Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace Gardens

Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. See also Kensington Gardens South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide, Australia Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ( (often abbreviated to RBKC) is a London borough in the west side of Central London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century. The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Today it is the official residence of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent; and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Prince Richard Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George born 26 August 1944 is a member of the British Royal Family, the youngest grandchild of King George Birgitte Duchess of Gloucester (Birgitte Eva (bree-gee-tae; formerly van Deurs born Henriksen 20 June 1946 is a member of the British Royal Family, the wife Prince Edward Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Patrick Paul born 9 October 1935 is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. Katharine Duchess of Kent (Katharine Lucy Mary née Worsley 22 February 1933 is a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince Edward Duke of Kent, "Prince Michael" redirects here For other people named Prince Michael see Prince Michael (disambiguation. Princess Michael of Kent (Marie Christine née Baroness Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz 15 January 1945 is a member of the British Royal Family. Kensington Palace is also used on an unofficial basis by Prince Harry, as well as his cousin Zara Phillips. For actual Princes of Wales called Henry see Henry Prince of Wales. Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, MBE (born 15 May 1981 is the second child and only daughter of Princess Anne Princess Royal and her first husband Captain Mark

Until 1997, it was the official residence of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

History

The original early 17th-century building was constructed in the village of Kensington as Nottingham House for the Earl of Nottingham. See also Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham Earl of Nottingham is a title that has been created six times in the Peerage of England. It was acquired from his heir, who was Secretary of State to William III in 1689, because the King wanted a residence near London but away from the smoky air of the capital because he was asthmatic. William III or William of Orange (14 November 1650 &ndash 8 March 1702 He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy" Kensington was, at that time, a village location outside London, but more accessible than Hampton Court, a water journey on the Thames. Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south west London, England. A private road was laid out from the Palace to Hyde Park Corner, broad enough for several carriages to travel abreast, part of which survives today as Rotten Row. Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. See Rottenrow for the street in Glasgow Rotten Row is a broad track running along the south side of Hyde Park in London The Palace was improved and extended by Sir Christopher Wren with pavilions attached to each corner of the central block, for it now needed paired Royal Apartments approached by the Great Stairs, a council chamber, and the Chapel Royal. Sir Christopher Wren ( 20 October 1632 &ndash 25 February 1723) was a 17th century English Designer, Astronomer Then, when Wren re-oriented the house to face west, he built north and south wings to flank the approach, made into a proper cour d'honneur, entered through an archway surmounted by a clock tower. Cour d'Honneur, sometimes literally translated as "Court of Honour" is the architectural term for defining a three-sided Courtyard Nevertheless, as a private domestic retreat, it was referred to as Kensington House, rather than 'Palace'. The walled kitchen gardens at Kensington House supplied fruits and vegetables for the Court of St. James's. The Court of St James's is the name of the Royal court of the United Kingdom.

Kensington Palace south front with its parterres, engraved by Jan Kip, 1724. A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form The inexorably linked careers of Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff trace a specialty of engraved views of English Country houses, represented in minute detail from the

For seventy years, Kensington Palace was the favored residence of British monarchs, although the official seat of the Court was and remains at St. James's which has not been the actual Royal residence in London since the 17th century. St James's Palace is one of London's oldest Palaces It is situated on Pall Mall in London, just north of St Queen Mary died of smallpox in Kensington Palace in 1694. Mary II (30 April 1662 &ndash 28 December 1694 reigned as Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until her death In 1702 William suffered a fall from a horse at Hampton Court and was brought to Kensington Palace, where he shortly died. Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, south west London, England. After William III's death, the palace became the residence of Queen Anne. Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714 became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702 succeeding William III of England and II of Sir John Vanbrugh designed the Orangery for her in 1704 and a magnificent Baroque parterre 30 acre (121,000 m²) garden was laid out by Henry Wise, whose nursery was nearby at Brompton (illustration, left). Sir John Vanbrugh (pronounced "Van'-bru" (24 January 1664? – 26 March 1726 was an English Architect and Dramatist, perhaps best known An Orangery was a building frequently found in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th century and given a classicising architectural form A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form Henry Wise (bapt 4 September 1653 &ndash 1738 was an English Gardener, designer and nurseryman

The Cupola Room, designed by William Kent, 1722: the monumental musical clock, which once played tunes by Handel, Corelli and Geminiani, remains in the room.

George I spent lavishly on new royal apartments from 1718. George I (George Louis German Georg Ludwig; 28 May 1660 &ndash 11 June 1727 For the first year of his life George was the only heir to his father's and three childless William Kent painted a staircase and some ceilings. William Kent (born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, c 1685 &ndash 12 April 1748) was an eminent English Architect, Landscape In 1722 he designed the Cupola Room, the principal state room, with feigned coffering in its high coved ceiling; in 1819 the Cupola Room was the site of the christening of Princess Victoria, who had been born at Kensington, in the apartments of the Duke and Duchess of Kent (the actual room being what is now the North Drawing Room). Year 1722 ( MDCCXXII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The last reigning monarch to use Kensington Palace was George II. George II (George Augustus 10 November 1683 &ndash 25 October 1760 was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg ( For his consort, Charles Bridgeman swept away the outmoded parterres and redesigned Kensington Gardens in a form that is still recognizable today: his are The Sepentine, the Basin and the Grand Walk. Charles Bridgeman (1690-1738 was an English garden designer in the onset of the naturalistic landscape style See also Kensington Gardens South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide, Australia Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington After George II's death in the palace in 1760, Kensington Palace was only used for more minor Royalty, including the young daughter of the Duke of Kent who was living in the Palace with her widowed mother when she was told of her accession to the throne as Queen Victoria. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Mary (grandmother of the present Queen) was born at Kensington Palace in 1867. Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes 26 May 1867 – 24 March 1953 was the queen-empress consort of George V of the United Kingdom

The King's Gallery at Kensington Palace from The History of the Royal Residences by W. H. Pyne (1819).

In 1981 apartments 8 and 9 were combined to create the London residence of the newly-married Prince and Princess of Wales, Charles and Diana, and it remained the official residence of Diana, Princess of Wales after her divorce until her death. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, went to local nursery and pre-preparatory schools in Notting Hill, which is a short drive away. For actual Princes of Wales called Henry see Henry Prince of Wales. Notting Hill is an area in West London, England close to the north-western corner of Hyde Park, and lying within the Royal Borough of Kensington and

The nearest tubes are in Queensway, Bayswater, High Street Kensington, or (slightly further) Gloucester Road. Queensway is a London Underground station just inside the boundary of the City of Westminster with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. High Street Kensington is a London Underground station at Kensington High Street. Gloucester Road is a London Underground station in South Kensington.

The State Rooms are managed by the Historic Royal Palaces Agency. The Historic Royal Palaces Agency is a public body created in 1989 to manage England 's unoccupied royal Palaces These are The Tower The offices and private accommodation areas of the Palace remain the responsibility of the Royal Household and are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section.

See also

• Kensington Gardens
• Kensington Palace Gardens

External links

• Official site
• Map sources
• Royal Household
• Flickr images tagged Kensington Palace