Leonard and I gave the kids a break from sightseeing (they were thrilled to have a day in the apartment with free reign over the TV and their laptops) and went on a date to visit Kensington Palace. On our way we passed this gorgeous carousel at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.
When it came to a stop we saw that each horse had a different name, and look we found a Jenny!
Queen Victoria in her coronation robes sitting outside the home she was born in.
I could hear this bench saying, "Come sit and relax a while."
The palace is divided into 4 tours. Chronologically, the tour of the Queen's State Apartments is the oldest.
It marks the time when William III and Mary II lived there in the late 1600s.
Gotta love family trees that both the husband and wife are on. Yep, all the royals are cousins- even today's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
Queen Mary preferred cozy, intimate rooms away from the public eye. On her deathbed, the King wouldn't leave her side and had a camp bed set-up and slept there until the end.
A fancy desk.
Queen Mary collected treasures from India, China, Japan, and other lands. She had thousands of pieces of porcelain and Delft from the Netherlands. It reminds me of the chinoiserie that is so trendy today.
This was the humble dining room where they shared their meals overlooking the gardens.
In one hallway there was a long bench with the names of the Monarchs from William and Mary down to Elizabeth II painted on the wall. There were also embroidered pillows of some of the residents.
Next comes the King's State Apartments.
This marks the time of the rule of King George II and his wife Queen Caroline.
The grand staircase to the upper rooms lived up to its name!
One of the many gorgeous ceilings.
The king was known for hosting parties that began after 10:00 pm. Here in the parlor many games of chance were played. Leonard wanted to sit down and learn this one.
This was the music room. Dances, recitals, and music lessons took place here. Handel was a music teacher to King George's children too! Notice the shadow dancing in the corner, they were dancing all around the room.
There were also many costumes (that appeared to be made out of a thick paper) in the rooms representative of that era.
And I thought I had big hips!
These weren't made of paper though, these were the real deal, ah love!
This ensemble was quite amazing really.
I was sure these were going to be glass slippers.
The end of another era.
The tour that left the biggest impression on me was Victoria Revealed.
(On our flight to Mumbai I watched the movie Young Victoria and thought it was wonderful!)
Queen Victoria was born in this palace back in 1819. Her father died before her first birthday, so she lived her life with her controlling mother in a gilded cage until she became queen at the tender age of 18.
This was my favorite display in the WHOLE palace! It has portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and their nine children. The quote reads, "God knows how willingly I would always live with my beloved Albert and our children in the quiet and retirement of private life." Amen, sister! If I could live every day with my beloved Leonard and our children just dealing with our private affairs, I would be in heaven.
This was Victoria's childhood dollhouse...
...and some of her dolls. She sewed their clothes with the help of her baroness. Her mother kept her away from the life at court and she had no childhood friends her own age, so sad.
I loved these sweet outfits that belonged to her children.
While this beauty was her own. It was donated to her in 1850 by the wife of John Gregory Crace. She was a tiny thing!
While I believe this was her husband's wedding attire.
They had such a love for one another! They were only married for 21 years, then she was a widow for just over 39 years. Every day of those 39 years she had clothes laid out for her husband. I think that was such a sad and sweet tribute to keep him alive with her for the rest of her days.
I think these pillows are just of Prince Philip and Victoria through the years.
The final tour is the Modern Royals.
I think this portrait of Princess Margaret is absolutely stunning!
Princess Diana was also gorgeous!
I love this sweet family photo, I just wish they had a current one with Will, Kate, George, AND Charlotte.
This exhibit was all about fashion, dressed to impress.
"What is the merit of choosing the drab when beauty hangs in the wardrobe?" ~Norman Hartnell
(I wish I had more beauty in my wardrobe, but I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl.)
There were many gorgeous sketches with fabric swatches framed around the rooms.
And a nice collection of dresses from Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, and Princess Diana.
This dress the Queen wore on a state visit to France in 1957. The front is beautiful,
but I prefer the back. Look at that bow!
One of Margaret's little ensembles.
A lovely embroidered silk dress of Diana's.
There were also many fashion magazine covers in many of the rooms. Can you spot Diana in red? There were also some really cute covers of the young Queen on the front, but my photos of those didn't turn out well. I'm glad we could take pictures, but not being allowed to use a flash is tricky.
Some of the modern residents- Princess Margaret, Princess Diana, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince Harry also has apartments here, but this isn't the first residence of any of them.
Leonard's impression of these pillows was, "It's like Disney does the Royals." Ha ha!
After the tours we had to get some cake from the lovely cafe. Leonard chose a traditional slice of Victorian sponge.
While I chose one of my favorites- carrot cake!
Look at that adorable violet. It was as tasty as it was pretty.
We also viewed the fancy gardens while peeping through windows in this vine covered tunnel that enclosed it.
The sky was a brilliant blue.
But the sun was so bright, it washed out lots of the colors.
Hello Kensington, nice to see you!
We stopped to take a picture of two senior ladies in front of this gate, so they in turn took one of us.
Love the little details. Hello Mr. Unicorn!
My camera battery died before I could get one of his comrade Mr. Lion.
Thanks Leonard for a wonderful date!
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