DUKE'S NEW HOME

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23574, 7 February 1940, Page 14

DUKE'S NEW HOME

KENSINGTON PALACE MANY ROYAL ASSOCIATIONS [FROM OUII OWN COKHKSI'ONDENT] . LONDON, Jan. 12 The Duke and puchess of Kent will, it is understood; make their home in Kensington Palace in the coming yeafj, says the Daily Telegraph. The move will nob bo made for some months, because of the extensive improvements which are to be caj-fied out.. These wjlj include new furnishing, modern lighting, np-to-dato bath rooms, a new method of heating and an electric lift. in making thp decision to occupy Kensington Palace the puke, it is believed, is fulfilling a frequentlyexpressjed wish of bis great-aunt, Princess Louise Duchess of-Argyll, who lived in the Palace for many years until her death recently.The puke is the prin? cipill beneficiary under her will. Kensington Palace, which is Crown' property, is full of llp.val associations. It was here that Queen Victoria, daughr' tfir of Kdward Augustus, Duke of Kent, i}i|d tjio Puchess of Ki'nt, wa§ born in 1819, and where in 18:17 she learned the new« of her accession to the throne. The Palace has not been occupied by a Puke of Kent since those days. One of the most historic: parts of the Palace is the "lost staircase" down which the young Princess Victoria walked in her night attire to hear that she had become Queen. v lt has been known as the*-"lost staircase" since it was cut off from the State rooms to which it gaye access, V, •" ; - 'r-