Kensington Palace

 

Kensington Palace 2024
Geoffrey W. Sutton/suttong.com

Kensington Palace, located in the heart of Kensington Gardens in London, England, is a historic royal residence with over 300 years of history.

Queen Victoria was born and spent her childhood here.

Queen Victoria Monument at Kensington Palace
2024 Geoffrey W. Sutton /suttong.com

On 1 July 2021, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex commissioned a statue honouring the memory of their mother, Princess Diana who lived at the palace for 15 years and enjoyed the restful picturesque Sunken Garden.

Inside the Palace

We toured the palace as part of our Royal Palaces membership in 2024. Organised self-guided tours follow different sequences of rooms for the Kings and Queens apartments.

King's Apartment

Queen Victoria's Bedroom in the Queen's Apartment
2024 /Geoffrey W. Sutton/ suttong.com

Queen's Bedroom, Kensington Palace
2024 /Geoffrey W. Sutton/ suttong.com

More photos of the palace-

A grand musical clock commands attention in the centre of the Cupola Room. Princess Augusta purchased the work created by clockmaker Charles Clay in 1743. 

Musical Clock/ Cupola Room/Kensington Palace
2024 /Geoffrey W. Sutton/ suttong.com

Stunning ceilings

A place for children

Today, Kensington Palace serves as the official London residence for several members of the royal family:

Prince and Princess of Wales

Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Duke and Duchess of Kent

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent

Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank with their two sons.

The State Rooms are open to the public, managed by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces.

The offices and private areas remain under the Royal Household’s responsibility.

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Places Nearby

Kensington Gardens and the Princess Diana Fountain

Hyde Park

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Notes from 2024

Photos: All of the photos were taken by Geoffrey W. Sutton in 2024 and are free to use by citing the source:

 https://suttontravels.blogspot.com/2024/07/kensington-palace.html 

There is a café

There is an admission fee unless you are a member.

WIFI and an audio guide are available at no extra charge.

There are accessible toilets and baby changing facilities.

There is no storage for luggage.

Location

Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, London W8 4PX

Learn more at :  https://www.hrp.org.uk

Google Map

Hampton Court Palace England UK

 

Hampton Court Palace is a historic Royal Palace near central London. It's close enough for a day trip-- only 12 miles southwest in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames.

The magnificent clock can be seen in many movies. The palace opened in 1514. It was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who was the chief minister of King Henry VIII.

Clock above a palace entry.

We've visited Hampton Court Palace by boat and train. Here's from a visit in 1980. The boat trip is upstream on the River Thames.

Hampton Court Station

 

Actors make history come alive for children and adults in a magnificent context-- the palace of King Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty. These photos are from 2019.

Hampton Court Palace Play 2019 / Geoff Sutton

King Henry VIII actor 2019/ by Sandra Sutton using Samsung Note camera

The amazing kitchen might make you hungry. There are places to enjoy a picnic lunch. The photos are from 2019 and mostly taken with my iPhone.

Wine Cellar, Hampton Court Palace / Geoff Sutton 2019 using Apple iPhone 

There's lots to see so, check out a few more inside photos.

Amazing toilet right?

There's a place to learn and play old games.

Fox and Geese

Nine Men's Morris

Sometimes it's worth looking up to appreciate the art.

And those ceilings!

On one visit, we enjoyed our lunch in the palace café.

Palace Café 2024

Before leaving, we wandered about the palace grounds, which are magnificent as well. 

At the back of the estate is a maze with a photo op.

The children's play area is brilliant. My grandchildren loved it.

After one full day, we walked across the nearby road for fish and chips before taking the train to London.

You might like this fun and informative guide to British words and phrases

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You can learn a lot more at the Hampton Court Palace website. 

        https://www.hrp.org.uk

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The palace address is: Hampton Ct Way, Molesey, East Molesey KY8 9AU, United Kingdom.

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Google Map showing Hampton Court Palace

St James Palace London England

St James Palace was the residence of the Royal family in London. It was built by Henry VIII in the 1530s and is still in use, although Queen Victoria made Buckingham Palace her home in the 1800s.

American visitors might wish to see where the famous, or infamous, King George III lived when the 13 British colonies in North America revolted, and with the help of Britain's historic enemies--the French, Spanish, and Dutch empires, won independence after 8 years of war. (Read more https://www.royal.uk/george-iii)

Those interested in British-American culture may like the book, Mind the Gap

Available on Amazon and Google

Palace of Versailles France

Gardens at Versailles, March 2012

The palace is open everyday except Mondays at 9:00 am. See the website for details. A free mobile app is available.

The palace is located at Place d'armes, 78000 Versailles France.

There is an entrance fee for adults. See the website for details.

Everyone wants a photo of the Hall of Mirrors.

It's hard to capture the opulence, but here are a few examples of the art inside. By the way, the place is huge so if you want to see a lot, you may need more than a day.

The closest train station is Versailles Château Rive Gauche. The website says it's a 10 minute walk between the palace and the station. Other stations are less than a 20 minute walk.

A view of the gardens from our first visit in October 1996.