The Great Exhibition and the Crystal Palace

In 1851, Prince Albert, Royal Consort to Queen Victoria, held a magnificent celebration of his adopted homeland. Think Cool Britannia only less cocaine and more things stolen from other countries. To house this Great Exhibition, he had built an enormous Crystal Palace, a marvel of Victorian architecture and a shrine to Empire, excess and elephants. Today, not a single shard of glass from this vast building remains. Why? What happened? And what exactly was inside its shimmering walls? Don't get upset. Douglas and Hugh are about to open the doors and lead you inside this enormous nineteenth century monument dedicated to a decadent past. And you don't even need a ticket... TRIGGER WARNING: fans of hedgehogs might find a part of this episode disturbing. ------ History for You with Douglas and Hugh is a comedy podcast about history written, performed and produced by Adrian Mackinder and James Devonshire, with music by Mike Jones.  Let us know your thoughts and suggestions for future episodes. Connect with us here: https://tinyurl.com/History4UTwitter https://tinyurl.com/History4UFacebook  https://tinyurl.com/History4UBlueSky Adrian and James are also published authors: The Wonder 1: Blood Red https://amzn.eu/d/0gk3Qiq Stan Lee: How Marvel Changed the World https://linktr.ee/stanleebook Death and the Victorians https://linktr.ee/deathandthevictorians Adrian is also a stand-up comedian and improvisor. Here he is: https://linktr.ee/AdrianMackinder