Another royal hotel with links to the queen and her sister Princess Margaret's early years is the Mandarin Oriental, an establishment formerly known as The Hyde Park Hotel. The little princesses learned to dance in the ballroom overlooking Hyde Park, and they were just some of the six generations of royals who have passed through the doors of the grand red brick property. It was built in 1902, and Edward VII's wife Queen Alexandra was the first royal fan, followed by the wife of George V, Queen Mary. Her son Edward chose it as the location for many of his engagements, and later Prince Philip frequented the hotel, where he hosted polo and cocktail parties and brought his young children Prince Charles and Princess Anne for tea. The queen and Prince Philip also hosted visiting dignitaries at the hotel the night before William and Kate's wedding.
