David Iliff / The Royal Albert Hall
29 March, a day to be celebrated as one of the stages in the easing of lockdown, is also a day to be celebrated for the 150th birthday of the Royal Albert Hall. The grand old elliptical masterpiece, the final piece of Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition vision, is 150 years old. There were probably people at its opening by Queen Victoria on 29 March 1871 who fought at the Battle of Waterloo.
Sir Henry Cole, the man who drove the project forward, even when money was scarce and the doubters were many, is credited with creating and sending the first Christmas card in 1843. The Hall is so old it comes from another lightyear.