Under the Christmas Tree: Celebrating Christmas at Kensington Palace
As you probably gathered, my eldest is a huge fan of history! So when I came upon this event where they get to see how Queen Victoria celebrated her Christmas, we had to go!
Located in Kensington Gardens just off Hyde Park, it was easy to get to from Harrow to Queensmead and a short walk from there. The tickets were cheap and so an educational day out when money is tight!
When we got there, we went straight to reception to ask what other activities there were on for the kids on the day. There was a trail which Mahi got really involved in and made him explore all the rooms. He was asking me lots of questions about what he saw so this was a brilliant way for little ones to engage. My not-so-little-one was in charge of the ‘Time Explorers’ bag which let her explore the King and Queen’s quarters and expand her knowledge and love for history.
When we arrived, the timing was great as we heard that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was going to make an appearance in the family room. Now, the family room was where Queen Victoria was born and while we were waiting, the kids played with some Victorian toys and Mahi was amazed at the huge doll house that Queen Victoria actually played with! Soon Queen Victoria arrived and we all had to bow for her. Both Prince Albert and Queen Victoria told us how they spent Christmas with their 8 children. We also got to play some games with them! Before you know 30mins flew past and off they went.
That also lead us to now visit the rest of the palace. Lucky was busy with her binocular to look for some answer to the ‘Time Explorer’ trail she was doing so me and Mahi were playing on old board games as well as watching Victorian ghosts dancing around.
There was also an arts and crafts activity going on from making cornupias and making zoetrope. It was such fun to make and right up the alley for Mahi who is the extremely arty/crafty person in our house! With our goodies, we visited the numerous rooms before heading to the Diana exhibition.
As me and Lucky are huge admirers of her, w head to see this exhibition which concentrated on her fashion and it for us all emotional. Reading the stories behind some of her iconic dresses and seeing them was breathtaking. Even Mahi was choosing which dress he liked and was excited to show me around the dresses he loved the most! There was event a little film about Diana which I think if Lucky and me were left go see it for a long time, we would have been crying at the loss of her. A stunning exhibition.
Our whole mid morning was done. As it is a small palace 3 hrs was more than enough for us including all the activities that were going on.
If you want to make a whole day out of it, you can play in Diana’s Memorial Park, go for a swim (if going in warmer weather)or boating in the Serpentine and explore Hyde Park. The Royal parks have always got events going on too so keep an eye on their website! Of the weather is horrid then there a nice indoor ice rink and bowling alley not too far from Queensway station! Queensway has also got plenty of places to ear offering various cuisines!
A great visit for people on a budget!
No comments:
Post a Comment