DISHING THE DIRT AT KENSINGTON PALACE

Kensington Palace and the Golden Gate

Everyone enjoys a bit of gossip, especially when it concerns famous people. I was surprised to learn, on my recent visit to Kensington Palace in London, that there is no end of gossip associated with the British royal family. And I don't mean recent 'gossip' as reported in newspapers and magazine after such tragic events as the untimely death of Princess Diana or the antics of Prince Harry and Sarah Ferguson. The gossip heard at Kensington goes way back to the first royal inhabitants.

The palace gardens

Kensington Palace has been a royal resident since the late 1600's when it was purchased by King William II and Queen Mary II after they assumed the throne as joint monarchs in 1689. Before that it was known as Nottingham House, originally a Jacobean mansion built in 1605.

There's a lot of tragedy in the stories of Kensington Palace too. Sadly, Queen Mary II died of smallpox in the palace in 1694 and just a few years later, King William III suffered a fall from a horse and died shortly after. Then the palace became the residence of Queen Anne whose life was fraught with health issue and unhappy relationships. By the age of 30 she was lame and corpulent. She had 18 children but only two survived past the age of three and many were stillborn. One room in the palace shows all the little chairs representing "Queen Anne's Hopes"

 

In 1710, in the Queen's State Apartments (also known as the Queen's Closet), Queen Anne and her best friend Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough had a huge argument. The Duchess was jealous of the attention the queen had shown to another woman and actually accused them of having a lesbian relationship. After that gossip circulated the Duchess was stripped of her official duties and the two women never spoke to each other again.

There is a "Whispering Room" in the palace where you can actually 'hear' the whispered gossip of all the royal goings-on.  Lean your ear close to the horns of the Victrola and you'll hear it: "Psssss pssss...did you hear...?"  Quite amusing!

 

Queen Victoria was born in the palace in 1819 and lived there much of her life. At the entrance is a beautiful statue of her on a pedestal. 

 

And you can visit several of the rooms she occupied from the nursery to the Privy Council room where she signed her official documents upon become Queenon June 20, 1837.

You will see the piano that her beloved consort Prince Albert used to play music he had composed for her. There is also a display of her clothing, including the formal mourning clothes she and her children wore after dear "Bertie" died.

 

Death and tragedy are as much part of the palace as the titillating gossip.  We all remember that sad day on August 31, 1997 when "the People's Princess", Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Within hours of the news the golden gates at the south side of the palace were covered in floral tributes and in the following days ever bit of railing around the palace was covered with flowers.

 

As you enter the Vestibule of the palace there is a beautiful photo of Diana and embroidered pillows of her as well as William and Kate who will reside there once the new renovations are completed.

(The palace is divided into two parts - the historic state apartments which you can tour, and the private living quarters of the royal family.) There is a Diana Memorial Playground in memory of the late Princess located next to the palace.

I really enjoyed the brief visit I made this summer. I didn't have as much time as is needed to see everything because I had a plane to catch.  But I'd definitely recommend this as an interesting destination if you happen to be visiting London.

Check out details for opening times etc at www.hrp.org.uk

LONDON: A VISIT TO "THE PEOPLE'S PALACE"

This year when I visited London I was invited to stay with a friend in the northern district of Wood Green. A short walk from her home is the Alexandra Palace, named after the new Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark who married Prince Edward but the palace is known as "the People's Palace" It was built in 1865 and covers 7.5 acres.

 Alexandra Palace "The People's Palace"

 

The palace is an entertainment venue meant for recreation, education and entertainment.  The late comedienne Gracie Fields nicknamed it "Ally Pally".

During the First World War the park was closed and the palace ad grounds were used as an internment camp for German and Austrian civilians. In 1936 the palace became the headquarters of the world's first regular public "high-definition" television service operated by the BBC. The radio tower is still in use. During the Second World War the transmitter was used for jamming German bombers' navigation systems.  The palace continued as the BBC's main transmitting centre until 1956. 



BBC Tower

 



The day I visited there wasn't a tour of the inside of the palaceI enjoyed a leisurely stroll all around the grounds of Alexandra Park. From there you get a sweeping panoramic view of London city although that day it was overcast.

The park surrounding the palace has flower-beds, flowering trees and in a woodland at the edge of the park I spied deer grazing.

The palace and park are overseen by the Greater London council with provision that it should be used for charitable purposes.The original Victorian theatre also still is in use. The Great Hall and West Hall are used for exhibitions, music concerts and conferences. There is also an ice-skating rink, palm court and a pub. On weekends a City and Country Market is held there.

Skating Rink

Palm Court Entrance

 



You can get to Alexandra Palace and Park by Underground to Wood Green (Picadilly line). There is also a rail line to Alexandra Palace from Moorgate and King's Cross.

HENRY'S HAUNTS #2

TAPESTRY

I took a lot of video footage inside the palace and also still shots. These are just a few of the rooms and treasures that you will see if you tour Hampton Court. To see the way the royals lived is an awesome experience. (All that dusting and vacuuming!)

HENRY'S BEDROOM WINDOW

Okay, I did get to see in Henry's bedroom. I also saw Mary II's bedroom-- at least, it was a lavish red canopied affair in a sitting room. Seems it wasn't really a bed for sleeping, rather one to sit in while one held court with one's visitors. Oh my! I couldn't help but imagine the goings on in Henry's bedroom. Much more fun! And isn't the window pretty?

TUDOR WORK TABLE

This might have been a scribe's desk. There was also a dining room in the Tudor palace. The banquet room in the baroque palace was immense. I wondered how many waiters they had serving the guests and how the host would manage to keep track of who was there.

I understand Henry dined lavishly on all kinds of exotic fare. Possibly why he had a weight problem in his later years.

INNER PALACE GATE

This is part of the inner court of the baroque palace. You need a map to find your way around Hampton Court. I wonder how the residents kept track of where they were and where their guests where? Well, I guess you just sat in your bed and summoned them.

If you happen to be in London this summer, be sure and check out this fascinating display of events and artifacts at Hampton Court. And the biggest event of all was to be held on June 20 and 21st on Henry's coronation weekend when a spectacular flotilla of boats carried Henry and his Queen from the Tower of London to Hampton Court palace to be greeted in the Privy Gardens. There was also Tudor contests and games on the River Thames.

There will be events and displays at Hampton Court until January 2010 including theatre performances, jousts and a display of the world's rarest arms and armour from the treasures of the Royal Armourers and other international collections. Don't miss it!

CRUISING Part #2: HENRY'S HAUNTS

HENRY VIII

Henry VIII was an interesting (and controversial) character and one of the things you can do at Hampton Court is listen to "the Henry VIII talks" (which we missed). Who was the man behind the majesty and why do we still find him fascinating after 500 years? You can also attend a Tudor music festival, learn about Henry's women (we were already at the Tower were a couple of them met their unfortunate end thanks to falling out of favour with the king.) You can also see close up the 'virtual' restoration of Henry's most magnificent tapestry. (we missed that too!)

What did we see then? Well, as I mentioned in Part I of the Cruising up the River blog, we only had a few hours to tour around before the palace was closed for the day. So we went through the rooms and halls and saw as much as we could, starting with the Tudor part of the palace which was Henry's haunts.

TUDOR KITCHEN

You could actually attend a show demonstrating Tudor Cookery, experiences the sights and smells and learn about the recipes that were Henry's favorites. Too bad we missed that one!

POTTERY ON THE HEARTH

There really was so much to see. The baroque part of the palace was especially ornate and amazing. We toured around Henry VIII's apartments as well as the apartments of William III and Mary II and there are private Georgian apartments where today's monarchy sometimes gather for special occasions.

I'll post a few more photos so you can see more of the palace interior, both Tudor and Baroque.

INNER COURTYARD OF THE BAROQUE PALACE

CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER: Part #1

CRUISING DOWN THE THAMES

May 27, 2009

"Cruisin' down the river...on a Wednesday afternoon..." We decided it would be fun to see London from the River Thames, so we caught a boat that was going all the way down as far as Hampton Court Palace. They are celebrating the 500th year of Henry VIII's ascension to the throne so there are a lot of reenactments happening around London, mainly at Hampton Court, Henry Tudor's old palace where a lot of things happened, including his wedding to his sixth wife, Kateryn Parr.

It was a nice relaxing cruise, a chance to rest our feet from all the previous two-day's walking tours. We sat back and enjoyed the slow journey and all the scenery as it slipped by. Little did we realize when we set out just how long the journey would take, what with waiting to pass through the locks and all. I suppose in Henry's day it must have taken a couple of days to get into London, docking at the Tower.

GOING THROUGH THE LOCKS

About four hours after leaving London's docks we pulled into the dock at Hampton Court.
It was by then late in the afternoon and unfortunately, we'd miss the wedding reenactment and some of the other events. We didn't even get to 'see' old Henry wandering around the palace halls. The wedding celebrations included a lot of events including helping Kateryn choose her wedding dress and joining Henry to celebrate his last hours as a single man. (Now that would have been quite the party!)

We did have time to almost get lost in the famous maze, part of the gardens, and a tour around the palace itself.

There are actually two parts to the palace: The Tudor part of Henry VIII and the newer, beautiful baroque palace of William III and Mary II. In Part II of this River Cruise (Henry's Haunts) I'll describe what we saw with some photos of the awesome interiors both Tudor and baroque.

It was quite a day! After our palace tour we had dinner in a very nice little pub in Hampton Court village, then took the train back to London.

HAMPTON COURT PALACE

WAITING TO SEE HENRY