Look local: Newport

Newport has been a place of mixed fortunes for British monarchs. In the 1800s, Queen Victoria used the principal town as a rural retreat, spending her summers on the private beach of Osborne House with her family. Contrastingly, Charles I saw very little of the town when he was a resident, spending a year under lock and key at Carisbrooke House after losing the Civil War.

Although there are no royal residents on the island today, kings and queens of the music industry visit Newport each year for the world-famous Isle of Wight Festival which has its 50th anniversary this year.