The King's Speech Set Locations

I just saw the movie The King's Speech and loved it.  Not only was it a wonderful portrayal of the difficulties of living with a stutter, it highlighted my chosen profession, was historically accurate, and was visually beautiful.

The speech therapist worked out of run-down office with the most amazing walls layered with plaster and bits of peeling wallpaper. 

The walls had the most gorgeous colours of ochre, browns, greens, and blues - the same colours used in Helena Bonham Carter's clothes as the Duchess of York.

I did a bit of Googling and discovered where they filmed this scene (you can read the complete Guardian article here).  Apparently the actual rooms that Logue, the Speech Therapist, practiced in were too small for filming so they used a building just a block away at 33 Portland Place in London.  This lovely townhome was built in 1775 and was designed by Robert Adams, one of the greatest designers of the period.  The house retains many of its original features and is now used for parties and receptions.  Thirty-three Portland Place had an unused vaulted room with large leaded-glass windows at one end and sky lights allowing the room to have more light which worked perfectly as the Speech Therapist's office.  The room had an interesting wall covered in distressed browns and oranges and one area that was covered in partially removed oil-infused wallpaper.  The production designer loved the look and recreated it across all the walls.  

Amazingly, 33 Portland Place not only had the worn shabby room perfect for the depression-era Speech Therapist's office, but it also had many lovely reception rooms (eight in all) that were used in the film as the Duke and Duchess's home before Edward VIII abdicated.  You can see in the photos below the ornate rooms used as the royal residence and the room used as the Speech Therapist's office.   

 

Apparently Lancaster House was used as a subsitute for Buckingham Palace.   The overly ornate setting of Lancaster House worked well in the film as it contrasted with the scruffy, smoggy street scenes and the worn Speech Therapist's office.   Only a few scenes were filmed at Lancaster House, a couple of which you can see below.

Cinema Style

Cinema Style

One of my favourite scenes was the party at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with all the dark wood and browns and blues and tartans, but I was unable to find any photos from this part of the film.  I did find a picture of the gorgeous tartan worn by the King at the party.

X Marks the Scot

Anyone else see the movie?  What did you think of the worn wall in the Speech Therapist's office?