To mark the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth at Kensington Palace, operators and group organisers have the opportunity to feature two new themes on their tours.
Victoria – A royal childhood, a permanent representation and Victoria – Woman and crown, a temporary exhibition will both open on 24 May 2019 and be included in admission. Visitors will discover the public and private life and image of this global figure.
Victoria – Woman and crown
Explore Queen Victoria’s private life behind her carefully-managed public image in Victoria: Woman and Crown, a major new exhibition at Kensington Palace.
The new display, created to mark the 200th anniversary of Victoria’s birth, will re-examine how she balanced her role as a wife and mother with that of Queen of an expanding empire.
Victoria learned that she was to become Queen when she was 18 years old, while still living at her childhood home of Kensington Palace. She held her first council meeting in the palace’s Red Saloon just a few hours later.
Victoria: Woman and Crown will re-introduce Victoria as a young woman and explore her roles as a queen, wife, mother and empress. Rare survivals from her private wardrobe – including a simple cotton petticoat and a pair of fashionable silver boots – provide a stark contrast to the black gowns she was so famous for wearing later in life.
The display will also explore Victoria’s complex love affair with India, from the story behind the Koh-i-noor diamond to her friendship with the deposed Maharajah Duleep Singh. Examples of her personal diaries carefully inscribed in Urdu will form a centrepiece of the exhibition.
Victoria – A royal childhood
Discover the story of Princess Victoria, the young girl destined to be queen, in the rooms where she was born and raised at Kensington Palace.
Opening on 24 May 2019, the 200th anniversary of Victoria’s birth, this new permanent exhibition will explore how an indulged young princess blossomed into the independent and iconic monarch we remember.
The new display will include remarkable objects relating to Victoria’s early years – including a poignant scrapbook of mementos created by her German governess, Baroness Lehzen, which goes on public display for the first time.
