Today I am going to share with you a bit of my recent trip to stay in London with my mum. The plan was to visit Kensington Palace and I was beyond excited to visit this beautiful royal residence. While the palace has a wonderful history, it is also currently home to several members of the royal family.
As we walked up to the palace entrance via Kensington Gardens, the imposing statue of William III bore down upon us. It’s a fitting tribute to the king who, alongside his wife Mary II, transformed a mansion house into the palace where they lived happily together, and which went on to be the home of monarchs such as Queen Anne, George I and Queen Victoria.
Talking of residents… I loved the cushions in the corridor commemorating royals who’ve lived in the palace! Princess Margaret, Diana Princess of Wales, Kate Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, who both currently call Kensington home.
The palace is split up into four sections to visit. There are two exhibitions. Fashion Rules is a collection of dresses worn by the queen, Princess Margaret and Diana during their royal duties, and are all positively swoonworthy. Victoria Revealed is a fascinating look at the life of a woman who became queen at 18 years old, in the rooms where she lived and met with advisers on her first morning as monarch.
The other two areas are the King’s State Apartments and the Queen’s State Apartments. The King’s apartments are all about grandeur and pomp; you are taken on the journey that courtiers would have made to see their king, keen to have their piece of power. The reigns of George I and William III and their courts are explored.
The Queen’s apartments, on the other hand, are much simpler and homelier. They were created for Mary II and her quiet life here is a stark contrast to her public role as queen. Her sister and fellow queen, Anne, also lived here, and as a woman who lost so many children during pregnancy or early childhood, her legacy is that the rooms have a certain melancholy about them.
There were some rather nasty showers but we managed to take a quick look around the garden where we saw the statue of Queen Victoria, designed and sculpted by her daughter, Princess Louise.
We stood raptly soaking it all in from underneath the trees, listening to the pitter patter of raindrops into the pond. We could have stood there for hours.
Have you ever been to Kensington Palace and who is your favourite resident?
