To Kensington Palace and tea at the Orangery – in London

Kensington Palace in London has been a home to members of the Royal family since the 17th century. Located just off Kensington High Street, it’s a delightful place to dip into London’s Royal Heritage.

The palace was originally purchased by King William III and Queen Mary II as a refuge with clean air for the King’s health. Queen Victoria lived there as a child and more recently it was home to the late Princess Diana.

I was brought up in London and lived there in my 20s. Now living in Bristol, I enjoy playing at being a tourist and can highly recommend Kensington Palace. Its beautiful State apartments are manageable in size and brought to life by the different exhibitions you can see there.

Although we visited in winter, the Palace and the park surrounding it had a very peaceful atmosphere, away from the bustle of shopping in Kensington nearby.

You can buy your timed tickets to Kensington Palace in advance here.

Note that the exhibitions in Kensington Palace change regularly, so those described below may be different to those you will see on your visit.

Princess Diana’s dresses the Kensington Palace

If you enjoy clothes and fashion, you’ll be in for a treat, as the first room of the palace contains a cabinet with a number of dresses that Princess Diana wore on state occasions. Many of them are instantly recognisable from the press photos you’ll have seen of her wearing them.

The dresses were simply displayed and I wished that they might have shown a few photographs of the Princess wearing them. Although the dresses were beautiful, bit we soon realised that it was the Princess who brought them to life with her natural sparkle and personality.

Exhibitions in Kensington Palace

There is normally the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection on display but unfortunately this was closed when we visited, as was the small exhibition about The Last Debutantes.

The state rooms are beautifully painted and decorated in the style of the 17th century when the Palace was home to King William and Queen Anne. Many of the rooms are surprisingly small and cosy.

They are laid out as if for a game of cards or a quiet read by the fire, when the King and Queen wanted some privacy from the bustle of court.

Queen Victoria’s apartments at the Kensington Palace

Later we passed through the apartments used by Queen Victoria then she was growing up with her mother the Duchess of Kent. These included her bedroom, from which she was awoken on 20 June 1837 to be told that her uncle, King William IV had died and that she was now Queen.

As we walked on through the apartments, we came across a lady in costume standing by the window, who was obviously waiting to tell us about the Palace. We approached to find that she was in fact Sarah, Countess of Marlborough.

She told us that her mistress Mary was the sister of the Queen, that they were the best of friends and waiting for King William III to die so that her mistress would be Queen.

Sarah, Countess of Marlborough married her husband John Churchill for love. It was partly due to her influence that he was given the title Duke of Marlborough after his success at the Battle of Blenheim.

But in 1710 she and Queen Mary had a terrible quarrel at Kensington Palace and they never met again.

Meet the re-enactors at Kensington Palace

In reality, we were talking to Annie, one of many re-enactors in the Royal Palaces. She was so enthusiastic about the history of the Palace during this period, that it really came to life for us.

Annie even explained to us the intricacies of the clothes she was wearing. We were enlightened on the differences between the corsets worn in this era and the more curvy ones worn by the Victorians.

As a mother with a little girl approached we stood aside, thinking that the daughter was going to find out more about this interesting character in costume. But all she asked was where the bathrooms were – what a missed opportunity!

Later Annie told us that the most common questions she was asked were ‘Where are the bathrooms’, and ‘Are you hot/cold in that costume?’

You can buy your timed tickets to Kensington Palace in advance here.

Afternoon tea at The Orangery

We couldn’t leave Kensington Palace without having tea in the nearby Orangery, built in the 18th Century and now serving breakfast, lunch and tea in elegant surroundings.

It’s very popular in summer and you may have to queue. We had both lunch and tea there and enjoyed it immensely. The staff were very pleasant and welcoming although my Debutante’s afternoon tea was a bit disappointing.

It consisted of some tiny sandwiches and snacks and I was left feeling I could have eaten it all again in a few mouthfuls. As my friend observed, perhaps those Debutantes had to watch what they ate to keep their figure.

Everyone else around us was having the Signature Orange Tea which looked much nicer and better with a large scone with cream and jam, two cakes and some sandwiches presented on a small cake stand.

Note that since we visited the Afternoon Tea options have changed with The Orangery Afternoon Tea from £54 per person.

I’ll definitely be back to take my daughter around Kensington Palace, especially was we both love fashion, so I’m hoping the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection will be open when we visit.

Plan your visit

You can buy your timed tickets to Kensington Palace in advance here.

Plan your visit with all information on the Kensington Palace Website. Find out more about Afternoon tea at The Orangery.

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This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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