Explore The Estate Where The New Cinderella Movie Was Filmed

Waddeson Manor, its Gardens and Aviaries

Amazon Prime Video’s new movie depiction of Cinderella will be released on 3 September 2021. Much of the action was filmed at Waddesdon Manor, a grand country estate, near my home in Buckinghamshire, England.

Waddesdon Manor’s gardens were renowned in Victorian times. The house and grounds were used for parties and weekend entertainment by the owner, Baron Ferdinand De Rothschild. Members of high society would attend the parties, including royal guests and politicians of the day.

Queen Victoria visited in 1890, to find out where her son was disappearing to every weekend. She was most enchanted by the electric lighting in the house and decided to install it in her palace too. She was less enchanted however, by the elevator, and decided to walk up the stairs instead. She didn’t trust the new technology.

Waddesdon Today

Today, visitors can explore the house and gardens, with the glorious parterre, the rose garden, and the estate walks. There’s an aviary full of exotic birds, who are now bred as part of a captive breeding programme for rare species.

The original Victorian aviaries still stand. They’re the last remaining part of Baron Ferdinand De Rothchild’s menagerie of animals who lived on the estate.

Baron Ferdinand had zebras at the Manor, but the Rothschilds’ interest in the natural sciences didn’t stop with live animals. They had an impressive collection of taxidermy, which now resides at the Natural History Museum at nearby Tring, in Hertfordshire, England.

Visitors to Waddesdon Manor house and gardens will surely recognise parts of the house and grounds in the new film — a musical extravaganza, suitable for all ages.

Waddesdon Manor is open to the public weekly, from Wednesdays to Sundays. It has a cafe, restaurant, shop, toilets, and there is plenty to see and do. Book tickets here: www.waddesdon.org.uk

You can also visit the Rothschilds’ zoological collection at the Tring Museum of Natural History. It has galleries of birds, exotic animals, sea creatures, and big game.