| Princess Victoria | |
|---|---|
 Princess Victoria Pub in 2015 | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1829 |
| Food type | Gastropub |
| City | London |
| Postal/ZIP Code | W12 |
| Country | England |
| Website | |
The Princess Victoria is a public house and former gin palace on the Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W12. First opened in 1829, it closed in June 2017 when its parent company, Affinity Bars and Restaurants, became insolvent, but re-opened in November 2017 under new operators Three Cheers Pub Company.
The Princess Victoria dates from 1829 and was one of London's earliest gin palaces. It was popular with commuters when the tram began carrying 1,000 passengers a day between Acton and the Uxbridge Road. Commuters could enjoy a "quick gin and water" before returning home. [1] One of the first licensees was one George Turner. [2] Designed in the grand Victorian style, this imposing red brick building with stucco ornaments was for many years a "rough Irish pub" until its gentrification in the early 2000s. [3]
In the 1980s the Princess Victoria was briefly owned by Richard Branson and run as a music venue, with singer Phil Collins filming the music videos for his songs "Sussudio" and "One More Night" on the premises. [1]
The pub was later re-invented as a gastropub and was described by Time Out in 2016 as a "regal boozer...the best pub for miles around [with a] beautifully restored interior, [4] and by The Guardian as having "a diverse wine list and refined pub grub". [5]
In 2015 the Princess Victoria was awarded "London County Dining Pub of the Year" in The Good Pub Guide 2016. [6]
Anthony Bourdain filmed his Part’s Unknown episode in London post Brexit vote in 2016 and met Nigella Lawson during the episode at The Princess Victoria for a Guinness, some starters and a chat. [7]
In June 2017 the Princess Victoria closed without warning, apparently after its parent company became insolvent. [8] The pub's owners, Affinity Bars and Restaurants, blamed the "fatal" Brexit vote for a 20% collapse in earnings that led to the closure. [9]
In September 2017 London based Three Cheers Pub Company announced that they had taken on The Princess Victoria. They reopened the pub in November 2017 following a full makeover. [10]
The Princess Victoria was a major location for Guy Ritchie's film The Gentlemen (2019), starring Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Grant.
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
Nigella Lucy Lawson is an English food writer and television cook.
Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 4.9 miles (7.9 km) west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Shepherd's Bush is an area of west London, England, which has been served by a number of London Underground and commuter rail stations over the past 150 years, many of which have had similar names. The names Shepherd's Bush, Wood Lane and White City have each been used by several separate stations around the Shepherd's Bush district, following a number of station renamings and closures.
Uxbridge Road was a railway station on the West London Railway from 1869 to 1940. It was initially served by London & North Western Railway and the Great Western Railway. In 1905 the line became a branch of the Metropolitan Railway, and later London Underground's Metropolitan line. Uxbridge Road station closed on 21 October 1940 during World War II, when the West London Line was put out of service during the Blitz.
Uxbridge and South Ruislip is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation. The seat has been held by Danny Beales of the Labour Party since July 2024.
Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The 12-mile (19 km) route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon.
The Uxbridge branch line was a railway line to Uxbridge in the historical English county of Middlesex, from the Great Western Railway main line at West Drayton. It opened in 1856 as a broad gauge single line, 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) long. It was converted to standard gauge in 1871. Two other branch lines were later built to Uxbridge, but without making a connection.
Shepherd's Bush Market is a street market in Shepherd's Bush, London. The market is located on the east side of the railway viaduct for the Hammersmith and City Tube line, and is bordered on the north side by the Uxbridge Road, and on the south by the Goldhawk Road.
A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves food of a similar quality to a restaurant. The term was coined in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, though similar pubs already existed.
Shepherd's Bush station is a station located in the district of Shepherd's Bush in Greater London for London Overground and National Rail services.
Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham centred on Shepherd's Bush Green. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, it was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1844 the West London Railway officially opened, followed in 1864 by the Metropolitan Railway who built the original Shepherd's Bush station, opening up the area to residential development. Businesses soon followed, and in 1903 the west side of Shepherd's Bush Green became the home of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a music hall whose early performers included Charlie Chaplin.
The Shepherd's Bush Palladium was an historic building in Shepherd's Bush, London, originally built in 1910 as the Shepherd's Bush Cinematograph Theatre. The building had a number of owners over the years and finally stopped showing films in 1981. After standing empty for some time, it was eventually converted into a pub and for many years was owned and operated by the Walkabout chain of Australasian-themed bars. In October 2013 the building was sold to a property developer and in 2019 it was largely demolished, replaced in 2021 with a 16-storey block of flats, retaining the original 1920s facade.
The Church of St Stephen and St Thomas is a Church of England parish church in Shepherd's Bush, London. It was built circa 1849–50, designed by architect Anthony Salvin in the Gothic Revival style and is now Grade II listed. The church is located on the South side of Uxbridge Road on the corner of Coverdale Road, to the west of Shepherd's Bush tube station.
W12 is a shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham that is open from 06:00-23:30 daily and includes shops like Lidl, One Below and Poundland. The modern development borders the south side of Shepherd's Bush Green and was designed in the 1960s.
Isleworth Crown Court is a Crown Court centre which deals with criminal cases at 36 Ridgeway Road, Isleworth, London.
The Star was a pub at 38 St John's Wood Terrace in St John's Wood, in the City of Westminster, London, for approximately 200 years before closing in 2015. The Westminster City Council listed it as an asset of community value. In 2017 it reopened as a gastropub.
The Queen Adelaide is a pub at 412 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, London W12. It is a Greene King property.
Dickie Fitz was a restaurant in a former pub at 48 Newman Street on the corner with Goodge Street in the City of Westminster, London. It closed in June 2017. It had traded under that name for about one year as an Australian-themed restaurant but had previously been the home to restaurants Ping Pong and the Newman Street Tavern.
