laburnum and birch trees and installed a number of follies. The house was in good condition, but to make it fit for royal inhabitants, James Wyatt was employed to enlarge and modernise Frogmore House. Between 1795 and 1804, Wyatt enlarged the second floor, added flanking pavilions to the north and south of the house and extended to make room for a new dining room and library. As part of developing Frogmore's gardens, Queen Charlotte had built a simpler retreat house in 1801, now known as Frogmore Cottage. When Charlotte died in 1818, she left the house to her daughter Princess Augusta Sophia, who lived there until her death in 1840. Following Augusta Sophia's death, Queen Victoria gave Frogmore to her mother, the Duchess of Kent. During this time, the house was subject to a number of alterations. The Duchess's taste differed greatly from Queen Charlotte's and much of the decoration from her time was lost. The house was used regularly between 1841 and the death of the Duchess of Kent in 1861, with Queen Victoria often visiting and a number of private family functions being held there. Victoria wrote of the house: "All is peace and quiet and you only hear the hum of the bees, the singing of the birds and the occasional crowing and cackling from the Poultry Yard!" Recent history Frogmore was used intermittently for the remainder of the 19th century. Princess Alexandra (then Princess of Wales) gave birth to her first child (Prince Albert Victor) at the house in 1864, after which it was the home of Princess Helena, third daughter of Queen Victoria, and her husband Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Helena and her husband moved to Cumberland Lodge in 1872. Queen Victoria's great-grandson Louis Mountbatten was born on the estate in 1900. From 1902 to 1910, the Prince and Princess of Wales (later George V and Queen Mary) were frequent residents. From 1925 until her death in 1953, Mary collected and arranged in the house souvenirs of the Royal Family, describing it as "a 'family' souvenir museum as well as a museum of 'bygones' and of interesting odds and ends." During this time, George V allowed his first cousin Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia to live at Frogmore Cottage by 1925 when she was escaping the Russian February Revolution. Xenia was "very grateful" that her cousin let her stay at Frogmore. By March 1937,