Why see it?
It’s surprisingly intimate
- More like a home than a palace, the privacy and intimacy of this smallest of English royal palaces made it the favourite country retreat for the royal family in the late 18th century.
It’s been lovingly restored
- The palace reopened to the public in April 2006 after a widely acclaimed restoration. The palace tells the story of George III and his family at rest at and play. Explore the unique second floor of the palace, the bedroom floor – untouched for 200 years.
Combine with a visit to Queen Charlotte's Cottage
- The cottage is found at the southern end of Kew Gardens, near the Pagoda. It is open at weekends and bank holidays during the summer. Opening times here
All the world comes to Kew
Under George III’s father, Frederick Prince of Wales, Kew grew from a modest pleasure garden to a centre for botanical research and new ideas about landscape gardening.
As the British Empire was founded great explorers sent back specimens from all over the world and gave Kew its peculiar world view.
