East Cowes Castle days later in his London home, by cutting his own throat. In 1819, just six months before his coronation as King George IV, the Prince Regent visited Nash again at East Cowes Castle, whilst touring on the Royal Yacht. In 1825, the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge stayed at East Cowes Castle. In August 1830, the Dauphiness and Duchess De Berri, accompanying the expatriated King of France, visited East Cowes Castle. The king had abdicated on 2 August and left France for England on 16 August, when it seemed that their safety was in jeopardy from angry mobs of
Cowes eastern, that the western shore". Cowes has been seen as a home for international yacht racing since the founding of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1815. It gives its name to the world's oldest regular regatta, Cowes Week, which occurs annually in the first week of August. Later, powerboat races are held. Much of the town's architecture is still heavily influenced by the style of ornate building that Prince Albert popularised. The name "Westcowe" was attested in 1413 as the name of one of two sandbanks, on each side of the River Medina estuary, so-called after a supposed likeness to