Viator Viator Travel Blog

It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but, okay, I will admit it for all of us. Part of our fascination with England – even for many of those born and raised there – is the Royal Family – one of the last remaining monarchies in the world. They’re all over magazines just like real celebrities. Their faces stare at us from mugs and plates and T-shirts. History is full of them. We all want to see inside their houses.

So, I did it. I went to London and I visited a whole lot of Royal palaces. Did not meet a prince, but, given the history of princesses I’m kind of glad of that. But here, for the record, is my brush with royalty.

Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace was not a good place to start. To begin with it’s ugly. Sorry, but it is. And it’s sort of trapped in the middle of a really big roundabout, traffic flying around it, not much garden to speak of. And another thing: it’s not really even a palace.

Originally this was Buckingham House, a modest (?) family home bought by George III for his wife to run around it. Previously it was a nobleman’s home but its excellent location so close to St James’s Palace made it well suited to the King’s needs. His son George IV was the one who decided to make it into a palace. Queen Victoria was the first one to actually live there, in 1837. And in 1913, after years of remodelling, a whole new façade had to be put on it in tougher stone, more able to handle London’s smog, making it the palace we see today.

You can tour Buckingham Palace but it feels kind of soulless and I’m not surprised the Queen escapes to her other houses whenever she can. She’s got Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh and Windsor Castle in Berkshire. Plus her private houses, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle. Poor thing.

St James’s Palace

Just down the red-paved road (to denote royalty) from Buckingham Palace is St James’s Palace. Now, this to me is a real palace. Why? Because it is still the official court of the English crown and therefore closed to the public, and also it is haunted. A proper palace needs a good haunting.

From the 1500s to the 1800s this was where royalty did their work. Some of it not so splendid: Henry VIII, notorious for getting rid of his wives, built it and much of the red brick building is still his. Kings and Queens have been born and died here. Clarence House where the popular Queen Mother lived and where Prince Charles and sons make their London home is here too. I expected to see paparazzi everywhere outside but didn’t. So, some respect still exists. Or maybe everyone was just away.

Round the back of St James’s Palace are some of my favourite streets of London, because of the history they contain. Here are tiny shops that have provided the Court with shoes and hats for centuries. Not to mention courtyards where men used to duel to the death. The height of romantic madness a la Georgette Heyer, and pretty damn stupid!

And as for that ghost. Well, there are conflicting stories. One says he is Joseph, the manservant of the Duke of Cumberland who was found with his throat cut in 1810. Despite the Duke’s hands being covered in blood, it was Joseph who was found guilty of attacking the Duke. Perhaps he walks the halls restlessly to try and clear his name. And if he is the only spirit wandering around here, I’d be amazed. So much history – if only the walls could talk.

Tower of London

The Tower of London, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is another royal building where the walls must want to scream out loud. This place was a fortress, a prison, a place of pain, passion, torture and treachery. Talk about ghosts, this place has them. Notably Anne Boleyn who was executed here by Henry VIII. There’s also rumour of a bear ghost roaming around – seen by a guard in the 1800s who died of fright several days later.

Let me explain. As well as housing the Crown Jewels (since the 1300s), the Tower used to have a kind of animal zoo. People who could not afford to pay to see the tigers, lions or leopards could bring a cat or dog to feed to the hungry animals in exchange for entry. Hmmm. I’m not surprised to hear about the unhappy bear spirit. The last animal was moved to the London Zoo in the 1830s.

The Tower is fascinating but definitely sends a chill down your spine. It’s guarded by both Beefeaters (human) and ravens (birds). The superstition is that if the ravens leave the Tower, the monarchy will fall. Only one raven survived World War II, a close call, and these days the ravens’ wings are clipped to make extra sure they’ll stay put.

A happy traveler on a Tower of London tour

Hampton Court Palace

Still on the trail of Henry VIII – who certainly made his mark on history and also on the palaces – I went to Hampton Court Palace. More red brick and I have to say it looks a little more like a boarding school than a palace to me. But perhaps that is due to schools being built to look like palaces and fairytales for children having castles more in the Disney/French Chateau/Bavarian castle mould than those of England. Anyway…

Lovely gardens. Now this to my mind is what a palace should have: places to wander while pondering the miserable lives of your subjects, and a maze to get lost in when it’s time to escape your murderous husband. Not that it helped Henry’s wives – I guess the hedges had not grown up enough by then.

This year, 2009, marks the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII becoming king so there’s lots of boiled beef planned in the well-preserved Tudor kitchens at Hampton Court Palace.

Kew Palace

Further down the Thames is Kew Palace, near the beautiful Kew Gardens. This to my mind looks a little more royal – but there’s still all that red brick. It doesn’t have quite the size and grandeur of some of the others, but it’s prettier.

Kew Palace is where they locked King George when he went mad. And where Queen Charlotte lived with her 15 children. For happy family outings, she took them to Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, in what is now Kew Gardens, where they had picnics. Immediately my mind jumps to a similar rustic folly in the grounds of a royal palace – Marie Antoinette and Versailles anyone? Still, this is on a far more modest scale, which may be why the British Monarchy survived.

Kensington Palace

Right in the centre of London is Kensington Palace, most famous as the home of Princess Diana. Another rather tragic recent princess, Margaret, also lived there. I find it a bit haunted by the display of all Diana’s clothes. Yes, they are fabulous, but her life was so troubled. Even a dress-lover like me couldn’t get too excited.

But of course Kensington Palace has a much longer history. Here Queen Victoria was awoken to the news she was in fact now Queen. These days it’s used by the lesser members of the royal family so doesn’t have the heavy guarding of Buckingham or St James’s Palaces. Diana’s dresses are not worth quite as much as the Crown Jewels. It does make this palace feel quite open and accessible however. For a touch of the royal life, you can eat at The Orangery. Afternoon tea, while not cheap, is worth doing, looking out at the gardens. And you won’t need dinner.

Royal Day Trips from London

Out of London, it’s worth visiting Blenheim Palace near Oxford if just for the wonderful gardens. In 1987 it became a World Heritage Site. The Baroque Palace is worth seeing and Blenheim’s very geared to tourism with jousting displays, theatre and music concerts, plus indulgent Sunday lunches.

But I have to say, the pick of the crop is Windsor Castle. Nine hundred years on it’s still a royal residence and the Queen goes there often to escape the hustle and bustle of London. It’s her weekender. All 500,000 square feet of it. It’s the largest inhabited castle in the world.

The place is huge and much of it is not open to the public. It has its own farms, employees living in cottages, and a private school. This is real old-style Lord of the Manor Royalty.

There’s a rumour that when Prince Charles becomes King, he’s going to move the royal court to Windsor Castle, leaving Buckingham Palace to its ugliness and traffic fumes. I don’t blame him.

-Philippa Burne

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s London tours and things to do in London, from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace tours to day trips from London.