Kensington Palace with kids – family day out in London

I’m a big fan of London’s Historic Royal Palaces, but while the Tower of London is one of my favourite places in the city, and my daughter visited Hampton Court Palace before she could walk, somehow we’d never got round to a visit to Kensington Palace with kids.

Considering how many royal children have grown up here, it’s a great family day out in London with plenty to learn about kids at Kensington Palace as you explore – Queen Victoria spent her childhood at Kensington Palace, Princess Diana famously lived here with Princes William and Harry, and until recently, it was the London residence of the Duke of Cambridge.

So I decided to make up for lost time, and put Kensington Palace and gardens at the top of our London family wishlist.

It was a great time to go too: on an ordinary day in summer, the palace can get as many as 3,000 visitors but during our visit, numbers were still limited with restrictions on how many people could be in particular rooms at any one time.

So while we weren’t the only ones to visit, I’d be amazed if we saw 30 people during our two-hour visit.

Which made it feel faintly as if we were wandering around our very own private palace, something which appealed to my eight-year-old who fancies the idea of living like royalty, right down to choosing which of the priceless tiaras she preferred. Diamonds or emeralds? Decisions…

As a bonus, the main displays in the first rooms currently focus on the childhood of the young Princess Victoria, who grew up here. You can see the bedroom where she was born, and the cot she slept in, as well as collections illustrating her life until she became Queen shortly after her 18th birthday.

The Queen later had rather mixed memories of her childhood, remembering it fondly as a happy time but also recalling it as a place and period she was glad to escape, especially the strict rules of the ‘Kensington System’ developed for her upbringing.

With the death of her father when she was a baby, she and her mother were dependent on relatives – including an allowance from George IV which he failed to make, partly because he disliked his brother and sister-in-law, partly because he was convinced the baby girl would never be queen. Fortunately her Uncle Leopold, later King of Belgium, came to their rescue.

These fraught family relationships were just the beginning: Victoria’s mother and Sir John Conroy, the Comptroller of the Household, did their best to cling on to power as Victoria grew older – eventually damaging their relationship permanently.

It’s not all gloomy royal relatives though, with a wander past the princess’s doll’s house, along with the toys she and her governess made together, before discovering more about her education… including a behaviour book, where she had to note down if she had been particularly naughty.

With no children her own age to play with, only an older half-sister (and sometimes a half-brother) and her spaniel Dash, it was often a lonely life and the young royal developed a love of theatre and opera to entertain her.

There’s even a miniature opera set, with figures moving back and forward to the action, and the music playing, which we sat and watched.

Other exhibits highlight events and people from Victoria’s life – her uncle King William IV, a great improvement on George IV, but also a time when she was taken ill and a little medicine cabinet to illustrate, along with a child’s dress.

Before long Prince Albert makes an entrance, in the small ballroom where a string of suitors were presented. With music playing, and little model couples whirling around to the music, we put all the tips we’ve picked up from watching Strictly in action and tried out our best fleckerl (barely a ‘1’for me from the judges).

And the final crowning achievement… literally, with a recreation of her first privy council meeting after becoming Queen and displays of her coronation regalia – some of which had to be made specially, as a petite 18-year-old woman simply couldn’t manage the heavy golden chains that her uncles had worn.

Victoria might be one of the royals whose most associated with Kensington Palace, but she’s far from the only one to have lived here. William & Mary originally bought it to create the palace as a pleasant retreat from Whitehall, a country escape not far from Parliament.

You can still stroll through the King’s Gallery, created by William, including its wind dial above the fire place, connected to a wind vane on the roof by chains and pulley so you can tell the direction while admiring the artwork.

While Mary died five years after the palace was completed, her sister Anne also lived here for much of her reign, but it’s the early Georgians who made their mark upon it, adding the sweeping king’s staircase, while George II and his wife Queen Caroline’s lively court saw parties, lavish receptions and intimate soirees to discuss art, literature and ideas.

Not to mention plenty of gambling. There are several gaming tables set up, including 18th century card and dice games like Hazard to try – I turned out to be pretty good at it, although as we were only betting wooden chips, I didn’t make my fortune.

Equally, I didn’t lose it all when my daughter thrashed me twice at the Game of Court though – think of a regal version of the Game of Life and you get the idea.

Even when slightly distracted by the discovery that it was such an insult to leave the royal presence without permission that excusing yourself to the toilet wasn’t an option.

And with vast court dresses as the fashion of the day (the kind where you have to enter and leave a room sideways), that meant hems soaking up puddles of wee. Suddenly palace life looked a lot less glamorous!

It’s well worth buying the kids’ guide to Kensington Palace for quirky facts and gratifyingly revolting trivia like this, perfect for fans of Horrible Histories and to enlivent some of the otherwise less exciting galleries of art.

The intricately painted ceiling will wow any age though, while there’s a lovely touch of shadow figures dancing in another room, tempting Minnie to join in. Not to mention a throne under its red canopy.

There are nods to some of the palace’s more recent inhabitants too, including Princess Diana, with one of her most famous dresses still on display.

While you can’t (unsurprisingly) wander around the current royal residences, it’s easy to imagine Kensington as more of a home than Buckingham Palace: palatial but distinctly liveable.

For more royal places in London to visit with kids, check out my pick of the best, from palaces to castles and more

Not least because of the park on the doorstep. The sun had come out, so after a pitstop in the cafe for lunch, we headed off for a wander through Kensington Gardens, as far as the border with Hyde Park (with more energy and less frozen fingers, we could have wandered all the way to Park Lane).

As well as spotting the birds on the Round Pond – a water feature which feels like it really ought to have a more imaginative name – we headed towards the Peter Pan statue, counting squirrels and green parakeets, far tamer than the ones which squawk around our part of London. Then on to the Italian fountains and the easily missed bear fountain.

In the other corner sits the Diana Memorial playground, with its pirate ship centrepiece, which we’d stopped in at on the way to the palace, a perfect place to run off some energy after strolling the sedate galleries of Kensington Palace with kids.

For more things to do in South Kensington with kids, check out my top picks

Need to know: Kensington Palace with kids

Tickets to Kensington Palace cost £20 for adults, £10 for kids aged 5-15, or there are family tickets costing from £25.50. Tickets must be prebooked for specific time slots throughout the day.

It’s free with membership of Historic Royal Palaces, but you still need to prebook your timeslot. The palace has limited opening hours during winter, summer opening is due to restart in March until October.

There’s a cafe next to the gift shop, while you can also have afternoon tea at the Orangery.

The average visit to Kensington Palace lasts around two hours – which is roughly what we spent there, including our stop for some 18th century gambling. If you’re visiting with younger kids, you might find yourself walking through more quickly if you don’t stop to read all the information.

It’s easy to combine it with a visit to Kensington Gardens, including the Diana Memorial Playground (in the north-west of the park) and spotting the Peter Pan statue (in the east, towards the border with Hyde Park). 

The closest tubes to Kensington Palace are High Street Kensington (on the Circle and District line) or Queensway (on the Central line). It’s walking distance from Lancaster Gate as well, if you want to cut through the park on your way to the palace.

It’s also walkable from the South Kensington museums – around 15 minutes from the Natural History Museum and less than 20 minutes from the Science Museum – so you could do both in one day… albeit quite a busy day!

PIN FOR LATER: VISITING KENSINGTON PALACE WITH KIDS

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