Kensington Palace Visit

On a rainy Saturday morning in London I booked tickets to go to look around Kensington Palace State Rooms. It is a self guided tour where you are given a map upon entry and then you can wander around at leisure. There are helpful sign posts and a member of staff in each room to ask for directions or more information if your need it.

The State rooms are split onto 4 sections. One is dedicated to Queen Victoria, one to fashion, one to the Queen’s apartments and one to the King’s apartments.

My favourite part was the Fashion Rules section as it was most current and you could see the dresses that the Queen wore many years ago. Some of them are stunning. It brought out my inner Princess and I wished I could have the chance to dress up in a ball gown and attend one of these magnificent occasions.

The Kings and Queens state apartments were very informative about the lives of the past royals that lived in the palace and their untimely deaths. The Queens side is older and mainly decorated in wooden paneling whilst the King’s side is far more ornate with a grand marble staircase and flocked wallpaper in rich colours.

Last but not least, were the rooms for Queen Victoria. This section is also quite fascinating. Her clothes on display show you how tiny she was and you can sit in the room where she held her first council meeting at queen, see her dolls house and the room where she was born.

Overall, I spent around 2 hours walking around the rooms of the palace, if it was a sunny, dry day it would have been nice to explore Hyde Park afterwards but the weather unfortunately was typically English today and so we hurriedly made our way to a nearby taxi whilst battling the rain with our umbrellas.

As you exit, you are led through the shop and café (like most tourist attractions) however the prices in the souvenir shop are extortionate. For example a tea cup was priced in the region of £70 and a ladies scarf £85. If you wanted a little keepsake of your trip, the only affordable items seem to be pens, pencils, or fridge magnets.

You can also choose to have afternoon tea in the Orangery which I have a table reserved for in a few weeks time, so check back then for a review of the food.

If you are coming to London and you only have enough time to visit one royal palace. I would personally look at Buckingham Palace first to see if the state rooms are open when you are visiting as they are far grander. However if you have a couple of hours spare and you would like to learn about the history of the royal family I would direct you to Kensington Palace.