Kensington Palace Kensington Palace has reopened after completing a £12 Million restoration project to transform the Palace into one of London’s best visitor experiences in the 2012 Jubilee and Olympic year.

‘A Palace for Everyone’, Kensington Palace has been completely opened up and linked once again to the neighbouring park and surrounding landscape with beautiful gardens inspired by the historic layout of the Kensington area. New outdoor public spaces have been created and the main visitor entrance has been relocated to the Broad Walk where visitors can enjoy the Round Pond areas of the park.

Inside the palace, a central foyer has been created where visitors can enjoy a sense of the palace and choose to further explore the palace or stop and relax in the surroundings with a coffee.

The rooms where Queen Victoria grew up have been renovated with a new major exhibition ‘Victoria Revealed’ dedicated to the story of her life. Visitors can explore the rooms where she spent her childhood and discover the era surrounding her youth. Many personal and significant objects that once belonged to the Queen and her family are shared in these beautifully restored rooms.

Designer dresses worn by Diana, the Princess of Wales have been unveiled at a special exhibition in the palace. The small collection of outfits, entitled ‘Diana: Glimpses of a Modern Princess’ show classic cocktail dresses, formal gowns and evening dresses worn by the Princess. The star piece of the collection is a black taffeta floor-length gown worn by the Princess of Wales on her first official engagement at the Royal Opera House in 1981, an occasion that marked the beginning of the princesses’ status as a fashion icon.

Kensington Palace is also home to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection where 10,000 items worn by royalty and courtiers from the seventeenth century to the present day. The project to transform Kensington Palace has enabled Historic Royal Palaces to make this important collection far more accessible than previous.

Children can enjoy free admission to the palace with a new kids-go-free initiative. Aimed at attracting more families to visit the palace, the programme involves fun and engaging events and activities for children of all ages. Physical access to the palace has also been greatly improved with a new lift providing access to all pubic floors.

History

Originally built in 1605, Kensington Palace has been home to some of Britain’s best known royals, including King George II, Queen Victoria, Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The palace was originally built as a private country house and later purchased in 1689 by King William III and Queen Mary II who immediately ordered major improvements to make it a royal residence.

The Palace includes contributions from some of the most renowned architects of the past three centuries, including Sir Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Sir John Vanbrugh, John Nash, Colin Campbell and William Kent.

Hotels

The Milestone Hotel in Kensington is located adjacent to Kensington palace making it the perfect location for a 'Royal Stay' in London. The Milestone offers superb rooms and suites, some of which have splendid views of Kensington Palace and gardens.

Charles' Tip - 'The 'Live Like Royalty' package from The Milestone is the perfect option, it includes two nights accommodation at The Milestone Hotel with champagne afternoon tea and two tickets of choice to one of the Royal Collection's Palaces and Residences.'