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Well.
I booked a day trip on Golden Tours bus to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle. It cost quite a bit of money, but it was totally worth it, because I'd get to see three major attractions in one day! I was supposed to be at Grosvenor Gardens at 7:30 for an 8 o'clock departure, and I was so determined to be there on time that I arrived at 7:20.
There was no bus.
Forty minutes, three phone calls to an EXTREMELY UNHELPFUL customer service representative (I'm totally over this, I promise), no less than five laps around the park in search of a blue double-decker bus, some frantic double-checking of the address, and there was no bus.
No refunds, either.
It turns out that Grosvenor Gardens and Grosvenor Square Gardens are two different places, even though I explicitly told the man I was at Grosvenor Square Gardens and he said that was where I needed to be. But I guess I was supposed to be at Grosvenor Gardens, because when I marched into the customer service office intending to demand a refund, the woman quickly shut me down by telling me she'd been at Grosvenor Gardens and she never saw me.
So, no bus, no refunds—great start to a day.
But luckily, I managed to turn the whole day around!
I decided since I was going to be deprived of Windsor Castle, I might as well make up for it by going to see Kensington Palace. I saw the place where Queen Victoria grew up, wrote an absolutely epic (if I do say so myself) scene of my book while sitting in one of Queen Mary II's chambers, and had a conversation with one of the palace guides who shared my love of castles and gave me a must-see list. (Clair was an icon.)
And then, after a quick lunch, I went to a beautiful garden in Hyde Park, where I wrote 21 pages of my book in 6 hours (that has to be a new record) and finally finished a scene I'd been dying to write since October. By that point, I didn't even care about missing the bus (the money kinda stung, though) because the day's writing turned out to be so great.
I guess it's true that everything happens for a reason!
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
The gates of Kensington Palace.
These stairs are known as the King's Stairs, since they led up to George II's royal apartments.
Another view of the King's Stairs. The landing up above is where courtiers would have to wait for audiences with George II. They’d have to dress to impress the king’s guards in order to gain admittance.
The painter William Kent created this illusion of people waiting to meet the king.
This is the ceiling over the Grand Staircase.
This is the presence chamber, where George II received ambassadors and even ordinary people who brought petitions before him. A meeting with the king could change someone's life. For instance, a man who'd been sentenced to execution for making counterfeit money appealed to King George II for a pardon. The image below gives more information.
The designer of these sculptures imagined George II and Queen Caroline as Roman figures.
The ceiling of the presence chamber.
Queen Caroline decorated this room with images of the Stuarts to emphasize the Hanoverian George II’s connection to them and his right to rule.
An example of the clothes King George II and Queen Caroline would've worn.
This is the cupola. Courtiers would meet here and be dazzled by the light from the golden chandeliers glinting off the gilded statues, surrounded by dazzling music from lead composers of the day. There would be dancing, gambling, and drinking. The magnificent decorations were a backdrop for the drama of court life. But the room was stuffy and sweaty, with the noxious scents of hair spray and body doors.
This is the ceiling of the cupola.
The designer of the cupola evoked images of Ancient Rome.
In the center of the cupola is an innovative music clock that played jaunty classical tunes.
This is the king’s drawing room, where courtiers would finally (hopefully) see the king. They’d gather in a circle and wait in hopes that a court official would bring the king in to introduce them.
This elaborate ceiling rests above the king's drawing room.
This is one of the games of chance played by courtiers waiting for the king.
This is the view of the gardens from the king's drawing room.
This is another game played by waiting courtiers.
Queen Victoria met her husband, Prince Albert, for the first time on these stairs. She was only 16.
These emeralds were commissioned by Albert for Victoria. They typically represented royalty but were also a symbol of lover’s vows.
Interestingly, I used a picture of this tiara that I found off the internet as a reference image for a drawing a few months back. It was cool to see it in person!
This is Queen Victoria with her mother Victoire, the twice-widowed Duchess of Kent. Since Victoria's father died, Victoire was in the uncommon position of being solely responsible for the upbringing of a future monarch.
This is a miniature room in Queen Victoria's dollhouse. Doesn't it look so real?
This is another of Victoria's dollhouses.
These ten rules, the Kensington System Rules, governed Victoria's life as a young child. For instance, she wasn't allowed to walk down the stairs by herself out of fear that something might happen to her.
Victoria was the only surviving grandchild of George III. Her eldest uncle, George IV, had one daughter—Princess Charlotte. But when Charlotte died in childbirth in her 20s, none of George III's six sons had any other legitimate children. Pressure from the Prime Minister caused all of them (now middle-aged men) to search for wives. The Duke of Kent married the widowed German heiress Victoire, and they had Victoria. The Duke of Kent was the only one of George III's six sons to succeed in having an heir, so Victoria was destined to be queen.
Victoria loved performances, so for her sixteenth birthday, some of the leading actors of the day came here and performed for her. This is a miniature recreation of the show.
The letters 'VR' in the center are for "Victoria Regina".
Queen Victoria's uncle and predecessor, King William IV.
This is Victoria's traveling bed, but she normally slept with her mother to ensure she was always watched over. One of her first demands as queen was "get my mother out of my bed".
This is the room where Victoria was born.
This is the ballroom where Victoria's 17th birthday was held.
Victoria and Albert's first dance is commemorated on top of the candelabras in this ballroom, where her birthday ball was held.
These are Victoria's parents, the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
This is a miniature recreation of the meeting that took place on the day Victoria's uncle William IV died and she was hailed as queen.
Though Victoria's father died when she was very young, many pictures portrayed her with both of her parents to emphasize her family ties and connection to the crown.
This is the room where Victoria met with advisors on the day she was recognized (not yet crowned) as queen.
This is the queen’s staircase, which leads up into the queen’s state apartments. It was built in 1691 and was part of the original modifications to transform Nottingham House into a royal palace for William III and Mary II, to escape the smoke and bustle of London. These were Mary’s rooms, but they weren’t intended to entertain, so they weren’t as formal. This staircase wasn’t for the public, only for the Queen and her ladies in waiting.
This is the queen's gallery. I sat in here for an hour and wrote my book on my phone; it was amazing!
Queen Anne is the portrait on the left. Her husband, Prince George of Denmark, is on the right, but Anne ruled alone in her own right. She had 17 pregnancies, but none of her children survived beyond childhood, so the Stuart dynasty ended with her and the throne passed to the Hanoverians (starting with George I).
This is the queen's dining room (see the description on the right).
This huge portrait is of Katherine Elliot, the nurse of James II when he was a baby.
This is the queen’s drawing room, where she would host formal receptions. The room was badly damaged during the Second World War, but most of the objects and paintings survived.
This is Queen Mary’s bedroom. This was a ceremonial bedroom, where the Queen would appear to her assembled guests. She had a more private room next door which is where she died from smallpox, aged only 32.
This is the front entrance of Kensington Palace.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park
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