Kensington Palace

[muriel]

I think it is hardly appropriate that a former royal residence of great historical relevance is handed over to foreign governments to run and embassie or high commissions.

[pacomartin]

I was thinking that it might be appropriate for Commonwealth Realms and potentially other commonwealth countries. I know that Canada still has their chancery in the old American Embassy (built in 1938 and occupied by Canada since 1960). They are in the process of selling the building and moving to Trafalgar Square. I really wasn't thinking of Guatemala and Peru.
I just believe that parliament wants to make this building more profitable, and less of an apartment for royal cousins and aunts. I will be suprised if Beatrice and Eugenie, James and Louise get the same arrangements that were given to their relatives from two generations ago.

[Iluvbertie]

Let's not forget that embassies and High Commissions are the property of the country who uses them not the property of the country in which they are situated so that if Kensington Palace was to become an embassy or High Commission of one or more countries it would cease to belong to Britain.

[pacomartin]

I know that when the senior Duke of Kent died in the 1940's they were living in Belgravia square. However, once Queen Elizabeth II was crowned she gave Princess Marina a grace and favor apartment in KP. At that point Prince Michael was probably about 11 years old. She lived there until she died in 1967. When Michael got married in 1978 he was given another G&F apartment in KP as his city home.
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Does anyone know if he got the same apartment he lived in as a teenager? If he did not, is the old apartment occupied by his older brother? Or is it occupied by someone else, or is it incorporated as a part of a larger residence?

[Connie Cutmantle]

Apparently the Gloucesters live in part of the apartment once occupied by Princess Marina known then as Apartment 1. Now the Gloucesters apartment is designated as Apartment 4. It is also believed that Princess Margaret's former butler Harold Brown had an apartment that was also part of the original Apartment 1 occupied by Princess Marina. This complicates things but one has to remember that the size and area of apartments have changed over the decades! But it would explain the renumbering as apartments were altered, sub-divided and so on!

The Michaels live at Number 10 which was previously occupied by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden when they were first married. Princess Margaret later moved into Apartment Number 1A . The present Duke and Duchess of Kent used to live at York House, St James's Palace and later they moved to Wren House which is within the Kensington Palace complex. I hope this all makes sense to you!

[pacomartin]

Is it just married couples who are given grace and favor apartments? How big are these apartments? Are we talking 2000 or 6000 square feet? Did Prince William of Gloucester live there until his death at the age of 30 on 28 august 1972? Did the Gloucesters move into their dead brother's apartment when they got married on 8 July 1972 or did they move in after his father died in 1974. Did they have adjoining apartments with Richards mother who died in 2002.

[Connie Cutmantle]

Really Paco....you sound like an estate agent brandishing a tape measure!! (Just joking!) KP was always useful for allocating apartments/London homes to aunts and relations generally, such as widowed ones like Victoria Milford Haven, Princess Beatrice etc, but the Tecks and the Duke of Sussex and his wife the Duchess of Inverness, the Carisbrookes and the Athlones amongst other also had homes here as did Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (The place was colloquially known as the Aunt's heap!) It was not a 'set in stone' rule that one had to be married to qualify for an apartment at KP. Princess Victoria (1868 - 1935) also had an apartment at KP as well. With regards to Prince William of Gloucester....I was under the impression that he used to share with his parents when he was at home....as he did spend quite extended periods abroad! With regards to the 'Richards' I am not sure about their apartment at KP during the remainder of the 1st Duke's lifetime! I was under the impression that Princess Alice more or less lived with Richard and Birgitte at KP after Barnwell was leased or at least shared their household staff anyway

With regards to dimensions......oh heavens I have never been any good with dimensions, measurements etc! Maybe someone else can help here!

[muriel]

Over the years there has been talk about potentially vacating KP and handing it back to the government. I personally think that that is quite unlikely, as there will always be a need to have place to house the more junior royals. In time to come, there wuill be a need to find suitable married accomodation for Wills and Harry, and possibly the York girls. Longer term, I think the York girls will be expected to arrange their own accomodation. I also do not see W & H return to KP in a hurry, and it may be that they are accomodated at BP and / or St James' and the Wessex's, Andrew and Anne be moved to KP.

[Blakie]

To clear matters up, Diana remained in apartments 8 & 9 up until the time of her death. The confusion over apartment 7 stems from her request for her own private offices (as she had shared offices with the PoW at St James Palace until the divorce) located at BP - The Queen declined her request but granted her use of Apartment 7 as her office - and was used solely for that purpose. Her financial controller was based out of this office, along with her press secretary.

[Opal]

I found this interesting article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_kensington_palace

[Vasillisos Markos]

Opal,

Thank you for the link to this article. I did not know that Queen Mary II lived in Kensington Palace.

[Iluvbertie]

Mary II and William III had it as one of their major homes and their rooms within the palace make up the largest part of the areas open to the public. They are magnificent rooms and my favourite parts of the the palace, followed, of course, by Queen Victoria's rooms.

[Lady Meg]

By GREGORY KATZ
Associated Press Writer
updated 1:29 a.m. ET, Fri., March. 26, 2010

LONDON - Princess Diana's former home, Kensington Palace, was being rebranded "The Enchanted Palace" on Friday to lure tourists from other popular London sights, like Madame Tussauds waxworks and the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are displayed (behind very thick glass).
In this interactive age, it's not enough for a stately palace to offer royal art, staid banquet rooms, and roped-off thrones, so curators have opted for fashion, performance art, and a bit of Alice in Wonderland fantasy. The exhibit, meant to draw viewers into the lives of past palace residents, uses intense lighting, actors and musicians to set the mood. One man even coaxes sound from a saw with a violin bow.
The tone is set by the Room of Royal Sorrows. No, it's not about Diana and her fractured fairytale marriage to Prince Charles; it's a dramatization of the emotional torment of Queen Mary II as she tried in vain a produce an heir. It is set in her bedchamber, giving the display an unsettling authenticity. On the bed is a figure of the queen, dressed in blue, face hidden.


Rest of the story HERE

[Iluvbertie]

Sounds like a place for this royal enthusiast to now avoid, and to say thanks that I saw it before all this stuff was put in there to distract from what was a grand palace.

[Opal]

^^
That's probably the very reason they're adding these extra things because otherwise only royal enthusiasts like us would visit the palace. They have to make it appealing to the masses, otherwise they won't make as much money from it. I think it sounds interesting as long as it's done tastefully.

[Iluvbertie]

On the two occasions I visited the queue to get in was about 15 minutes and there wasn't any special exhibition or anything.
They don't seem to be lacking for visitors.
I won't be bothering again with this sort of nonsense as it would simply spoil a grand palace.

[muriel]

Strong views from afar?

[Vasillisos Markos]

Before I could assess the exhibition's quality, I would have to see how it is staged and maintained; however, I tend to agree with Iluvbertie. Those old palaces and majestic buildings don't need any special enhancements to get my interest and one would think walking the same carpets and staircases as historical figures would be enough to draw crowds, let alone being able to soak up the history and grandeur of rooms.

[muriel]

I think these historical buildings now need to be worked a bit further to earn their keep. In this economic environment and with reduced numbers of tourists visiting the UK, I can see the point of creating additional attractions to draw visitors to these buildings. As long as there is no long term damage to the fabric of the buildings, I am happy for these exhibitions to continue.

[Duchessmary]

I recall reading somewhere that a past King of England referred to KP as an "aunt heap".