St Mildred

Whippingham is one of a tiny band of small village churches which have become closely linked with neighbouring Royal residences and therefore have a very great many beautiful, interesting and historical features.

St Mildred's on the Isle of Wight is surely an outstanding example of this little group, as a visitor will soon appreciate. It becomes quickly apparent what personal attention and indeed loving care it has received from Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort and so many other members of the Royal Family, from its very design and building to the many beautiful features and memorials within it. Within the church the Battenberg Chapel has very close family associations, my father having been Prince Louis Francis of Battenberg from birth till aged 17 when the Royal Family names were changed in 1917 and my father became Lord Louis Mountbatten. The chapel contains memorials to him and his elder brother George 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and his two older sisters, Princess Alice (mother of Prince Philip) and Queen Louise of Sweden. 

There is a permanent exhibition of Royal and local memorabilia in the Church and Church Centre. This includes: a replica of Princess Beatrice's wedding dress, royal photographs, pictures and historical details of many local landmarks and pictures and architect's drawings of the three churches which have existed on this site.

It is said that Queen Victoria abandoned worshipping in the church in 1880 because of gawking tourists, in favour of a private chapel at Osborne House.