The Prince Alfred was built as a public house in 1856. At this time London was expanding in all directions. To the west there was an rural pub called The Maida (named after Britain’s famous victory over the French in Spain, 1806).
All around The Maida Inn, Victorian housing in white Regents Park stucco grew up. Both old and new money relocated to this west end of London. The east was too industrial. The north was hilly and disrupted by Hampstead Heath, and development south of the Thames was impeded by too few bridges. The really imposing estates were built west of Regent’s Park and the area around this old pub became known, picturesquely as “Maida Vale”.
Today The Prince Alfred is a tall, neoclassical mid-nineteenth century pub not far from the Regent’s Park Canal. It was named after Queen Victoria’s second son, Alfred, known in the family as Affie. In 1862 at the age of 18 he almost became King Alfred of Greece when its crown was offered to him, but Mummy forbade the move and Affie embarked on a naval career instead. In 1866 he became Duke of Edinburgh on his 21st birthday. His main achievement however was to begin the royal family’s famous stamp collection.
Today the interior of the pub displays many photos of Prince Alfred (who looked remarkably like his elder brother, King Edward VII). It also sports some beautifully preserved snob screens. These hinged wood and etched glass panels allowed people to drink in the bar of a pub and engage with the bar staff without their faces being seen by other drinkers in the bar (or even the staff if they wished). Victorian pubs installed “snob screens” so that gentlemen might drink without their servants noticing them or (later) so that ladies could drink incognito. Access to each section was by a discreet personal outer door and each section was linked to each other by very low doors, once again to prevent recognition.
Nowadays only one part of the pub’s semi-circular bar had snob screens. This area is very popular and if you want to try out “snobby” anonymity it is best to book. The rest of the pub is known as The Formosa Dining Room, a relatively modern, low-rise extension (which unfortunately lacks the charm of the old pub). In the basement there are four private dining rooms, carved out of the pub’s old cellars and lined with modern banquettes. These booths have a cavernous, crumbly brick charm.
On the way down to the cellar (and the lavatories) look out for the photo of Sir Alec Guiness who was born in Maida Vale. Alan Turing the code-breaking genius was also born nearby, just a few houses from the Prince Alfred. He is commemorated by a blue plaque.
It is for its snob screens - to allow middle class drinkers to avoid the gaze of working class - that this London pub is unique There are only 12 such sets left in Britain today.
NEAREST TUBE: WARWICK AVENUE