Introduction to Kensington Palace, the New Home of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall

As the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge Kate and Prince William prepare to move into Kensington Palace for their London home. Books on London decided that we should write a little post about the famous palace located in the heart of Central London.



Not far from the roaring traffic of High Street Kensington in London, amid the greenery of Kensington Gardens, is a 17th-century royal palace. In its time it has been home to several reigning monarchs: William III and Mary II, Queen Anne, George I and George II. It was also the birthplace and home of Princess Victoria, who became queen in 1837. Kensington Palace is still home to some members of the royal family; in recent years the most notable residents have been Princess Margaret and Princess Diana.



It was William and Mary who needed a private London home to stay in each winter to be near the government in Westminster; Parliament did not sit in the summer because of the smell of the River Thames. They found the ideal property in Kensington: Nottingham House, a Jacobean mansion built around 1605, for which they paid £20,000. Work on the house started at once and was overseen by Sir Christopher Wren. A three-storey pavilion was built onto each corner of the original house and a wing was added for courtiers. A second phase of improvements was carried out between 1690 and 1692. At this point, the building was known as Kensington House to reiterate the point that it was a private home rather than an official palace.



There are many beautiful features at Kensington Palace which you can visit too including:



* The King's Grand Staircase

* The Presence Chamber

* The Cupola Room

* Queen Victoria’s bedroom

* The King’s Gallery

* Queen Mary's dining room

* Queen Mary's bedchamber

* The sunken garden



However it was Queen Victoria who is responsible for Kensington Palace becoming open to the public.



Princess Victoria grew up in Kensington Palace and, when her uncle, William IV, died in the early hours of 20 June 1837, she held her first privy council as queen in the Red Saloon on the same day. She and her mother moved to Buckingham Palace the following month and she wrote in her journal: 'It is not without feelings of regret that I shall bid adieu forever to this my birthplace, to which I am really attached.' With the sudden departure of Queen Victoria, Kensington Palace once again fell into disrepair. It became a repository for anything valuable that was not wanted in other palaces, and it also developed dry rot. By the 1890s the fate of the palace hung in the balance, with suggestions that it be pulled down, but eventually Parliament paid for its restoration with the proviso that it be opened to the public.



If it wasn't for her and the parliament at the time the palace may never have survived to this day for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to live in.



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