to sleep at night your comments run again through my mind.    Consequently the bed starts to shake with my supressed laughter, much to the annoyance of my wife.   

 

[Richard William Ineson]

Sleep with someone else.