Kensington Palace is a current residence of the British royal family and a working museum of the monarchy’s history. It was first built for the Earl of Nottingham and later extended by Sir Christopher Wren. The palace has been home to many royals, including Queen Victoria and Princess Diana. It features a throne, the King’s Staircase, and the King’s Gallery. Renovations started in 2011 to integrate the palace into the surrounding gardens and provide facilities for visitors.
Kensington Palace in London is one of the current residences of the British royal family, home to nobles from England’s 300-year history. Princess Margaret and Princess Diana both lived there, and it is the birthplace of long-reigning British sovereign Queen Victoria. Situated in the middle of expansive Kensington Gardens, the palace is a working museum of the history of the monarchy. Kensington is managed by Historic Royal Palaces and visitors account for a large part of its revenue stream. The renovations that began in 2011 have promised to make the palace a fairytale destination for tourists.
In the early 1600s the Borough of Kensington was outside the City of London where a house had originally been built for the Earl of Nottingham. King William III was the first monarch to live there, and it was known as Kensington House because it was still a private residence. It was later extended and re-oriented by the renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren with more elaborate state apartments and rooms. Successive royal residents requested numerous additions to Kensington Palace, including the Orangery for Queen Anne, a lavish garden and the Cupola Room designed by artist William Kent in 1722.
During the late 1700s and early 1800s, much of the district became the grounds of Kensington Palace and the residence of King George II and Queen Caroline. The outdated Baroque landscaping was redesigned by Charles Bridgeman in what is now Kensington Gardens, so that royalty strolling through the park have magnificent views of the palace from every conceivable angle. Queen Victoria, whose reign from 1837 to 1901 was the longest of any English monarch, was christened in the Dome Room and raised in Kensington Palace. Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Queen Mary, who owned a famous dollhouse, was also born there.
Some of the features of Kensington Palace include a throne, to which visitors were once required to bow even when unoccupied. The King’s Staircase, where the royals would have entered their apartments, is decorated with William Kent’s life-size painting of the court of George I. Preserved much as it was at the time is the King’s Gallery, containing a portrait of Van Dyck of Charles I on horseback, and the bedroom where Victoria learned she was queen at the age of eighteen. Historic Royal Palaces, a not-for-profit charity, maintains the state rooms of the palace while the private quarters are managed by the Royal Household Estates Section.
With security concerns for its famous frontline residents, the buildings of Kensington Palace have over time been isolated behind barriers of fences and hedges. Renovation work began in 2011 to integrate Kensington Palace into the surrounding gardens. The refurbishment was also intended to provide facilities for educational and community activities and welcome visitors into an enchanted and historic interactive experience.
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