From the Dover Express, 26 November, 2009.

Secrets of the hotel.

SECRETS buried under the Grand Burstin hotel at Folkestone were revealed in words and screened photographs to members of The Dover Society this month.

Artist Ruth Patkinson from Folkestone spoke at St Mary's parish centre about the Royal Pavilion Hotel, a 400-bedroom establishment built near Folkestone harbour.

Miss Parkinson told how, when she first moved to Folkestone, she discovered a door at the back of the Burstin, which made her investigate further. She was given the run of the hotel and made many finds in the cellars and elsewhere. Much of the Royal Pavilion was demolished to make way for the Burstin although, she said, sections of the old hotel were still "crudely attached".

Her investigations around the cellars and other parts of the Burstin led her to research the guests who stayed at the Royal Pavilion, which gained its "Royal" prefix following an 1855 visit by Queen Victoria to inspect troops at Shorncliffe.

Folkestone newspapers each week listed staying guests at the Pavilion and these showed that members of the European financial Rothschild family were regular guests.

Other notable guests, many of whom had just crossed the Channel from Boulogne to Folkestone, included authors Dickens and Thackeray, the Punch cartoonist John Leach, Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, the King of Sardinia as well many princes and counts.

Miss Parkinson said it was a great pity that the Royal Pavilion was demolished and that at one stage the holiday camp pioneer Billy Butlin wanted to buy it.

"It's a pity he didn't," commented Miss Parkinson.