The 17th Century Royal Residence of the English Monarch – Kensington Palace

Situated in the Kensington Gardens of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the Kensington Palace. This is the royal residence of the British Royal family ever since the seventeenth century. Currently, this is the formal residence of the Duke and the Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and the Prince and Princess of Kent. Prince Harry and his cousin Zara Phillips also use the palace on an informal note. This palace was the formal residence Princess Diana, of Wales, till 1997, and Princess Margaret till 2002.

The initial palace structure was erected in the earlier seventeenth century in the Kensington hamlet, as the Nottingham House, meant for the Earl of Nottingham. His heir, the Secretary of State to William II in 1689, subsequently inherited it, as the King wished a residence that was close to London, but distant from the smoke filled capital as he had asthma. During that period, Kensington was a small hamlet near London but had better accessibility compared to Hampton Court, that warranted a water transit over the Thames. A private route was built from the palace to the Hyde Park Corner. This road was sufficiently large to accommodate several carriages at a time, and some part of this is still remnant today. Sir Christopher Wren renovated the palace, and added pavilions to each corner of the central block, as it had to make room for paired royal apartments for the Great stairs, council chamber, and the Royal Chapel. The palace was redesigned by Wren to face the West, and he also constructed the northern and the southern wings flanking the entry, the proper Cour d’Honneur, an arch with a clock tower atop. However, the place was usually called as the Kensington House, rather than a palace. The walled-off kitchen-gardens of the palace made provisions for vegetables and fruits for the court of St. James.

The Kensington palace remained the preferred royal residence for more than 70 years, though the formal place of the court is still St. James’ ever since. Around 1981, apartment 8 and 9 were combined to give way to the residence for newly-wed Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales. This remained their formal residence, until the divorce and death of Princess Diana.

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