Kensington Palace
Saturday seemed like a great day to stay in the city and visit the Kensington Palace and Gardens. Kensington Palace was once a favored home of some of Britain`s most famous kings and queens and the setting for many great events and dramas in royal history. William III and Mary II originally purchased the Nottingham house in Kensington and commissioned Christopher Wren to turn it into a royal palace. Queen Anne, George I, and George II, and Queen Victoria (who was born there) all resided at the palace during their lives and all but Victoria, during their reigns. The building itself, like Buckingham Palace, is quite plain and without the extravagance one would expect of a royal palace. The gardens outside make up for the plain building, they were just starting to bloom.
The tour starts showing court life in the 17th and 18th century for the men and women. There is a permanent display of dresses worn by Princess Diana and a new temporary exhibition of her by Mario Testino in which she was wearing dresses that she auctioned off for charity. The photographs are priceless and really capture an informal and casual side of the Diana. If you love the Princess this is worth seeing. Another highlight is the dress worn by Queen Elizabeth II during a State Visit to Paris in 1957. The gown is exquisite! It is unbelievable what goes into a piece like this! She did wear the dress again to the Royal Opera House in London (Jeremy and I hope to catch the ballet there in May).
Next, the tour routes you through some rooms that are very uneventful with simply some information in lighted boxes, very anti-climatic. But, then you reach the King's Grand Staircase--and it is grand! It has gorgeous paintings on all the walls and ceilings and is really something to see (wish we could have taken photos, but they were not allowed!). The other rooms available to view were fantastic as well--the tour definitely got better! The Palace definitely meets the standards of a real royal palace. We enjoyed the visit, but would recommend other sites to visitors when in London.
posted by Chris @ 10:01 PM
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