Horses were needed to transport the Prince of Wales from London to Brighton and for hunts within Brighton, so the Prince developed the grounds of the Marine Pavilion by providing Royal Stables.
One thing he did not like was East Street as it was in 1803. It used to run right past the windows of his pavilion and this did not allow him the privacy that members of the royal family expect to have in their own homes.
To solve the problem, he had East Street shortened and it now ends where the corner of the department store Hanningtons is situated, at the junction of North Street and Castle Square. The short stretch leading from North Street to the South Gate of The Royal Pavilion Grounds has been re-named Pavilion Buildings and now houses the Royal Pavilion Souvenir Shop, which you can visit without having to enter the Palace Grounds.
In return for taking part of the Old Town, the Prince ordered his soldiers to build a new road for the people of Brighton, to the west of the Pavilion gardens. This is suitably named New Road and its main attraction is now the Theatre Royal.
Although used for classical music concerts, the Dome theatre has also been used for Christmas pantomimes and as a Political Party Conference Centre. Brighton Conference Centre, developed in the 1970s, took over as the annual venue for the major British political parties and was the venue for the Conservative Party Conference in 1984, when a bomb was planted in the nearby Grand Hotel in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
The Dome has frequently been used by for fringe meeting during the political party conference season in the autumn. Likewise, the grounds of the Royal Pavilion have frequently been hired out for wedding receptions and romantic photographs. With the Marriage Register Office just across the other side of the Old Steine, the Pavilion has proved a very popular venue.