A visit to Kensington Palace

Today a good friend and I visited Kensington Palace which has been home to many of our Royals: William and Mary, George ll and his wife Queen Caroline and, of course, Queen Victoria, amongst them. More recently, Princess Diana lived here and currently William and Kate have moved into Princess Margaret's former apartment in the private side of the palace.

My photo shows court dress at the time of George ll. All the ladies wore a mantua, an elaborate dress over whalebone hoops – some so wide that the courtiers had to walk sideways through doors to make their grand entrances! These rather ridiculous garments were, however, the perfect display of wealth. I imagine that they must have been extremely uncomfortable to wear and sitting down must have been almost impossible.

Not a brilliant photo, as, although visitors are permitted to take pictures anywhere, no flash is permitted and the lighting is mostly very low, to preserve the items on display.