Haunted Osborne: Children play at the Swiss Cottage

Located on the large Osborne estate, the Swiss Cottage is one of the most tranquil, and perhaps most haunted, parts of Queen Victoria’s seaside home.

One of the main characteristics that drew Queen Victoria and Prince Albert into buying Osborne House in 1845 was the large surrounding parkland. Unlike their previous residence, Brighton Pavilion, Osborne offered privacy which allowed the young couple and their growing family to wander freely without being mobbed by intrusive locals.

Having always taken a keen interest in his children’s education, Prince Albert saw Osborne as the perfect place to further their skillsets. In 1850, he and Victoria gave the children some land of their, where they would learn to grow plants such as flowers, fruit and vegetables on their own personal plot, which they would then sell to their father at market rate. Four years later a large Swiss Cottage was built next to the children’s gardens. Whilst the cottage was technically a playhouse, its main purpose was to teach the children skills such as housekeeping, cooking and carpentry. It also gave them somewhere to study nature. Over the next few years the royal children would spend much of their time playing games, hosting teas and making memories in their own isolated paradise.

Having spent so much time at the forefront of Isle of Wight life for the royal children and their companions, it is no surprise that “the echo of happy times” (1) continue to be heard around the grounds. Several ghostly tales about the Swiss Cottage can be found in Gay Baldwin’s books about ghosts on the Isle of Wight. Much like the royal nursery, witnesses mention seeing shadows flitting within the cottage when it has been empty and hearing the nearby giggles and whisperings of children who simply are not there. Whilst these noises could be dismissed as the whistles of the wind through the trees or animals in the nearby woodland, there are some experiences that can’t be as easily explained.

The first story I ever came across regarding ghosts at Osborne came from ex-security guard, Michael Ballard. One summers evening in the early 2000s, Michael was patrolling near the Swiss Cottage after visitors had left, when he went up on the first floor balcony to make a phone call. As he ended his call, Michael had the fright of his life when he heard a child giggling and the sound of footsteps running across the gravel beneath him. But when he looked down, there was no one there (2). Throughout the years there have been several more reports from custodians and gardeners who have heard similar childlike footsteps running across the nearby gravel, despite the site being closed and the area being completely empty.

The story that creeps me out the most once again comes from Michael Ballard and features in Gay Baldwin’s book, ‘Even More Ghosts: Book seven’. Between 8pm and 9pm on a cold December night in 2004, Michael was once again patrolling the grounds around the Swiss Cottage when he heard the gentle sound of children singing ‘Silent Night’, which he presumed to be a carol concert by local children. However, when he returned indoors and told his colleague about the singing, Michael discovered that the singing had been much more local than he had anticipated. According to his colleague, the sounds of ghostly singing was a frequent occurrence around the Christmas period (3). Of course, we do know that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert adored Christmas. They spent part of the Christmas period at Osborne during Albert’s lifetime and Victoria celebrated several Christmases at Osborne in her later years. As part of the royal celebrations, it was common for local school children to gather at Osborne and perform carols for the queen. Could this be who Michael heard singing on that cold December night? Unfortunately we will never know

© Queen.Victoria.Roses 2026

Disclaimer: All of the stories that feature in this series are based on local tales which I have discovered either in person with witnesses or through Gay Baldwin’s books of Isle of Wight Ghost stories, which she has kindly given me permission to share.

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Citation:

(1) ‘Most Haunted Island: Book six’ by Gay Baldwin, page 79

(2, 3) ‘Even More Ghosts: Book seven’ by Gay Baldwin, page 9

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