Kensington Palace

For more than 300 years, royals have lived here in grand style. The original building, Nottingham House, needed 12 years of renovation by Wren and Hawksmoor, who had been commissioned by King William III and Queen Mary to turn it into a proper palace. During the subsequent three reigns, it underwent much further refurbishment -- accompanied by numerous royal deaths: William III died here in 1702, Queen Anne in 1714, George I in 1727, and George II in 1760, after which it ceased to be a royal residence. It was also here that the 18-year-old Princess Victoria was called from her bed in June 1837 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Chamberlain, to be told of the death of her uncle, William IV, and her accession to the throne. The State Apartments, including the late Princess Margaret's rooms are on show on the first floor. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have apartments here, albeit very much private ones.

On the Garden Floor is the palace's visitor entrance, which takes you into the Red Saloon and Teck Saloon, where the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection displays garments dating to the 18th century. State and occasional dresses, hats, shoes, and gloves from the present Queen's wardrobe are showcased, as are some incredible evening gowns worn by that most fashionable of royal icons, the late Princess Diana. Other displays interpret the symbolism of ceremonial court dress and also show the labor that went into producing this attire. Some dazzlers of note are the coronation robes of Queen Mary and George V and a regal mantua -- a 6-foot-wide court dress that recalls the truth that part of the aristocratic game was to impress your fellow courtiers with your clothes.

Similarly, the State Apartments, especially the King's Apartments, reminded visitors none too subtly of regal power. The King's Grand Staircase is the impressive starting point of the tour, with superb trompe-l'oeil paintings by William Kent showing courtiers looking down. The Presence Chamber (used for formal receptions), painted with mythical gods in the Italian "grotesque" style, is a red-and-gold assault on the eyes, packed with paintings. Look out for the Grinling Gibbons cherubic overmantel carvings. Next follows the more intimate Privy Chamber, reflected by its comparatively tranquil decor. The Mortlake tapestries commissioned by Charles I represent the seasons, and the lavish painted ceiling alludes to the godlike status of monarchs. Roman columns and gilded decor in the Cupola Room, where Princess Victoria was christened, reminded the royal visitor that being admitted beyond the Presence Room was a mark of status (note that although the ceiling appears to be domed it's actually as flat as a pancake). These rooms lack chairs because only the monarch would have been seated.

Next come the rooms where Victoria had her ultrastrict upbringing, since restored with items that belonged to her and Prince Albert. Originally part of the King's Apartments, these bedrooms and dressing rooms seem pleasantly domestic compared with the grandeur of the state rooms. The King's Gallery, which precedes the private apartments of Queen Anne, and later of Queen Mary, returns to the gilded theme -- by Thornhill (of St. Paul's Cathedral fame) -- with rich red damask walls. The copies of Van Dyck's Charles I portraits (the originals are at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace) dominate the scene, along with two pieces by Tintoretto. The tour ends with the Queen's Staircase, which leads into the garden: undoubtedly the true natural gem of the palace, and which provided the original attraction for the green-thumbed William and Mary. If you visit in spring, the tulips, which were a favorite of Mary's, reign supreme in a riot of color. The Orangery, built for Queen Anne, was the scene of many a royal family party; you can take a cup of tea here, before admiring the Sunken Garden with its fountains and Tudor design which echoes Hampton Court.

The palace was also home to the late Princess Margaret, and a new photographic exhibition, "Number 1A Kensington Palace: from Courtiers' Lodgings to Royal Home," has opened in her former apartments. The Princess and Lord Snowdon transformed the place in the 1960s, mixing modern with 18th-century, a blend evidenced in the entrance hall, Snowdon's study, the guest bedroom, and garden room.