Princess Gardens

Princess Gardens in Torquay is one of several places of interest along the Agatha Christie Mile. This public park by the waterfront is, like the nearby Princess Pier, named after Princess Louise (a daughter of Queen Victoria) who visited Torquay on 6 May 1890. To one side of the park is Torquay Pavilion. On the other side is Princess Theatre which was built in The 1960s after Christie's time.

Princess Gardens features in The A.B.C. Murders. In the book, Alexander Bonaparte Cust exits the Torquay Palladium cinema (the location is not known - could be fictional) after watching a film. He buys a newspaper and enters Princess Gardens. Then, "he slowly made his way to a shelter facing Torquay harbour". He sits down and opens his paper where the headlines announce the murder of Carmichael Clarke.

The Gardens probably look much as they did in Christie's time, with the ornamental fountain at the centre. However there is no sign of the ornamental shelters that faced Torquay harbour.

A view of Princess Gardens looking west. The ferris wheel was not there in Christie's time. The white building is the Princess Theatre, built in 1961 and so Christie would have known it. It was not, however, present during the events in A.B.C. Murders. To the left is the seafront. There is no sign of the "ornamental shelters" mentioned in the novel.