Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace Venue: Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX. Tel: 0870 751 5170 Access: State Apartments and Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, Palace Shop and Orangery: Daily. 1 March - 31 October, 10am-6pm, (last admission 5pm). 1 November - 28/29 February, 10am-5pm, (last admission 4pm). Closed annually 24, 25 December, 1st January. Tickets: £12, (Concessions). Book online to avoid queues, (recommended), or pay at gate. FREE entry to members of Historic Royal Palaces. London Transport: Nearest Tubes and buses. High Street. Kensington, (Circle and District Lines), Bus nos. 9, 10, 49, 52 and 70 to High Street Kensington ; Queensway, Notting Hill Gate, Lancaster Gate,(Central Line), Bus nos. 70, 94, 148, 390 to Bayswater Road. Burlington Bertie's Accommodation Choice: The Gore 190 Queen's Gate, SW7 5EX This hotel, south of Kensington Gardens near the Albert Hall in a tree-lined avenue between Kensington Palace and Harrods, is a gem. It has managed to supply modern comfort while preserving its delightfully eccentric ambience of a bygone Edwardian Age, with mahogany paneling, oriental rugs and the odd touch of stained glass. Treat your partner in style and book the sumptuous Dame Nellie bedroom; named after Nellie Melba, the great Australian soprano who took London by storm in the 1890s, after wowing audiences across the United States from New York to Virginia City. The room, as the management proudly aver, is "devishly romantic", while the hotel's meticulous service and old fashioned comfort are no less than Nellie herself would have expected in those days of pampered elegance. Dine superbly in the Bistrot Restaurant after cocktails in the hotel's snugly paneled Bar 190. Chauffered collection from airport can be arranged. An excellent 4-star alternative overlooking the northern end of Kensington Gardens is the Thistle Kensington Gardens Hotel. The designer shops, boutiques and antiques dealers of Kensington High Street, Church Street and Portobello Road, together with trendy Notting Hill, famous in film and for its annual carnival is on the doorstep. Find Another Hotel

As you walk through the formal gardens towards the entrance, reflect that it was William III's (reigned 1689-1702), dislike of the rat-infested dampness of the Thames-side Palace of Whitehall that led to the less formal red-brick charm of Kensington Palace. He commissioned Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, to convert Nottingham House into a residence for a Monarch, and the result manifestly reflects his Dutch tastes. It was Queen Victoria's home until until she became Queen in 1837 and moved to Buckingham Palace. It was the first home for the newly wed Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Diana's home after her divorce until her death in 1997. You will enter at the back from Kensington Gardens. These once private Palace gardens are now a much treasured public amenity. Wren's informal architecture in brick has an intimate warmth from this aspect, a striking contrast to the Sir Aston Webb's noble Buckingham Palace facade, conceived in more grandiose times of Empire, (1912).

Inside the Palace, the late Stuart/early Georgian State Apartments with work by Nicholas Hawksmoor, (who designed the twin west towers and gable of Westminster Abbey 1734), and William Kent, (designer of the west frontage of Horse Guards Parade 1748), are open to the public. Your prime interest, however, will probably be captured by the superb Royal Collection of Ceremonial Dress, as worn by members of the Royal Family and their Court officials. It spans 200 years of robes for Coronations, Royal Weddings, Knightly Orders, formal Court and State events, protocol and fashion; a rotating and ever-growing archive of royal taste from the days of late 18th century Regency splendour to more modern informality.

Princess Diana's memory lives on in Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens. Pause outside to contemplate the Palace's quietly serene Sunken Garden and lily pond laid out by Edward VII in 1907; a haunt of shimmering dragonflies on a summer's day. Turn left then and visit the Diana Memorial Playground. On a sunny day it is packed with children. You can hear their delighted squeals from the Palace as they relive the story of Peter Pan and the dastardly Captain Hook and his pirate crew.

As well as the fascinating exhibition of Court Ceremonial dress which give us a good idea of the splendour of Court, There is a great deal worth seeing, from the Cupola Room, where Queen Victoria was baptised, to the exquisite trompe d'oeuil ceiling executed by Palladian architect William Kent for George II, (1722).

Kensington Palace sunken gardens.

As well as being open all year round, the Palace has the advantage of making you feel you are among royalty on a day to day sense - with less of the cold formality of Buckingham Palace State Rooms and more of the bustle of a busy collection of Royal apartments. While the original State Rooms have been turned into a museum, this is still a working palace and Royal Residence, housing working members of the Royal Family, (notably the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent), their offices and staff, and senior palace courtiers and officials. The Prince and Princess of Wales spent their early married life here and following their divorce, Princess Diana returned to live and work from here until her untimely death. A suite of rooms in the late Princess Margaret's apartment have now been opened to the public and is well worth visiting as an optional free guided tour.

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