On 15th May 1899, Queen Victoria visited Kensington Palace to inspect her childhood apartments and the neighbouring Denmark Wing, just days before they were set to open to the public for the very first time.
At 11:30 in the morning of that fine spring day, Queen Victoria left Windsor Castle and headed straight to her childhood home with her daughter, Princess Beatrice, and two grandchildren, Princess Victoria Melita and Prince Ernst Louis of Hesse.
Source: Historic Royal Palaces Facebook page
Upon arriving at her “old entrance”, the elderly Queen was met by Mr Brett, who had been responsible for organising the restoration. Due to poor mobility, Victoria was then carried up the stairs and through several rooms, including many that she claimed to have never seen before.
Next, Victoria was taken downstairs where she entered the apartments that she had once shared with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, while living under the strict ‘Kensington System’. The first of the “two large rooms” was the Red Saloon, where Victoria, aged eighteen, had held her first Private Council meeting as Queen.
The second room was where Victoria had been born back in 1819. It was here that Queen Mary, wife of King George V and grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, was also born in 1867. In her journal, Victoria writes that during her childhood this room had been “used as Mama’s writing room” before becoming “a visitor’s room”. However, she fails to mention that the room had been used as a dining room at the time of her birth.
Coinciding with the Queen’s 80th birthday, the Palace opened its door just nine days later, on 24th May. The belief that the rooms “would be of great interest” was quickly proving to be correct as the palace welcomed 13,000 visitors on the opening day alone. While there was originally the risk of the rooms being “taken back at any time for the use of my [Victoria’s] family,” the palace remains open today under the care of Historic Royal Palaces. In 2019, Victoria’s childhood apartments underwent further restorations to appear just as they would have been during her childhood, with a variety of her personal belongings also on display. Visitors can also experience the Jewel Room, the State Apartments, as well as the current ‘Dress Codes’ exhibition.
© Queen.Victoria.Roses 2025
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