Today, Regent Street is one of London’s premiere shopping destinations with over 7.5 million tourists visiting every year. It is home to some of the finest international brands in the world from Apple to Burberry. The beginnings of Regent Street date back to 1811 when King George III became ‘mentally incapable’ of ruling, and his son was declared the ‘Prince Regent’. The Prince would eventually become King George IV, but he ruled in his father’s place as ‘Regent’ for almost ten years. During these years the Prince’s focus was far more on women, food, style, and fashion than on the affairs of state and politics. One of his first projects was to hire architect John Nash to create a new, formal ceremonial route from his Palace, Carlton House, in St. James’s up to Regent’s Park. This was one of the first examples of city planning in London, and Regent Street soon became the centre of London’s fashionable, social, and commercial activity throughout much of the nineteenth century. By 1895, the street’s original buildings had become out-dated, and the area was completely rebuilt on the existing plan to designs by leading architects of the day. The redevelopment of Regent Street was completed in 1927, and this is the street you see today.
- Regent Street
- www.regentstreetonline.com
- Underground: Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus