Kensington Palace

Much of central London is walkable from here, and also there's easy public transportation connections to all of London.

Then I looked west to Hyde Park for access to Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert and the National History Museums, and of course Hyde Park.

Very handy location for the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

and then a little bit further west to Kensington.

The tyrant's sceptre cannot move as those pure tears have moved.

e b browning when she was five years old the princess victoria began to have lessons chiefly with the governess miss von lehzen my dearly beloved angelic lehzen as she called her these two remained devotedly attached to one another until the latter's death in eighteen seventy the young princess was especially fond of music and drawing and it was clear that if she had been able to devote more time to study she would in later years have excelled in both subjects her education was such as to fit her for her future position of queen of england the princess did not however know that she was likely at any future time to be queen she read much chiefly books dealing with history and these were often chosen for her by her uncle the king of the belgians the family life was regular and simple lessons a walk or drive very few and simple pleasures made up her day breakfast was at half-past eight luncheon at half-past one and dinner at seven tea was allowed only in later years as a great treat the queen herself said i was brought up very simply never had a room to myself till i was nearly grown up always slept in my mother's room till i came to the throne sir walter scott wrote of her at this period of her life this little lady is educated with much care and watched so closely that no busy maid has a moment to whisper you are heir of england i suspect if we could dissect the little heart we should find some pigeon or other bird of the air had carried the matter in eighteen thirty her uncle george the fourth died and his brother william the fourth came to the throne the young princess was now the next in succession her governess thought that her pupil should be told of this fact and as the duchess of kent agreed the table of genealogy was placed inside victoria's history book where by and by she found it the story goes that she then said i see i am nearer the throne than i thought and giving her hand to her governess added i will be good i understand now why you urged me so much to learn even latin my cousins augusta and mary never did but you told me that latin was the foundation of english grammar and of all the elegant expressions and i learnt it as you wished but i understand it all better now in later years the queen recollected crying very much when she heard of it but could not recall exactly what had happened it is interesting to note what those who knew little victoria at this time say about her she was we are told exceedingly affectionate very full of high spirits fond of life in the open air and already possessed a strong sense of duty and religion she had been taught by her devoted uncle leopold with whom she corresponded regularly how necessary it was for her to understand thoroughly the duties which fall to the share of a ruler during the years which followed she went more into society and paid visits to the most interesting places in the kingdom everywhere she went she was received with the greatest enthusiasm in eighteen thirty the duke of coburg with his two sons ernest and albert arrived at kensington palace on a visit and thus the princess met for the first time her future husband her uncle leopold had long desired to carry out the cherished wish of his mother the dowager duchess of coburg that the two cousins should be united in marriage during william the fourth lifetime all mention of such a marriage had to be kept secret as the king much disliked the coburg family and had more than once been very rude to the duchess of kent victoria wrote to her uncle saying how much she liked albert in every way and that he possessed every quality that could be desired to render her perfectly happy she was very anxious that her uncle should take her cousin under his special protection on may twenty fourth eighteen thirty seven victoria attained her majority she received numbers of magnificent presents congratulations from public bodies and in the evening a state ball was given at st james's palace on tuesday june twenty of that year at twelve minutes past two king william the fourth died the archbishop of canterbury and the lord chamberlain set out at once for kensington to convey the sad news they arrived at five in the morning and were told that the princess was asleep they replied that they were on important business of state to the queen and even her sleep must give way to that even during the first days of her reign the queen's dignity calm and knowledge of state affairs astonished her ministers and were complete proof of the careful training she had received during her childhood days greville clerk to the council wrote she presided with as much ease as if she had been doing nothing else all her life the gracefulness of her manner and the good expression of her countenance give her on the whole a very agreeable appearance and with her youth inspire an excessive interest in all who approach her and which i can't help feeling myself in july the queen and her mother left their home to take up their residence in buckingham palace formerly known as the queen's house the present palace occupies the site of buckingham house which was erected by john sheffield duke of buckingham in seventeen o three it was bought by george the third for his wife in seventeen sixty one remodelled by george the fourth and completed by william the fourth who however had never lived there four days later the queen went in state to dissolve parliament and soon afterward removed to windsor castle where she was joined for a time by her uncle and his wife prince albert wrote her a warm letter of congratulation you are now he said queen of the mightiest land in europe in your hands lie the happiness of millions may heaven assist and strengthen you with its strength in that high but difficult task i hope that your reign may be long happy and glorious and that your efforts may be rewarded by the thankfulness and love of your subjects on thursday june twenty eighth eighteen thirty eight the coronation ceremony took place in westminster abbey afterward the queen made a royal progress and was greeted by immense crowds of her people with the utmost loyalty and enthusiasm In her journal she described it as the proudest day of her life.

Mrs. Jameson, an onlooker, wrote of her as follows.

When she returned looking pale and tremulous, crowned and holding her sceptre in a manner and attitude which said, I have it, and none shall wrest it from me, even Carlisle, who was standing near me, uttered with emotion a blessing on her head.

I mean, it was just, like it was, it was the most old school tour I'd ev- I think I'd ever been on.

Um, and I did Glastonbury with Coldplay, and I did, um, Kensington Palace with Coldplay and stuff like that.

So I sort of, yeah, I did a bit of rock and roll touring, and then, uh, got into film special effects and became really well known for bullet hits and squibs and kind of high-energy explosions, um, you know, buildings and cars and big shootouts and, um, but also specifically sh- uh, shooting people safely.

And, uh, so yeah, worked for a double Oscar-winning guy called Neil Corbould for a long time.

She inherited an empire in flux, with Parliament slowly gaining power and a press hungry for news.

Within weeks of taking the oath, Victoria convened her first council in the Red Salon at Kensington Palace, a private exercise that set the tone for her reign.

That early council session showed how cautious she was about political engagement.

She listened more than she spoke and avoided overt patronage until later.

Mm

... how she was treating people at Kensington Palace.

Yeah, yeah.

When that started to come out, and I was told that she had gone to Windsor Castle for a tasting of some of the wedding canapes that were going to be served, and she was incredibly rude to one of the sous chefs.