Alex O'Brien

News

Fri, 7 Aug, 2015

5 secrets from Kensington Palace

5 secrets from Kensington Palace

Now Kate Middleton and Prince William’s home when they’re in London, if the palace walls could talk they’d have a lot of secrets to divulge.

1. The Queen's staircase is intentionally plainer than the King's

With walls Painted by William Kent, the King's staircase is a grand affair compared to the Queen's, which is much more plain. This is said to be because it makes for a much more domestic feel. 

2. Kensington Palace ignited Queen Victoria’s passion for art

Victoria was somewhat of a novice artist and it is said that the palace was her inspiration. When she was a child she would draw the things around her at the palace like her dog Dash, her governess, visiting ladies and stage stars. 

3. The palace is where Victoria first laid eyes on Albert

When Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha first visited Kensington Palace in 1836, Victoria was immediately taken. She wrote to her uncle after and said that Albert was kind and had a "pleasing and delightful exterior." After a period of courting, they married in 1840. 

4. The King's Gallery of art doubled as a “gym”

As well as being used to display paintings, it was also used for exercise.

5. A lot of scandalous things went on in the palace

Despite being home to years of tradition and the highest duty, the palace has also been a place of a fair amount of scandal and gossip too. To be specific, George I's debauched love life. After leaving his unfaithful wife Sophia Dorothea imprisoned in Germany, he brought his mistress, Engherard Meleusine bond der Schulenberg, to the UK. It was also speculated that the monarch and his half-sister Sophia Charlotte were having an affair – because they had a close relationship. 

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