Domicile Of Royal Ladies

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 4

Domicile Of Royal Ladies

Kensington Palace. By Derek Hudson. Peter Davies. 130 pp. Blblography, Index. Within the modest compass of 130 pages the author has embodied the history of a palace that has been the domicile of many Royal ladies during the last 250 years. Kensington House was first designated “palace" when it was purchased from; the Earl of Nottingham ini 1689 (for 18,000 guineas) by King William 111, who, being a martyr to asthma decided that the country air of Ken-; sington would benefit his i health. In order to be in easy touch with Whitehall he cut a “new way” through Hyde Park, part of which is known to us at “Rotten Row” (Route du Roi) and he and his wife (and joint-ruler), Queen Mary immediately embarked upon great enlargements of the mansion. Sir Christopher Wren was en-; gaged to undertake the design and “added four new blocks or ‘pavilions’.” A fire which threatened the building in 1691 “By the Diligence of the Foot Guards was gotten under Foot” Subsequent fires over the centuries also failed to do much damage, until an incendiary bomb (and later a flying bomb) in the last war did greatly impair the structure. It is however ,the human dramas and comedies which have been enacted within the walls of this Royal residence which give this bOok especial charm. Queen Anne lived much at Kensington after her accession in 1702, and it was here that the final dramatic break between “Mrs Morley” (the Queen) and “Mrs Freeman" (the fiery Duchess of Marlborough) took place. Queen Anne also established the famous Orangery as part of a long since vanished “Upper Garden," and lemons were stin growing there as late as 1820. The troubled histories of the early Hanoverian kings, who invariably disliked and distrusted their eldest sons, were partly played out in Kensington Palace which was the favourite home of King George II and his Queen, Caroline of Ansbach—one of the more forceful characters who have been among its residents. George Ill’s eccentric and controversial sons all, at some time or other, took refuge at their Kensington home from the asthma which racked many of the Royal Family. When Edward, Duke of Kent, found himself com pelled through the death oi Princes* Charlotte, heiress tc the throne, to abandon his morganatic wife Madame de Laurent, and marry a woman of royal blood, the most sig nificant event in the histon of Kensington Palace was te follow. The widowed Princess Victoria of Leiningen became Duchess of Kent in 1818, a’ne

rher daughter, Princess Vic-il . toria, was born within the a , precincts a year later. The t Duke of Kent died before his 1 daughter was a year old, and a ’ in her later years Queen Vic- I ’ toria confessed that her chil- i 1 hood was “rather melan- ■ choly." This statement has no ] bearing on her physical sur- 0 ' roundings, to which she was c ! always much attached, but to j maternal dominance, and r '■what was much worse, her r ' mother’s complete subser- s ' vience to one of the greatest r •'rascals who ever enriched r 1 himself at the expense of a j ; I royal patroness. As the direr?- t ’ tor of the Duchess’s house- c ' hold this unscruplous adven- c 8 turer sought by every means j I to compel the Princess, s j when she was only sixteen, to i appoint him as her private j 1 secretary. With considerable j • firmness of character she t ' stoutly refused in the face of 1 ' threats and blandishments: ( r and though, during his open ( ' liaison with her mother, she ( ' became enstranged from the f ' latter they were reconciled j 8 after Conroy’s enforced re- ; ' signation from the Duchess’s < 8 household in 1839. j In the last 100 years Ken- s 1 sington Palace has become a | ’ haven for royal princesses, ] » and when Queen Victoria’s 1 5 cousin, the ebullient and ex- . 1 travagant Princess Mary '• Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, plunged her family embarras--1 singly into debt she was given j “ free quarters in the Palace to 1 e recoup he finances. In 1867 1 ® her daughter Princess May, i J the future wife of King i 1 George V, was born in the i r same room that had seen the i s birth of Queen Victoria, i c Queen Mary always retained i her love for the Palace, and i •* many years later gave some ' > of her own magnificent furni- ; - ture to adorn three rooms ' 1 which were thrown open to 1 J the public. Two daughters of : “ Queen Victoria, Princess : s

Louise, Duchess of Argyll, and Princess Beatrice of Battenberg both lived out their long widowhood in the palace, and recently Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, died within its walls. Kensington Palace has of late years been the subject of much controversy by successive governments, who have grudged the necessary money for war damage and repairs, regarding this noble structure as an appendage of royalty rather than as a national possession. Princess Margaret, who now lives there with her family, was content to devote some of her own money to this object, but re-decoration and repairs of such magnitude are not within the resources of private purses, however full. A good part of the palace is now the London Museum, but the loosening of the ties of tradition, coupled with the recurring crises in the British economy do not augur well for the future of this monument to history and progress. The author has a delightful touch, and his pages are innocent of gossip or innuendo about the great figures of the past. The lay-out and illustrations of the book form a fine background to a memorable work. With many of Britain’s famous regiments being disbanded or merged, publication of the Famous Regiments series by Hamish Hamilton is timely. Each volume describes the history of an individual Regiment, and each regiment, the- reader discerns, has carved a niche of its own in Britain’s history. The stories are brief, readable, and well illustrated. The series is edited by Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks, who contributes an introduction to each volume.