Queen visits prison turned into luxury hotel and heritage centre (From Oxford Mail)

Queen visits prison turned into luxury hotel and heritage centre

8:27am Saturday 6th May 2006 in News

The Queen looked in the pink as she delighted Royal watchers by officially opening the £40m Oxford Castle development in glorious sunshine.

The 11th century site was packed for the occasion, with 500 guests waiting to greet her yesterday. The site off New Road has undergone a radical facelift, including the £20m transformation of the former Oxford Prison into the Malmaison Hotel.

The Queen smiled and waved to the crowd as she arrived promptly at 11.45am, dressed in a pink, three-quarter length coat and matching hat with black trim.

She was then taken on a tour of the complex, which includes restaurants, an art gallery, and a heritage and education centre.

The Queen unveiled a plaque to mark the opening the culmination of years of work by joint developers Trevor Osborne and the county council.

Mr Osborne told the Oxford Mail: "The Queen's visit is a tremendous honour for us, and a celebration of eight years' work.

"I am presenting her with a photographic record of the changes here, which I hope she will enjoy.

"Everything is coming on stream now the restaurants are full and last night the hotel was fully booked."

Council leader Keith Mitchell added: "The Queen told me she was intrigued by the history of the site and the unusual nature of the buildings. We are delighted to have the Royal seal of approval."

During her visit, the Queen was shown one of the Malmaison Hotel's bedrooms, which has been converted from former prison cells.

She was shown the bedroom by Michael Jenkins, who was governor of Oxford Prison from 1973 to 1978.

He said: "Three cells have been turned into a bedroom and bathroom and it's very palatial, and very different from when I was here.

"The Queen seemed very impressed I don't think she has been in a prison cell before."

Debbie Dance, of Oxford Preservation Trust, which will run the heritage centre at the site called Oxford Castle Unlocked, also showed the Queen round.

She said: "Everyone knows the history of the university, but now we are opening up the history of the city for the people of Oxford."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said he was delighted by the "terrific turnout".

He said: "This project brings together the city's history with an attractive modern development."

Spectators were out in force by 9am to get a glimpse of the Queen. During her tour, she was introduced to pupils from Pegasus Primary School, Blackbird Leys, and New Marston Primary School.

She had lunch at Christ Church in St Aldate's, where she met, among others, the Dean, the Very Rev Christopher Lewis, and Evan Harris, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon.

The cathedral bells rang out as the Queen was driven into the Christ Church quad in a maroon Bentley a gift from the car manufacturers to mark the Golden Jubilee in 2002.

The choirboys sang grace and a short play was performed in the Queen's honour.

Earlier, she had been given a tour of Oxford University Press's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.