Accessible Britain

015 Kensington Palace
LONDON
Address: Kensington Gardens, London W8 4PX Web: www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonpalace Tel: 0844
4827777 Hours: Mar–Oct daily 10am–6pm; Nov–Feb daily 10am–5pm (last entry 1hr before closing)
Dates: closed 24–26 Dec Entry: Summer [D]£17.50 [C] free [A]£17.50 [under 16s] free [Con]£14.10;
Winter [D]£16.50 [C] free [A]£16.50 [under 16s] free [Con]£13.70
Currently home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Kensington Palace has been
a royal residence ever since 1689 when William III and Mary II chose it for its country
views and clean air (William suffered from asthma and central London pollution made
his condition worse). Formerly the modest Nottingham House, it was transformed into
a palace by Sir Christopher Wren and has since been home to many members of the
Royal Family, including Diana, Princess of Wales.
Today the palace is divided into two – a private wing and a series of historic state
apartments that are open to the public. There are four routes to explore over two floors;
The Queen’s State Apartments; The King’s State Apartments, where you can see the
wonderful paintings and stunning trompe l’oeil ceiling effects by William Kent who,
to secure the business, undercut the King’s Painter by a substantial amount; Victoria
Revealed, which provides an insight into Queen Victoria, who spent most of her life
here, from early childhood to her Diamond Jubilee; and Fashion Rules, where you can
admire the glamorous dresses worn by a tiny-waisted Queen Elizabeth in the 1950s, her
socialite sister Margaret during the 1960s and Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1980s.
Within the palace a lift accesses all areas, and there are also plenty of scarlet-coated
Explainers dotted around to help; these enthusiastic guides can steer you in the right
direction. For those who can access stairs, it’s worth noting that in the palace they are
quite shallow and many of the doors are wide – both features were designed to make it
easier for ladies wearing wide mantua skirts to get around. To protect the works of art,
the lighting of the various galleries is subdued; many of the display cabinets are quite
high for wheelchair users and the carpeting is thick. There is plenty of seating along the
routes; take a window bench in the King’s Apartments and listen to the recordings of
gossip from the court of George I. An Access Guide is available, as well as a tactile map
of the palace. Describer and BSL tours (1hr 30min–2hr) are also available: these can be
arranged between 10am–3pm and must be booked two weeks in advance by phone (or
via kensingtontours@hrp.org.uk). There are two accessible toilets on the ground floor.
The nearest step-free Underground stations are Earls Court (Piccadilly and District
Lines) and Green Park (Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines), though note that they are
still some distance (1 mile and 3.4 miles respectively) from the palace. However, there
is also limited Blue Badge parking right next to The Orangery restaurant (reserve spaces
on 020 31666199).
FOOD & DRINK aa As well as the separate Orangery restaurant that serves meals and
afternoon teas (see p.27), the convenient ground-floor Palace Café sells reasonablypriced
snacks, hot drinks and a children’s menu. The two steps down from the gift shop
are negotiable via a discrete but useful platform lift.
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