Kensington Palace (London, Great Britain) - history, excursions, expositions. Exact address, cost of entrance tickets. Local legends and ghosts.
 |
| Kensington Palace |
The official residence of the current Prince and Princess of Cambridge, Kensington Palace is the most modest of all the royal residences of the British royal family. However, this does not detract from its value: for the fourth century now, the daily life of the representatives of the Crown has been going on within these walls, and the mistresses of the palace are certainly women. It was here that Queen Victoria was born, and more recently the light foot of the brilliant Princess Diana stepped on its marble floors. The stately apartments of the king and queen, the Red Salon and the amazing Sunken Gardens - this is an incomplete list of his masterpieces.
 |
| Kensington Palace |
A bit of history
The history of Kensington Palace begins in 1605, when a Jacobin estate existed in its place. A little later, the territory was bought by King William and Queen Mary, the mansion was rebuilt into a palace, and he took over the first royal owners. Over the next centuries, British monarchs preferred to live here - among them were Queen Anne, Kings George I and George II, Queen Victoria and the now reigning Queen Elizabeth II. From the moment of her marriage with the Prince of Wales until her death, Princess Diana was the mistress of the palace. Well, now it has passed into the jurisdiction of the Duchess of Cambridge.
 |
| Kensington Palace |
What to see
Despite the seeming modesty of the facade, Kensington Palace is fraught with a lot of interesting things.
The royal apartments of the king are a whole complex of magnificent historical halls, where numerous paintings, sculptures and original interior items are exhibited. It is worth starting your acquaintance with the majestic Royal Staircase leading to the Reception Hall, where the royal throne that belonged to the son of George II is displayed. In the Private Study, notice the elaborately painted ceiling and tapestries. The hall under the dome amazes with the richness of furnishings and details, and the Drawing Room is one of the most intimate and cozy rooms in the complex.
 |
| Kensington Palace |
In the Queen's State Apartments, interesting are the Royal Staircase, through which Queen Mary once descended to her favorite gardens, the Royal Gallery with a mass of amazing artifacts: Turkish carpets, porcelain and embroidery patterns, the Dining Room with magnificent carved wooden wall panels and the Queen's cozy Boudoir. The Red Salon is a historic site where Queen Victoria held her first council of state within hours of her enthronement.
In the center of Kensington Palace there is a real miracle of artistic and technical thought: Shining lace - a light installation made of more than 4 km of electroluminescent wire and 12 thousand Swarovski crystals.
 |
| Kensington Palace |
You should definitely visit the permanent exhibition "Unknown Victoria", which tells about the childhood and teenage years of Queen Victoria, which she spent at Kensington Palace. Also among the best expositions are original dresses from the wardrobe of women of the British royal family - Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana. Well, we recommend that you complete your acquaintance with Kensington Palace in the wonderful and invariably cool Sunken Garden, where a lot of aquatic plants grow.