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apollonaut. Built by People Who've Been

An Apollonaut travel guide

The place behind the palace.

Stuart monarchs, a Georgian court and a princess’s childhood offer several ways into the story of Kensington Palace.

The coffered blue and gold ceiling of the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace, with an eight-pointed star at its centre
On this page

William, Mary and Anne

William III and Mary II bought the house in 1689 and had Sir Christopher Wren enlarge it. Mary died at the palace in 1694 and William in 1702.

Queen Anne completed the extensions, added the Orangery in 1704 and died at Kensington on 1 August 1714.

A Georgian court

William Kent decorated the state rooms for George I between 1722 and 1727. Queen Caroline, wife of George II, had Charles Bridgeman redesign Kensington Gardens, leaving the Round Pond and the Broad Walk that visitors still see.

George II died at the palace on 25 October 1760.

Victoria and after

Princess Victoria was born here in 1819, and the State Rooms opened to the public on 24 May 1899. An incendiary bomb damaged the palace on 14 October 1940, during the Blitz.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

Read at the source

Sources & further reading

Links lead to the original publishers.

The Apollonaut collection

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