Modern Royals

Who lives at Kensington Palace?

As well as being a popular visitor destination, Kensington Palace is the official residence of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent are also based in the palace's royal apartments.

Kensington Palace's previous residents have included The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Diana, Princess of Wales, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Margaret.

A landscape image of Kensington Palace with blue sky and flowers in the foreground

The state apartments of Kensington Palace

Preserving the palace's history

Kensington Palace is owned by Her Majesty The Queen on behalf of the nation, with Historic Royal Palaces caring for the parts that are open to the public.

This includes the King's State Apartments — which were first opened to visitors by Queen Victoria in 1898 — and the palace's exhibition spaces.

Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that looks after six palaces, including Kensington Palace. We are responsible for ensuring their preservation for future generations to enjoy.

Visit Kensington Palace

TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are shown the White Garden at Kensington Palace

This planting includes pots of classic English white roses surrounding the reflective pool in the centre of the garden, with Cosmos daisies and Gaura weaving through the grass.

HRH Prince Harry is shown the White Garden at Kensington Palace

The Sunken Garden

Diana, Princess of Wales was particularly fond of the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace and in 2017 the planting scheme was transformed into The White Garden in her memory.

We were proud to welcome TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, who visited the White Garden in August 2017. They were given a tour of the garden by Head Gardener, Sean Harkin, and Operations Manager, Graham Dillamore.

In November 2017, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex chose to hold the official photo call to mark the announcement of their engagement in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace.

Visit the Kensington Palace gardens

Painting of Princess Victoria and her Favourite Dog showing Queen Victoria as a young girl poised in front of a large window decorated with red curtains in front of a blue sky

A historic royal residence

Kensington Palace was also the childhood home of Queen Victoria, the great, great, great grandmother of The Duke of Cambridge and and The Duke of Sussex.

It was at the palace that Victoria met Prince Albert, her future Consort, and was woken with news of her accession in June 1837. She held her first Privy Council meeting that same day in the Red Saloon and a few weeks later departed for Buckingham Palace, admitting she would miss the ‘poor old palace’.