Name: Princesses' bedrooms
Start: 2019-04-05T10:30
End: 2025-12-31T17:00
Location: Kew Palace

The princesses' bedrooms at Kew Palace, once occupied by Princesses Elizabeth, Augusta and Amelia — the daughters of George III and Queen Charlotte — offer a unique view into the lives of Georgian royalty.

Restoration of the bedrooms

Princess Elizabeth had her bedroom on the first floor. It has been fully restored, and includes her flamboyant Grecian couch bed.

Elizabeth's bedroom is next to her mother's, reflecting her role as an intermediary when relations between the King and Queen became strained.

On the second floor you can see the partially restored bedrooms of Princess Augusta and Princess Amelia. The unrestored section shows traces of the original verditer wallpaper, a Gothic fireplace acquired at her request for Princess Amelia and early 19th century paint finishes.

Damp and unfit for a queen

Princess Elizabeth complained that Kew Palace was damp and unfit to house her mother during her final illness.

Writing to her eldest brother, the princess described the palace with sarcasm as 'this beautiful chateau', so although the furnishings were certainly elegant, the house as a royal residence was not up to the usual royal standards.

The politician Horace Walpole joked the princesses were so cramped in their bedrooms they were forced to hang their dresses on the backs of their bedroom doors.