KENSINGTON PALACE

Kensington Palace can be found in Kensington Gardens, London, and has been an official residence of the British Royal Family for the past 400 years. It is currently the official London home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Prince and Princess of Kent. The Palace is also often used unofficially by Prince Harry, and was even the home of Princess Diana from 1981-1997, Princess Margaret from 1960-2002 and Princess Alice from 1994-2004.

Kensington Palace was originally built as a Jacobean mansion in 1605, and was first named Nottingham House. It was purchased for £20,000 in 1689, by the Monarchs William and Mary, who immediately instructed the famed architect Christopher Wren to carry out hugely vast and expansions and renovations to the building. These expansions included, but were certainly not limited to a new entrance on the west, the Great Court, several rooms to the south of the building, kitchens to the north, a magnificent clock tower and much,much more.

These days, the offices and private rooms of Kensington Palace are still owned and maintained by the Royal Household, while the State Rooms are run by the Historic Royal Palaces charity, and are open to the public, who can also view the 'Enchanted Palaces' exhibition (though the Historic Royal Palaces charity is a non-profit organisation). The Palace has even been on TV, having appeared on the BBC's series of documentaries 'Tales from the Palaces'.

Airport

• London Heliport 3.85

Attractions

• Kensington Palace 0.00
• Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens 0.66
• Albert Memorial 0.84
• Royal Albert Hall 0.88
• Memorial to the Great Exhibition 0.92
• Royal College of Music 0.97
• Holland Park London 1.12
• Science Museum 1.28
• Natural History Museum 1.31
• Victoria and Albert Museum 1.41

Theatre

• Gate Theatre 0.87
• Royal Albert Hall 0.87
• 20th Century Theatre 1.44
• Finborough Theatre 1.95
• Barons Court Theatre 2.07
• Bush Theatre 2.40
• Shepherds Bush Empire Theatre 2.42
• Chelsea Theatre 2.54
• Lyric Hammersmith Theatre 2.81
• Riverside Studios Theatre 3.12

Train Station

• Kensington Olympia Train Station 1.59
• London Paddington Train Station 1.68
• West Brompton Train Station 1.95
• Shephrds B M/Und Train Station 2.02
• Shephrds B C/Und Train Station 2.64
• London Marylebone Train Station 2.83
• London Victoria Train Station 3.27
• Queens Park (London) Train Station 3.56
• Kilburn High Road Train Station 3.77
• Kensal Green Train Station 3.86

Tube Station

• High Street Kensington Tube Station 0.37
• Queensway Tube Station 0.79
• Notting Hill Gate Tube Station 0.81
• Bayswater Tube Station 0.95
• Gloucester Road Tube Station 1.11
• Holland Park Tube Station 1.23
• Earls Court (N) Tube Station 1.32
• Lancaster Gate Tube Station 1.33
• South Kensington Tube Station 1.51
• Earls Court (S) Tube Station 1.52