Kensington Palace is one of the British Royal Family’s many official residences including state rooms open to the public and various private apartments occupied by numerous members of the family and their staff. Here’s a look around:
Situated in Kensington Gardens in London, Kensington Palace was originally a mansion built in 1605 for the Earl of Nottingham. At the time, monarchs lived in the palace of Whitehall near the river Thames but when William and Mary came to the throne in 1689 they were unimpressed with the fog and floods that surrounded Whitehall and instead purchased Nottingham House (as it was then known).
The House was purchased for £20,000 before the illustrious Christopher Wren was enlisted to expand and redesign the property. Once the reigning monarchs moved in the home became known as Kensington Palace and has housed royalty ever since.
Much of the palace fell into decline in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1890s there were even plans to demolish the building until Queen Victoria declared the place of her birth ‘should not be destroyed’ during her lifetime. Because of this Parliament paid for restoration and subsequently restored and opened the staterooms to the paying public. The staterooms continue to be open to the public, where antiques, art and architecture can be viewed along with changing exhibitions based upon royal history.
Roughly half of the palace is open to the public as a tourist attraction, while the other half is divided up into substantial ‘apartments’ for members of the royal family and staff. Apartments include, but are not limited to:
Apartment 1, a 21-room residence currently home to the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, situated to the right of the court’s clock tower.
Apartment 1A, a four-storey home comprising of over 20 rooms including 5 reception rooms, 3 ‘principle’ bedrooms with their own dressing rooms and bathrooms, nursery ‘accommodation’ (including rooms for the nanny), 9 staff bedrooms, multiple kitchens and roughly 20 ancillary rooms such as luggage room, linen store and pantry. The apartment is currently resident to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children. The apartment takes up the entire south wing of the courtyard (to the right of the clock tower).
Apartment 4A, one of the smaller apartments, situated within the north wing of the courtyard and formally home to the Queen’s director of property services.
Apartment 4B, a six-bedroom apartment said to be the most ‘opulent’ with luxurious furnishings. It was previously home to Prince Charles’ private secretary and is located on the left side of the clock tower.
Apartment 8 & 9, formerly the combined home of the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales, located on the northern-most section of the main building, now returned to 2 separate apartments.
Apartment 10, a 5-bedroom 5-reception room apartment occupied by the Prince and Princess of Kent situated in the public section of Kensington Gardens at the north-east tip of the main building.
Other homes on the property include:
Nottingham Cottage, Ivy Cottage and Wren House, along with the Upper Lodge and Kings Kitchen Cottages where staff live. These are all located to the rear of Kensington Palace.
You can visit Kensington Palace all year round (except for Christmas). View the Historic Royal Palace’s website for more information.
View more royal residences in previous posts such as Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and the various properties around Windsor Home Park.
feature image: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons