The Enchanted Palace - Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is one of London's most famous landmarks, not least because it was once to home to Princess Diana. Every room has a story - it truly is a place of fairytales and secrets. There are so many hidden doors, secret stairwells and tiny rooms.
This year the palace has been transfored by the UK theatre company Wildworks and
Naturally the room that I'm most exciting about is Queen Victoria’s bedroom with an installation by William Tempest! This is the room in which Victoria was sleeping when her uncle King William IV died at Windsor Castle in the middle of the night, and where she awoke to the news that she was to become Queen. The installation in this room will represent Victoria’s life changing overnight transformation from young princess to Queen of the United Kingdom. Inspired by Victoria’s new-found freedom and independence as a result of her accession, William Tempest will create an avant-garde interpretation of a period dress that uses origami and produce a trompe l’oeil effect whereby the dress will appear to vanish and merge into its surroundings.
The Enchanted Palace opens 26 March – June 2010 at Kensington Palace.
Information on opening hours and ticket prices, visit www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonpalace. Supported by the Members of Historic Royal Palaces.