We’re in the UK, must be time to visit another Palace!
We have tickets to Kensington Palace for opening time, 10am. Currently they have an exhibition in the Palace entitled “Crown to Couture – The Fashion Show of the Centuries”. Being such fashionista we couldn’t wait!
We took a 45minute stroll across Hyde Park to the Palace, which sits on the western edge of Hyde Park, surrounded by Kensington Gardens. It was a nice walk over once we got around all the festival area that is barricaded off in the eastern side of Hyde Park. We made our way over The Serpentine and around, the imaginatively named, Round Pond to the front of Kensington Palace. We were greeted by a familiar figure, Queen Victoria sitting in her usual pose at the entrance to the Palace.
She must have more statues in her honour than any other monarch, or it sure seems that way.
We joined a queue lined up out in front of the Palace. Next to us etched into a lawned area was a stylised CRIII,
it reminded me that the so familiar ERII of the late Queen Elizabeth is a thing of the past.
We had our tickets scanned, bags searched and we were in, there was a buzz of anticipation amongst the crowd.
On the outside Kensington Palace is a drab looking building, with architecture reminiscent of the 1970’s, a plain dirty looking square sided brick structure. It was originally built in 1605 as a Jacobean Mansion by Sir George Coppin, and it was bought by King William III and Queen Mary II in 1689. It has since then been added to and extended numerous times. The first additions were done under the direction of Christopher Wren, he was under instruction to have the work done quickly and to a tight budget, hence he kept the original facades as a theme and extended the building from its corners, adding extra wings. And so it started growing into what we see today.
For us the drab exterior was reflected on the inside. The windows within the areas of the Castle we could visit were all covered to restrict the amount of outside light getting in so the exhibition could be “lit” to show it off in its full “glory”. For us the subdued lighting didn’t work. It was difficult to see the “fashion displays” properly. The exhibition was a contrasting show of Royal Regalia from as far back as the middle ages 
and the cutting edge designs and costumes “the famous” have worn to recent celebrity showcases and award nights.
Some areas of the Palace were left in their usual “museum” state, these were rooms associated with “our favourite royal”, Queen Victoria. These displays suited the environment they were in, they told of a very sad / lonely / strict upbringing of the young princess.
Even her Dolls House wasn’t a patch on Queen Mary’s! The Queen Victoria area covered her life from the room she was born in until she was 17, when she was introduced to her first cousin Prince Albert, who she would marry.
When we finished the tour we had a walk around the Princess Diana tribute garden, a peaceful area with a sunken garden, pond and hedging and a statue of Princess Diana with 3 children at one end.
You have to buy tickets to enter the Palace but you can walk in the gardens for free. Based on this visit I wouldn’t recommend buying the Palace tickets, just enjoy the gardens.
After that we went to the Pavilion to have morning tea, as one does when one is at Kensington Palace. It was a nice thing to do to mark our visit. While we sat and sipped our tea the heavens opened up and it rained very heavily. Good timing on our part. By the time we had finished the rain had gone.
After morning tea we walked over to have a look at the Orangery, but it was all fenced off as it is being renovated with a two floor extension will allow the incorporation of an educational facility into the building along with enough space for a lunch & afternoon tea restaurant and an outdoor terrace.
From there we more or less retraced our steps back to our flat, and settled in to watch some tennis and finish packing for our journey to Cambridge tomorrow.
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