A visit to Kensington Palace

On Saturday afternoon I decided to visit Kensington Palace, one of the Historic Royal Palaces. There are five Historic Royal Palaces in London - Kensington, Hampton Court, Tower of London, Banqueting House, Whitehall; and Kew Palace. Kensington Palace is the only one of these palaces that continues to serve as a royal residence, though the State Apartments and the Orangery are the only areas considered to be part of the Historic Royal Palace.

Today, Kensington Palace is the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, and the Queen's cousins and their spouses: the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Kensington Palace was previously the home of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Queen's late sister, Princess Margaret.

Kensington Palace is situated inside of Kensington Park. From the Tube stop at Queensway, you enter Kensington Park along this path and make your way to the palace. 

And here is the palace. 

The most famous view of Kensington Palace is this memorial to Queen Victoria, who was born here in 1819 and lived here with her widowed mother until she ascended the throne in 1837. Kensington Palace is open year-round to visitors, and they have numerous exhibits to view. 

Owing to the fact that Queen Victoria was born here, there was a large exhibit dedicated to her life, her marriage, her children, and her long reign. 

This room is where Victoria, aged eighteen, held her Accession Council in the presence of her Privy Councillors shortly after she became Queen. 

Here I am donning a replica of the cloak worn by the Archbishop of Canterbury when he attended the Queen's Accession Council. 

This is Queen Victoria's wedding dress. When she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in February 1840, she was credited with starting the popular tradition of a bride wearing white to her marriage. Though she was the first to popularize this, she was not the first royal bride to wear white. 

Portrait of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert. Born in the German dukedom of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he was Victoria's first cousin (Victoria's mother was his father's sister). Their marriage produced nine children and is well remembered for being a true love match. When Albert died of typhoid fever at the age of 42, Victoria was inconsolable. She donned widows' weeds for the remainder of her long life, and for a number of years seriously damaged the image of the monarchy by refusing to appear at public events and at the state opening of Parliament. 

A bust of Prince Albert. 

This little toy allows you to match up each of Queen Victoria's nine children with their respective spouses. Being the history nerd that I am, I did not need this device to be able to name all of her children and the people they married. Not sure if I should be bragging about something like that, but that's the truth. 

Visitors are not allowed access to it, but at the top of these stairs is the room where Queen Victoria first learned that her uncle, King William IV, had died and she had now become the monarch. 

Uniform and dress worn by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.

This is the State Apartments used by Kings George I and George II when they resided at Kensington Palace. George II became the last British monarch to use Kensington Palace as a main residence. After him, it became the home of other minor members of the royal family, while the monarch's official London residence was at St. James's Palace. Buckingham Palace became the official London residence of the British monarch during Queen Victoria's reign. 

Looking out the window from the State Apartments, you can see the rest of Kensington Park as well as the statue in the foreground of King William III and the Gold Gates. 

Beautiful fireplace in the State Apartments. 

Portrait of King Charles I in the State Apartments. 

Coronation robes of King George III. 

View from inside the palace of the Queen Victoria monument and the Round Pond in Kensington Park.

The robes of the Knights of the Order of the Garter, the most senior of chivalry orders in the United Kingdom.

The Cupola Room, the principal state room where the King would receive dignitaries and courtiers.

The gorgeous ceiling of the Cupola Room.

Looking out at the Orangery of Kensington Palace. 

The Gold Gates at the east facade of Kensington Palace. When Diana, Princess of Wales died in 1997, these gates were the place where thousands of bouquets, cards, balloons, and candles were left by mourners. 

Statue of King William III, the Dutch prince who led armies into Great Britain to overthrow his father-in-law, King James II, in what was known as the Glorious Revolution. William III was then proclaimed co-monarch with his wife, James' daughter Mary, and they reigned together as King William III and Queen Mary II until Mary died at Kensington Palace in 1694.

Me standing outside of the Gold Gates. 

Looking out to the east of Kensington Park. 

The Orangery at Kensington Palace, built as a garden for Queen Anne. 

Sightseeing Day, part 2

The Westminster Station on the London Underground lets out right beneath the Palace of Westminster, so as you walk up the stairs to the surface level you are standing just beneath Elizabeth Tower. It was impressive, and we had beautiful (but still chilly) sunny weather at the start of our sightseeing excursion. 

And of course, it wouldn't be London without yet another obligatory phone booth photo, particularly this one with Elizabeth Tower rising majestically in the background. 

We popped into Westminster Abbey's shop for a look around and I found a few souvenir trinkets that I will definitely have to come back for at some point. 

After maybe twenty minutes or so of walking around Westminster and Parliament Square, the clouds moved in rapidly and the rain came pouring down. It was one of those moments where I felt truly like a Londoner, walking along the Thames drenched in the rain. 

After stopping for lunch at a cafe alongside the Thames, we hopped a bus over to Victoria Station and then walked up to Buckingham Palace. As we walked along Buckingham Palace Road, I was able to catch a glimpse of this side of the palace, which if I am not mistaken is where the Music Room is located. 

Just in case you needed me to prove that I was at the Palace today. 

A little biographical post...

Today I went with my group of American friends to do some sightseeing, thus proving that we still have not gotten over our tourist side just yet. After the bus tour of the major London sites I knew I wanted to revisit many of these places, so I had no qualms at all about returning to Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster, and Buckingham Palace.

Anyway, I wanted to return to Westminster Abbey to capture a photo of this particular monument above the Abbey's western door. It features ten statues of 20th century martyrs, one of whom is a royal person that I have taken a bit of an interest in.

The 20th century martyr in particular that I was interested in seeing was Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia; a close-up of her statue is below.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth was born as Princess Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was the second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. Through her mother, Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Regarded by her contemporaries as one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, she attracted a number of hopeful suitors, including her cousin, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose romantic gestures she turned down. 

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia in Russian imperial court dress

In 1884, she married Grand Duke Serge of Russia, son of Tsar Alexander II and brother of the currently reigning Tsar Alexander III. After marrying into the Romanov dynasty and converting to the Russian Orthodox Church, she became known as Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia. Ten years after her arrival in Russia, Elizabeth's youngest sister, Alexandra, would marry Serge's nephew, Tsar Nicholas II.  

After Grand Duke Serge was assassinated by a terrorist's bomb in 1905, Elizabeth gradually began renouncing her royal lifestyle and threw herself into religious devotion. She became a nun, founded the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary, and used her considerable means to open hospitals and orphanages throughout Russia. 

Although she was one of the most respected and well-loved members of the Russian imperial family, Grand Duchess Elizabeth was sadly not spared from the horrors of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which deposed Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Nicholas II. She refused offers from her foreign relatives to flee the country, instead choosing to remain behind and continue her work with the convent. In 1918, she was arrested by the Bolshevik government and transported to the town of Alapayevsk along with five other princes of the Romanov family. Elizabeth's sister, Empress Alexandra, along with her husband the Tsar and their five children had all been brutally murdered by their Bolshevik captors on July 17, 1918. Just one day later, on July 18, Grand Duchess Elizabeth and the group of Romanovs imprisoned with her were taken to the woods outside of Alapayevsk. There, they were beaten and hurled alive down an abandoned mineshaft. The Bolshevik soldiers then threw grenades inside the mine. When the bodies were later uncovered and identified, it was discovered that the seriously wounded Elizabeth still had the strength to bandage the wounds of one of the Romanov princes who lay dying alongside her. 

Grand Duchess Elizabeth's remains were unearthed and reburied at the Church of Maria Magdalene in Jerusalem, a Russian Orthodox Church built by Tsar Alexander III. In 1981, she was canonized as Saint Elizabeth Romanova by the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1998, Grand Duchess Elizabeth's statue as part of the 20th century martyrs above the west door of Westminster Abbey was dedicated in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip, in fact, is Grand Duchess Elizabeth's great-nephew (Elizabeth's elder sister, Princess Victoria of Hesse, was Prince Philip's maternal grandmother).     

Oh, just having tea in SoHo

Today we decided to ride the Tube down to SoHo for afternoon tea at a "secret" tea room. How very English of us.

Well it's not London without getting a picture of the double-decker buses, now is it? 

We're still trying to figure out their traffic patterns. It's become a goal to not get hit by any cars while we're walking around here. 

Our jolly old tea group; photo courtesy of the lovely Kathy Long.

The Big Landmarks

A few days ago we went on a bus tour to see some of the big landmarks throughout London, which more or less overwhelmed me and caused me to pinch myself multiple times. Seeing these places in person was an exhilarating experience, and I certainly had a difficult time containing my inner geek. I was worried that I would scare off my friends with my ramblings and pointing out who got married here or who was buried there, who stood on those steps and what the name of this or that tower was. Luckily they took it all in stride, and (I hope at least) found it entertaining and perhaps a bit enlightening.

Tower Bridge, which we got to drive across. The pictures I tried to take through the windows of the bus did not come out as well as I had hoped though. 

Looking across the Thames at the Tower of London, former royal fortress, prison, and now a museum and home of the Crown Jewels.

The obligatory photograph in front of Tower Bridge.

Me with part of my new group of London friends. Not everyone in the group signed up for the bus tour.  

Driving up to St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul's is the largest cathedral in London and sits on the highest point in London. For a number of years, it was the tallest building in London and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. One of the most iconic images of World War II is a photograph of St. Paul's dome rising triumphantly above billowing smoke during the Blitz, when German air forces relentlessly bombed the British capital. 

Statue of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch of Great Britain. Her death in 1714 (she had no surviving children) paved the way for the German dynasty of Hanover to assume the British throne. 

I am standing on the steps of St. Paul's. Looking at the below photograph, these are the same steps where the Prince and Princess of Wales descended from after their wedding in July 1981.

In 1897, the first Diamond Jubilee celebrations were held to commemorate the 60th year of Queen Victoria's reign. However, at age 78 and in increasingly frail health, she was unable to easily climb the stairs into the cathedral for a planned service of thanksgiving. Instead, it was decided that she would receive the service from her carriage when it stopped outside the cathedral, and the above inscription commemorates the spot where that took place. Until 2012, Queen Victoria was the only British monarch to have reached their Diamond Jubilee.

One last shot of St. Paul's.

Trafalgar Square, with Nelson's Column towering above. Trafalgar Square is one of the most-visited squares in the world, and has often been the site of protests and rallies at various points in British history, including the 1990 poll tax riots that was largely credited with signaling the deeply growing unpopularity of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She resigned seven months later.

After having lunch in Covent Garden, a popular shopping area, our bus tour ventured onto Parliament Square. Being the tourists that we were, we had all wanted to take the obligatory photograph with the famous red phone booths. This one, with the west entrance of Westminster Abbey towering in the background, was too perfect of a shot to pass up. 

The Elizabeth Tower, with the London Eye in the background. The tower is commonly (but mistakenly) known as Big Ben. In fact, the name Big Ben refers to the bell inside of the clock. The tower itself has long been named the Clock Tower. In 2012, it was announced that the tower had formally been named Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. 

Victoria Tower, part of the Palace of Westminster (more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament). This tower was named in honor of Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Me standing in front of the western facade of Westminster Abbey, the site of the coronations of British monarchs, the burial place of countless kings, queens, and illustrious figures such as Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, and the site of numerous royal weddings, including the weddings of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and most recently Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

After Parliament Square, our cortege made its way to what was for me the most anticipated site of the day - Buckingham Palace.

This was what we first saw as we walked up to the palace. It was difficult to tell at first, but the closer we got the more I began to see its recognizable facade, accompanied by a rising feeling of excitement in my stomach and an increasing spring in my step. 

Looking at the right, I could see the back side of the Victoria Memorial; my anticipation growing with each second.  

Finally, here I was. One of my lifelong goals has always been to see the Palace in person, and here I was, standing right in front of it. It was chilly and had started to drizzle lightly, but the less than idyllic weather did nothing to dampen my spirits. 

The Union Jack flying above the Palace indicated that the Queen was not in residence that day. If she were at the Palace, the Royal Standard would be hoisted upon the flagpole. At this time of year, the Queen is at her private winter home at Sandringham, where she gathers each year for Christmas with the rest of her family and typically stays there until early February. Despite being the official residence of the British monarch, Buckingham Palace is in fact not one of the Queen's favored homes. She and her family consider it to be more of an office than home. On the weekends she typically stays at the enormous Windsor Castle outside of London, which she considers to be her actual home. She also has her aforementioned winter property at Sandrindgham and her Scottish home at Balmoral Castle, where she and the royal family go for their annual summer holiday. 

The famous balcony of Buckingham Palace. I was astonished by how easily you could see the balcony from the gates. Just imagining the numerous generations of royals that have stood on this balcony and waved to thousands of people during times of celebration - weddings, coronations, jubilees, the annual Trooping the Color celebrations - filled me with a profound sense of awe. 

Looking down The Mall from the base of the Victoria Memorial

From the Victoria Memorial, I was able to barely make out Clarence House. It is the white building that you can just see in between trees, directly to the left of the woman's umbrella. Clarence House is the official residence of the Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. It was previously the London home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who moved in there after she was required to vacate Buckingham Palace following her husband's death and her daughter's ascension to the throne. 

The state of Queen Victoria at the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. 

One last look at the Palace before we returned to the bus and made our way back to campus. Believe me, I will be making numerous trips back during my time in London. The Palace opens for tours in April, and I fully intend on visiting at that time.