Information
On his last night in England, 30th August 1847, before he returned to Denmark at the conclusion of his first visit to Britain, Andersen stayed in the Royal Oak hotel, Ramsgate, right by the harbour. His ten weeks in Britain had seen him receive the kind of acclaim and recognition he felt he had not been accorded in his own country. Perhaps it was the thought of leaving all this behind which made Andersen view the Royal Oak in such a jaundiced way. His spirits were much improved when Charles Dickens, at whose house in Broadstairs he had dined the previous evening, came to see him off in the morning, waving to him until the ship was out of sight.
Quotations
Monday August 30th 1847
. …arrived at the Royal Oak; got a bad room with a good view. The whole hotel was full…
Tuesday August 31st.
Awoke early. Up at 7 o’ clock. Waited for the barber, annoyed. A very bad hotel. I was cheated every which way. I exchanged some sovereigns, and they came and said there had been a napoleon d’or among the coins I had given them – which is impossible, since I didn’t have any. That’s how I lost five francs.
Place | Extract |
| Broadstairs | In particular he was greeted with great acclaim on his first visit to Britain in 1847... |
| Gadshill | He was not so happy when Dickens was away on business in the London office of his magazine ‘Household Words’, feeling that the children ignored him, and struggling to make himself understood... |
| Ramsgate | Perhaps it was the thought of leaving all this behind which made Andersen view the Royal Oak in such a jaundiced way... |
