There are plenty of great activities on offer during March at Historic Royal Palaces!

Why not join one of our unique tours in March? This month is your last chance to embark on an eery Twilight tour of the Tower of London or a chilling Ghost tour at Hampton Court Palace! Launching in March, experience the magnificent formal gardens of Hampton Court with a National Garden Scheme evening tour. Alternatively, take a closer look at the changes taking place at Kensington Palace during the extensive £12 million renovation project to improve the visitor experience by 2012 with a tour of the building site led by Palace Director Nigel Arch.

Go “back to school” in March and join an evening lecture with Michael Hirst, writer and director of the compelling series The Tudors! Find out the challenges of dramatising and sexing up history!

Don’t forget HRP membership is the most cost-effective way to visit our palaces, giving unlimited free entry to all five palaces for a whole year! Prices start at only £43.00 for individual membership! Visit www.hrp.org.uk for information about membership.

Daily until 3 Jan 2012
Kensington Palace Enchanted Palace
Kensington has been transformed into the Enchanted Palace - a unique multisensory exhibition combining fashion, live performance, music, film and dazzling spectacle to show the palace in a magical light. Intriguing and mysterious characters lead visitors on  a journey through the spellbound palace to discover its tales of love and hate, surprise and sadness, secrets and jealousy.

As they travel through the magnificent State Apartments visitors will encounter a series of stunning installations featuring contemporary fashion by leading designers such as Paul Costelloe, Zandra Rhodes and Vivienne Westwood inspired by the palace’s Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection and woven into fascinating stories from the palace's history. This is a secret Kensington Palace – one you’ve never seen before!

 
Daily
Tower of London      
Fit for a King
Discover 500 years of spectacular arms and armour worn by kings and royal princes in this stunning exhibition in the White Tower. Learn about the personalities, power and physical size of England’s kings, from the Tudors, and the notorious Henry VIII, to today’s royal family.

FREE iPhone and iPod Touch app
Tower of London                                                                                                                                         Escape from the Tower app                                                                          
Meet the prisoners (virtually of course!)                                                                                                                                       Bring your iPhone or iPod Touch to the Tower and you can help the virtual prisoners escape from the real locations they were held.

Can you help four worthy prisoners escape from the infamous Tower of London be re-enacting their real-life events?

Play Escape from the Tower, our exciting new free app for iPhone and iPod Touch, and re-enact some of the Tower’s most famous escapes during your visit.

Players who complete all four missions can register their score and will be eligible for entry into a prize draw to win free entry to all the palaces.

Escape from the Tower app is free and available for download on iPhone and iPod Touch only                                                                                           The app can be downloaded at home or on site at the Tower wi-fi hotspot in front of the Tower shop at the main gate.

LAST CHANCE!
Tower of London Twilight tours
2, 9, 16, 23, 30 March 2011. Tours start at 19.00.
Experience the eerie shadows that gather at the Tower after the visitors leave.  Hosted by one of our Yeoman Warders, you will be amazed and appalled by the tales of past residents, royal gossip and the secrets kept within these ancient walls.

Tickets £25 each*To book tickets call 0844 482 7799. Advanced booking essential.*Tickets do not include entry into the Crown Jewels or White Tower

LAST CHANCE!
Hampton Court Palace
Ghost tours
4 March 2011. Tour starts at 19.00.
Embark on a chilling ghost tour of Hampton Court Palace this Spring and hear chilling stories from its historic past! Only on these exclusive after hours tours our palace Warders show visitors some of the places where mysterious tales have been woven! Over 170 years of ghostly stories have been recorded from visitors and staff alike which the warders will recount to you on this unique tour.

Tickets £25 each.To book tickets call 0844 482 7799. Advanced booking essential.

5 March
Tower of London 
Family fun at the Tower
11.00-15.00
Soldiers, prisoners and courtiers invite you to share their experiences, if you dare!  Come and take part in our family activities and learn more about the stories of the Tower. There will be a range of arts and crafts activities to choose from. Remember to pick up fun filled trails and treats. See signs on the day for more information.

5-6 March
Hampton Court Palace
Tudor cookery
Which recipes rumbled a Tudor tummy? Come in from the cold, be warmed by the fire in our Tudor kitchens and experience for yourself first-hand the smells and sounds of 500 years ago as our intrepid team of Tudor cooks experiment with recipes, ingredients and cooking methods to prepare a feast fit for a king.

TOUR - LIMITED TIME ONLY
Kensington Palace 
Kensington Palace Welcome to Kensington – A Palace for everyone- Site tours
12 March
11.00-11.45
Kensington Palace and improve the visitor experience by 2012. The plans will introduce new education and community facilities, improve accessibility, reconnect the palace with the neighbouring park through new public gardens inspired by the area’s historic landscape and realise the ambition to open up the palace’s rich and varied stories to the widest possible audience.

Visitors are invited to take a close look at the changes taking place on monthly tours of the building site led by Kensington Palace director Nigel Arch.

Participation on the site tour is free of charge and does not include entry to the Enchanted Palace at Kensington Palace. Maximum of 15 people per tour. Advanced booking necessary To book your place call 0844 482 7799

LUNCHTIME CONCERT
Banqueting House
‘Music to dine for’
21 March
13.00 (From 12.15 a buffet lunch is served in the Undercroft)
The Chamber Ensemble of London, directed by Peter Fisher, present a lunchtime concert with culinary connections and a buffet lunch.

Performances under the magnificent Rubens ceiling include
- “Food, Glorious Food” composed by Lionel Bart and appetisingly arranged for string orchestra
- Concerto Grosso in F Op.6 No.2 composed by George Frederic Handel
- Variations on ‘The Roast Beef of Old England”, a start from grand naval dinners, composed by Clive Jenkins
- Sonata No.3 in C composed by Gioacchino Rossini (of tournedos fame)
- Tafelmusik (Trio in Eb) composed by Georg Phillip Telemann and composed for post prandial relaxation
-  “Tarte au Citron” composed by Clive Jenkins, a just dessert
- “Pink Champagne Overture” composed by Johann Strauss II to wash it all down

Tickets £20 each. Advanced booking is essential. To book tickets call 020 3166 6153 or purchase in person from Banqueting House

AFTERNOON SCHOOL
Tower of London
Crown Jewels
23 March
16.00-18.00
Sally Dixon-Smith, HRP Collections 
Keith Hanson, Chief Exhibitor
A repeat of last season’s sell-out session, this afternoon school discusses the Crown Jewels and their unique role, and a guided tour of the Jewel House includes an explanation of the responsibilities that are enshrined within the coronation ceremony.

Historic Royal Palaces is re-presenting the Crown Jewels in 2012 and this is your unique opportunity to hear from the experts working on this project.

Tickets £20/£18 HRP members. To book tickets call 0844 482 7799 or online at www.hrp.org.uk
This event includes refreshments and entry to the Tower of London

TOUR - LIMITED TIME ONLY
Hampton Court Palace
National Garden Scheme evening tours
30 March
Experience the magnificent formal gardens of Hampton Court on one of these tours which takes place after the palace is closed to the public.

Tickets £8each* **
To book tickets call 01483 211 535 or visit www.ngs.org.uk.                               Advanced booking essential
*Ticket price does not include entrance to Hampton Court Palace
**Ticket price includes a glass of wine

EVENING LECTURE
Hampton Court Palace
Writing the Tudors
With Michael Hirst 
31 March
18.30-20.00
Michael Hirst, writer and Executive Producer of the compelling TV series The Tudors, gives a talk on the challenged of constructing historical drama and the balance between historical accuracy and dynamic storytelling.

A global smash, The Tudors thrills, shocks and delights viewers in 70 countries, but has also attracted criticism for taking artistic license. This evening promises an exploration of the issues faced by the dramatist when working with history. How do you bring a national icon to life, and how do you answer detractors’ claims of sexing up and dumbing down?

Tickets £12/£10 HRP members. To book tickets call 0844 482 7799 or online at www.hrp.org.uk
This event includes includes a drinks reception