I’m obsessed with historical palaces and now that I live in London, I feel like I’m in a huge playground with all the palaces that I can visit in and around the city. Ironically though, Kensington Palace is only the second palace I’ve visited since I arrived in London 2 months ago. But that’s because I keep on going back to Hampton Court Palace whenever I can which is just a walking distance from where I live.
Kensington Palace is popularly known as the childhood home of Queen Victoria who ruled United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland for 63 years. Nowadays it is also the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Princess Kate. The late Princess Diana also lived in the same residence from the day that she married Prince Charles until her death. Suffice to say, Kensington Palace is still being actively used by the Royal Family.
Kensington Palace was originally a mansion called Nottingham House. It was only developed to be how it is now when William III and Mary II came into throne. Being asthmatic, it was far better for William III to stay in Kensington Palace which was surrounded by lush greenery rather than staying in the Whitehall Palace in the center of the city.
An interesting fact about this palace which piqued my interest is that it’s believed to be cursed specially to the women who lived there. It’s been plagued with tragedies, deaths and rumored to be very haunted. Queen Mary died of small pox just one week after moving into Kensington Palace. Queen Caroline’s womb ruptured in the palace during her 8th pregnancy and subsequently died. Queen Anne suffered 17 failed pregnancies with only one surviving child who then died at the age of 11.
Both Princess Margaret and Princess Diana lived very unhappy lives while in Kensington Palace and of course, Princess Diana’s death was also very tragic. Here’s to hoping that the Duchess of Cambridge will turn the curse of the Kensington Palace around or better yet, avoid it.
When you go to Kensington Palace, you’ll be able to access The King’s State Apartments passing through the grand King’s staircase and the Queen’s Apartments. There’s also an exhibition featuring Queen Victoria’s life in the palace which features many personal objects and extracts from her diaries and letters. An exhibition showcasing the royal fashion can also be seen – royal dresses worn by The Queen, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana are displayed in this exhibition which changes time and again. So you might see different dress displayed everytime you go back.
The Orangery at the Kensington Palace offers an incredible venue for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea. I planned to go there after visiting the palace however, it was closed for a private function at the time. So instead, I just walked around the beautiful grounds of the Kensington Gardens which is a destination in its own right.
To be completely honest, I was a bit disappointed with Kensington Palace as it wasn’t as interesting for me as Hampton Court Palace. They don’t have an audio guide so you’ll basically rely on the writings provided in each areas and the guides which are almost always busy attending to other people. Thankfully though, I was just in time for their afternoon visual presentation which gave a great insight of the history of the palace. I do highly recommend that you attend this presentation which they try to do at least twice a day.
Also, the majority of the King’s State Apartments are closed to visitors for refurbishment until the end of February 2017 so I guess I’ll just have to visit it again when it’s done.
Plan your visit to the Kensington Palace:
Ticket price during peak season: GBP18 per adult.
Ticket price during off-peak season: GBP16.50 per adult.
Children under 16 can access the palace free of charge.
Note: Buying your tickets online is cheaper than the gate price.
I bought an annual membership with Historic Royal Palaces which is priced GBP48. With this membership, I have an unlimited access to all the 6 Historic Royal Palaces. If you plan on visiting more than one palace, the membership is absolutely worth it.
01 March to 31 October timings: 10AM to 6PM
01 November to 28 February timings: 10AM to 4PM
Nearest underground stations: High Street Kensington (District or Circle Lines)
For more information, you can visit their official website.
Pin it for later:
I need to go to Kensington Palace! I really need to go, especially considering I really don’t live that far!! Thanks for the share 🙂
I hope you’re able to go there by this time. :p
I’ve heard so much about this palace, but I had no idea it was so beautiful inside. Great photos!
I love Kensington Palace and taking a stroll around Kensington gardens. Great photos!
The garden is absolutely beautiful! 🙂
It is! :p
We loved this place. How can one miss so much of history and so many legends! Your post reminds me that it was raining that day and we couldn’t spend time in the Gardens reflecting on all that history. Don’t mind going back again.
Thankfully it wasn’t raining when I visited. :p
Lovely place and it looks like there’s so much to see! I felt sad after reading about the failed pregnancies though 🙁 That’s an awful LOT of failed pregnancies! But the display of clothes worn by the Queen and Princesses are pretty interesting!
17 failed pregnancies is definitely a lot. I don’t know how she was able to cope with it. 🙁
Lovely photos! I’ve never been to Europe and I’ve never heard of the Kensington Palace, but I will make sure to check it out when I visit! 🙂
Thank you Carmelisse, love your name. 🙂
Well, I certainly hope it isn’t cursed, and I so enjoy your photos and commentary! Kensington Palace doesn’t seem very crowded. I would think it would be a really popular tourist attraction.
It was actually a bit crowded, I guess I was quick with my camera. Lol.
Kensington Palace looks spectacular so interesting to note you didn’t like it as much as Hampton Court Palace. The tickets seems pricy as well. Not sure if we will make it there or not on our next Europe trip and thanks for the heads up here.
Yes, the ticket price is quite steep and to be completely honest – unless they have a really informative audio guide, the price wasn’t reasonable.
I absolutely love your pictures of the beautiful interior. I’ve been to a party at the Orangery and thoroughly enjoyed it. How fortunate you are to live so close to Hampton Court Palace!
Oh wow! That must’ve been grand! Would love to attend a private event there some time. 🙂
The decor is so impressive! That’s too bad they didn’t have an audio tour – you still seem to know a good amount of the history though! (especially all the female tragedies!)
Thank you Courtney, the visual presentation tour was really informative. :p
That seems so interesting to me! Luckily, the Duke and Dutchess typically live elsewhere right now I believe, so maybe that will help with the curse…what a thing to live with! When I visit places like this, I try to imagine what life would be like 🙂 Very cool stuff!
Thank you Jessica, not really sure exactly where they live but it was mentioned to us that Kensington Palace is now their official residence. 🙂
I’ve been in London twice, but never went to Kensington palace before! However, I also love to visit palaces. Kensington palace looks so beautiful, from the inside and outside. I would love to visit it someday, experience the presentation and have a walk through the gardens. 🙂
You should definitely visit it, even if you don’t go inside because the gardens is amazing.
We visited London last year for Christmas and its an amazing city. We find history intriguing and fascinating and did manage to visit quite a few historical places but missed Kensington palace. The palace interior and its architecture are remarkable we hope to make a visit on our next London trip.
Thank you! 🙂 Here’s to hoping you make it out here next time.
I visited Kensington but did not go inside the palace (cannot even reminder why not). It looks lovely. I am a huge fan of palaces and I hope you get to see more soon and share the info and pictures with us then 🙂
It’s actually really beautiful from the outside as well isn’t it? 🙂
I love palaces too – whether it be historic or modern. They have lots of details, and each detail has an amazing story to it. Been to Palaces in India when I was smaller. Looks like I will need to go back to many of them just because I love palaces, and cant recall anything about those palaces now.
IS the whole palace open to Public? Or is it restricted access only?
A huge part of the palace is not accessible to the public as it’s being used still by the royal family. Would love to see where Princess Diana lived though. :p
The palace is stunning. The architectural details from the inside and outside are both stunning. That garden is also beautiful – your photos definitely captured that beauty!
Thank you Abigail.