Kensington Palace

The palace is now home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate), the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

What to see at Kensington Palace

The State Rooms have been open to the public since 1899 and recently (in 2012) underwent a two-year £12 million renovation project. Visitors can now choose four different routes through the palace that include the Kings and Queens apartments plus interactive exhibits and digital presentations that bring the history of the palace to life.

Visitors can also see antique furniture and the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, which includes exhibits of Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe from the 1950s, Princess Margaret’s wardrobe from the 1960s and 1970s and the wardrobe of Princess Diana in the 1980s.

The King’s apartments that are open to the public are rooms used for audiences, functions and meetings. Rooms open to visitors include the Presence Chamber, the Privy Chamber, the Cupola Room, the King’s Drawing Room and the King’s Gallery and access to this area is via the King’s Staircase. These rooms depict the interior style of the Georgian age and feature works by William Kent, a noted artist and designer responsible for the interiors in many of the State Rooms.

While the King’s apartments are spaces for receiving guests, the Queen’s state apartments are private rooms built for Queen Mary II.

Visitors are also able to see artefacts relating to Princess Diana, one of the palace’s most famous former residents and the Victoria: A Royal Childhood exhibition tells the story of Princess Victoria’s childhood at Kensington Palace.

The grounds of Kensington Palace include beautiful gardens, which have been designed to connect with the neighbouring Kensington Gardens. The gardens include the beautiful sunken garden as well as a more formal English-style garden.

Temporary exhibitions at Kensington Palace

In addition to its historic rooms and permanent exhibitions, Kensington Palace also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions. Current and planned exhibitions include:

Dress Codes
Dress Codes (opens 13 March 2025) reveals rarely-seen royal and court fashion treasures, exploring the evolution of royal dress codes and their societal impact. Featured items include pieces worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, Queen Victoria and Princess Margaret, alongside rare items like a 1920s Reville court dress. A collaboration with local youth groups, the exhibition also showcases designs by young producers, reimagining traditional dress codes for the present day.

Visiting Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace is one of the more modest-sized royal palaces and is ideal if you want to visit a royal palace but don’t have the time to visit Hampton Court Palace or Windsor Castle. Two hours is plenty of time to see everything of interest here, which is a quicker visit than London’s other royal palaces.

Admission to Kensington Place is free of charge for Historic Royal Palaces members or if you have either a London Pass or the National Art Pass. Admission to the palace includes all public areas and exhibition spaces.

You can enter through the priority entrance if you have a pre-booked ticket or a London Pass. This essentially means that you skip the queue to buy tickets, but you still have to queue up to get inside.