Kensington Palace

One of the main reasons I wanted to return to London was to see the royal palaces of Henry VIII. Kensington Palace wasn't lived in by Henry VIII, but it was an easy one to get to, so we went there yesterday and were quite delighted by the place.

Of course Kensington Palace was the home of Princess Diana, and when she died 10 years ago, it was the focus of many people's grief, with unprecedented numbers of flowers being left at the gates by the mourning public. The tour included an exhibition of the Mario Testino's photos of the Princess, taken barely months before her death. Diana was undoubtedly an extraordinary feast for the eyes. And Testino's photos seemed to open a window directly onto her soul. I understand she suffered borderline personality disorder, which is a very serious mental disorder (and which in the Princess's case is virtually never discussed), but there is no trace of her inner turmoil in the photos. She looked peaceful and serene in the photos - the very essence of a Princess.

Also included on the tour was Princess Margaret's apartment, which was surprisingly small, considering how ROYAL she was. I remember her children recently sold many of Princess Margaret's personal effects - how sad that must have been for them. Some of her clothes were on display in her rooms - she was equally a fashion icon in the sixties as Diana was in her day - much of which was captured in pictures by her husband, Lord Snowden, a famous photographer in his own right.

The highlight of the tour, in my opinion, was the King's Apartments. Which King, I hear you say? It was in fact King William III and Queen Mary, although Mary was the one who ascended the throne. William was her husband, a Dutch Royal by birth. Mary was daughter to King James I. He actually had two sons - the heir who died as a youth and a second son who was physically handicapped (and who must have died but I don't know how). So Mary found herself on the throne and only agreed to be Queen if her husband was named King in his own right. She brokered a deal that ensured that in the event of her death, William retained the throne. As it turned out William died first. And since they had no children, when Mary died the throne passed to Anne, her sister, the last child of King James the first.

Poor Anne's husband died at a young age - only after he'd managed to impregnate the Queen 18 times! Unfortunately none of the children survived beyond the age of 11, which made the Queen so depressed she became morbidly obese. When she died, there was no direct heir and the throne passed to the Hanovarian line, which eventually led to our Queen, Elizabeth II ascending the throne.

Back to the actual palace - we saw the presence chamber, the Privy Chamber, the Queen's Privy chamber, the Queen's dinning room - a very small room with a small oval table big enough for two to sit at, and we also saw the Queen's bedroom. There were two galleries of 30 metres in length, one for the Queen and one for the King. Both were decorated with numerous priceless artworks (none of which were particularly interesting to me). We were told the King in particular liked to walk laps of his gallery on days when it rained.

Also of note - Queen Victoria was born in Kensington Palace, and she lived there with her mother, the Dutchess of Kent, until she ascended the throne at the age of 18. We saw her bedchamber, and while the bed in that room was hers, it had actually been brought there from Buckingham Palace.

In all I thought the tour of Kensington Palace was great value. It's smack dab in the middle of Hyde Park, which is explains why Diana was spotted jogging or rollerblading in the park as often as she was. Kensington itself is quite a cool place - I can see why Diana enjoyed the neighbourhood.