Royal Palaces Hits and Misses

What I learned at Kensington Palace:

1) There seems to be this idea that the royals are fashion icons. I, for one, am not convinced. Unless you are telling me pastels and sequins are always the most fashion forward choice.

2) Queen Victoria really like to take photos of all her children along with a marble bust of her dead husband. Do you think they found that annoying/creepy?

3) The closer we get to the family of the present day monarchs the less critical we can be about their reign (either that or Queen Victoria really was the best ever!)

Compared to Hampton Court, I had a much nicer day for my visit to Kensington Palace and I had company. I was very thankful for both because the exhibits within the palace were not as good- making companionships and the out-of-doors both highly desirably.

My mum works in museums and therefore we went to a lot of museums and historical sites as a kid. I still feel obliged to go to museums within most cities I visit. These are the extent of my credentials to crititque exhibits, so make what you like of my comments.

The palace only took us one hour. Now we didn't join any of the tours or talks (given by that the museum called 'explainers'... the first point where I rolled my eyes). Instead, we just wandered. Apparently this is a bit of a mistake because there was so little text/ exhibit materials. Usually just one board with 'this room was used for this purpose'. No history or reflection on either the reigns of different kings or the atmosphere of the court at the time. Now maybe the tours and talks had more info, but I think not letting people take in a museum at their own pace is a mistake.

There were three different periods being cover across the palace- William and Anne, The Georges and then the Victorian era- I feel like there was more that could have been done. So in the end I was very glad I only paid half-price.

Concluding remarks, Kensington Palace can be a pass unless you really love Queen Victoria and court fashion. Instead, take your times to walk the interconnecting parks, which are full of man-made lakes and monuments. I spent almost 3 hours walking through all the parks and it was a really beautiful time.

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