Fort Belvedere (originally Shrubs Hill Tower) is a Grade II* listed country house on Shrubs Hill in Windsor Great Park, in Surrey, England.

The fort was occupied by numerous members of the British royal family and associated personages from 1750 to 1976. From 1929, Fort Belvedere was the home of Edward, Prince of Wales, who greatly renovated the house and grounds, and it was where, after a constitutional crisis, and as Edward VIII, he signed his Instrument of Abdication in December 1936. The property remains part of the Crown Estate, is home to private tenants and is not open to the public.

Location

The Fort Belvedere estate is situated in the extreme south end of Windsor Great Park in the parish of Egham, in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey. The closest town to the fort is Sunningdale in Berkshire. The fort is situated on Shrub's Hill and overlooks Virginia Water. The fort is from London, and Edward, Prince of Wales, would boast of being able to see London's St Paul's Cathedral "through a spy-glass" from the fort in the 1930s.

The fort's acquired name of 'Belvedere' (from Italian: 'beautiful view') reflects its status as a vantage point and as an 'eye-catcher' for the park.

Early history

It was, at first, merely a folly. It was used as a summer-house, and seven counties could be seen, as now, from the top of the flagstaff tower. The triangular turreted structure was set amid a dense plantation of trees and overlooked Virginia Water, a man-made body of water constructed by Henry Flitcroft and his assistant Thomas Sandby at the behest of the Duke.

Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, who was responsible, under George IV, for the rebuilding of Windsor Castle, enlarged the house in 1828 at a proposed cost of £4000. Additions included an octagonal dining room in the north-east side, in which the King regularly had dinner. A three-storey annex was added for the accommodation of the Bombardier, with a new wall linking a heightened turret to which a large flagpole was added. The addition of further Gothic details enhanced the interior and exterior of the fort in 1829. The fort is built of brick with an applied wash that imitated the appearance of stone.

Queen Victoria used Fort Belvedere as a tea house, and the fort was opened to the public in the 1860s.

By 1910, the fort was occupied as a grace and favour residence by Sir Malcolm Murray, the Comptroller to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. The Duke was the owner of nearby Bagshot Park. The fort was extended with a new service wing and entrance porch in 1911–12, which was subsequently demolished. The dining and drawing rooms were also extended and new entrance lodges were built. After the departure of Murray, the fort was described as suffering from "dust inches deep, splintered doors and sagging floors" in 1929.

The ruins in the grounds can be seen from the shore of Virginia Water and are part of an ancient temple brought from Leptis Magna near Tripoli. The ruins are located between the south shore and Blacknest Road close to the junction with the A30 London Road and Wentworth Drive.

Edward VIII

In 1929, the building became vacant, and was given to Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, by his father, George V. The King had originally expressed surprise at Edward's request asking him "What could you possibly want that queer old place for? Those damn weekends I suppose", but then smiled and gave his permission. Edward's previous residence had been York House, part of St. James's Palace in London, which he had thought "more an office than a home." By 1959, only one room, the drawing room, had survived from Edward's renovations. The drawing room's painted walls were designed to resemble the pinewood panelling of a Scottish shooting lodge. The total cost of the redecoration including plumbing and repairs came to £21,000 (£ as of ).

The relationship between Edward and Wallis Simpson blossomed at Fort Belvedere; the couple spent their first weekend at the fort at the end of January 1932, and by early 1935 two rooms had been combined at the fort for her use. Notable interior decorators to work on the fort under Edward included Sybil Colefax, Lady Mendl, Maison Jansen, and Herman Schrijver. Edward and Wallis entertained most weekends at the house; guests present included 'courtiers and diplomats, American men of affairs and English Society, garnished with a sprinkling of statesmen, soldiers and sailors'. Giles Gilbert Scott added a guest wing to the fort after Edward's accession as king in 1936. Government officials were caused further alarm by Edward's habit of leaving his official "red boxes" unguarded around the fort.

Following opposition to the potential of Edward's marriage to Wallis Simpson from the British government and autonomous Dominions of the British Commonwealth, the fort became the final setting of Edward's abdication as king. He held several meetings with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin at Fort Belvedere during the crisis, and on 10 December 1936, signed his written abdication notices at the fort, witnessed by his three younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York (who succeeded Edward as George VI); Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent. The following day, it was given legislative form by special Act of Parliament: His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. Following his abdication at the fort, Edward described himself as feeling "like a swimmer surfacing from a great depth ... I left the room and stepped outside, inhaling the fresh morning air." He retained the visitor's book from the fort, and it would be used at all the subsequent homes he and Wallis Simpson would share. The fort was used by the Office of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, who had been evacuated from their central London offices during World War II. After the war, the house remained empty.

Gerald and Angela Lascelles

In 1953 it was announced that the fort was to be available on a long lease, and a 99-year lease on the fort was bought by The Honourable Gerald Lascelles in 1955. Lascelles was the son of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood and Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of George V and Mary of Teck. Lascelles was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. He lived at the fort with his wife, Angela, and their son, Henry. Lascelles described the house as 'falling to pieces' at the beginning of his occupancy, and refurbished the fort, removing most traces of Edward's renovations in the process, except for the swimming pool and the battlements walk. A mural added by Peters in the drawing-room, and painted by Oliver Carson, depicted Peters in an incidental role, portrayed in 18th-century clothes chasing butterflies. Offers for the lease above £200,000 were invited. Three cottages were also included in the lease with the swimming pool and tennis court. It continues to be occupied by his family. The Westons carried out extensive works on the fort, constructing a polo stud and doubling the size of the lake in the grounds. Galen Weston died in 2021 and Hilary Weston died in 2025.

The Westons had a close relationship with the British royal family; they were often guests of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother at the nearby Royal Lodge, and hosted Queen Elizabeth II at the fort. King Charles III played polo with Galen Weston and stables his polo ponies at Fort Belvedere,

The Crown Estate retains ownership of the freehold, as the property is still part of the Great Park.

Gardens

The grounds of Fort Belvedere are about a hundred acres in size and include forests and a lake. The gardens of Fort Belvedere, Virginia Water and the nearby Clockcase are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Edward said of the fort that "By the time I came upon it, it had become a pseudo-Gothic hodge-podge. A profusion of yew trees kept one side of the house in perpetual shadow, staining the wall with green acidulous mould. But the half-buried beauty of the place leaped to my eye." Edward planted roses and irises along the walls of the battlement. Verey's designs for the rose garden and the 120-foot-long borders along the battlement remain, and have been reworked and maintained by garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith.