A true royal destination: Natural History Museum in London

In October 2020, the Princess of Wales, then Duchess of Cambridge, announced the Winner of the Wildlife  Photographer of the Year in a very nice setting: the Natural History Museum in London.

Let's take a closer look to this important place "The Natural History Museum in London".

The museum houses life and earth specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. The museum also is a center of research of taxonomy, identification and conservation. It has specimen collected by the famous Charles Darwin. It also is known for its dinosaur skeletons. 

"The Natural History Museum" in London does not charge an admission fee and its royal patron is Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Princess of Wales). But what about the history of "The Natural History Museum" in London?

Some royal history

The foundation of the collection of the museum was that of doctor Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). His significant collections were to be purchased by the British Government well below their market value at the time. 

However Doctor George Shaw (Keeper of the Natural History 1806-1813) sold many specimens to the Royal College of Surgeons. 

In 1862 a nephew of the mistress of a Trustee was appointed Entomological assistant despite not knowing the difference between a butterfly and a moth.  J.E.Gray (Keeper of Zoology (1840-1874)) complained of the incidence of mental illness among staff. 

In 1856, Richard Owen, a palaeontologist, was appointed as Superintendent of the Natural history departments of the British Museum. Owen saw that the Natural history departments needed more space. 

In 1864, a competition was held to design the new museum. The winning entry was submitted by the civil engineer Captain Francis Fowke, who died shortly afterwards. The scheme was taken over by Alfred Waterhouse. He designed the façades in his own idiosyncratic Romanesque style. 

The building works began in 1873 and they ended in 1880. The new museum was opened in 1881. 

In 1905, a replica of the Diplodocus Carnegii skeleton was given by Andrew Carnegie, after a discussion with King Edward VII to the Museum.  The pieces were sent to London in 36 crates and on 12 May 1905 the exhibit was unveiled and shown for public and media. 

In recent history, in 2002, the Darwin Center of the Natural History Museum was opened for public. 

The museum works together with the BBC's Natural History Unit and the Attenborough Studio, named after the broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. 

To see the Princess of Wales then the Duchess of Cambridge's announcement, check this link of the Daily Mail.  

I took these pictures in 2016. Even though I'm not a huge fan of sciences, I really enjoyed the Natural History Museum in London, due to it's amazing architecture and its great royal History.