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Location: Kensington Palace, Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom. (51°30′19″N 0°11′18″W).
Website: www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonpalace
Phone: +44 844 482 7777
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century, and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their son Prince George of Cambridge, Prince Harry of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Kensington Palace is also used on an unofficial basis by Zara Phillips.
On 6 November 2011, it was announced that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge would move from their temporary residence in Kensington Palace to the four-story, 20-room Apartment 1-A, formerly the residence of Princess Margaret. It was expected that they would move in 2013, with renovation work taking place in 2012. Once the Duke and Duchess had moved into their new apartment, Prince Harry was expected to move his official residence from Clarence House to the residence the Duke and Duchess vacated. On 28 March 2012, it was announced that Prince Harry had moved his residence from Clarence House to a one-bedroom apartment at Kensington Palace. He is still expected to move into the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's residence when the Duke and Duchess move to Princess Margaret's former apartment.
Kensington Palace was the official residence of Diana, Princess of Wales (from 1981 until her death in 1997), Princess Margaret (from 1960 until her death in 2002) and Princess Alice (from 1994 until her death in 2004).
Today, the State Rooms are open to the public and managed by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces, a nonprofit organisation that does not receive public funds. The offices and private accommodation areas of the Palace remain the responsibility of the Royal Household and are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section.
The nearest tube stations are in Queensway, Bayswater, Kensington High Street, or (slightly further) Gloucester Road.
History of Kensington Palace:
Kensington Palace, earlier known as Nottingham House, has its origins in a Jacobean mansion built in 1605. Shortly after William and Mary assumed the throne as joint monarchs in 1689, they began searching for a residence better situated for the comfort of the asthmatic William; Whitehall Palace, the then-customary London residence of monarchs, was too near the River Thames for William's comfort.
In the summer of 1689, William and Mary bought Kensington Palace from Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham and a Secretary of State, for £20,000. They then instructed Sir Christopher Wren, Surveyor of the King's Works to begin an immediate expansion of the house. Keeping the shell of the structure intact, Wren proceeded to add a three-story pavilion at each of the four corners, providing more accommodation for the King and Queen and their attendants, as well as a new entrance on the west, the Great Court, a narrow block of rooms to the south, with kitchens to the north and a clock tower surmounting an archway to the west of the Great Court.
