"Tables are laid for lavish meals, bedrooms decorated and parlour games set out as they would have been for the Prince of Wales' visit to the Castle in 1909.
A century ago, George, the 4th Earl of Powis and Lady Violet, Countess of Powis had the honour of entertaining the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary) for a shooting weekend at their home, Powis Castle - the first Royal visit since Princess Victoria visited in 1832.
While the prince helped to shoot nearly 3,000 pheasants during the three days, the Princess toured the area with the ladies - an event that appeared in all the local papers.
We hope to create a 'fly on the wall' atmosphere to visitors, setting a scene of how the castle would have looked during this visit. This is a fantastic opportunity to display all the little day to day items usually hidden away in the stores, and bring the place to life.
Powis Castle at that time was the site for balls, dinners and garden parties - with foreign royalty, ambassadors, marquises and dukes dining at the ancestral home of the Herbert Family.
But this event created a huge impact locally - the whole of Welshpool was decorated with flags, bunting and floral arches to welcome the royal couple and wherever they went they were greeted with patriotic cheers. When the Prince and Princess departed over 2,000 people filled the park to bid them farewell.
Staff and volunteers at the castle will greet visitors in Edwardian costume, and original Edwardian costumes will be on display in many of the rooms, ranging from sequined evening gowns to tweed shooting suits, loaned from a collection by Rodger Manning, a collector of Victorian and Edwardian costume.
Throughout 2009, Powis Castle has been celebrating Edwardian times - a period of great change for the Castle, and a time of elegance between the stern Victorian era and the tragedy of the Great War.
It was during that time that the Earl transformed the Castle and Gardens - employing the famous architect G. F. Bodley to work on the interiors and exterior of the castle to accommodate the latest fashions of the day.
His response to the working brief of modernising the ancient castle in order to bring it up to date were contemporary features like "His 'n Hers fireplaces", sumptuous fabrics and inventive radiator disguises.
The medieval origins of the castle and opulent State Apartments were celebrated with the addition of Jacobean inspired rooms; oak panelled with ornate plaster ceilings. The Kitchen Garden was swept away to create a formal garden of topiary orchards, fountains and rose bushes.
To mark this centenary of re-modelling the castle, an exhibition of some of Bodley's original architectural drawings and plans for Powis Castle, loaned from the National Library of Wales, will be on display at the castle's Ballroom from October through to April."
Article written by Emma Marshall
