London, England - A Private Tour of Kensington Palace

Last evening Kensington Palace invited 50 of its neighbors to an after hours cocktail party and private viewing of The King's State Apartments in conjunction with The Kensington Magazine. Over 250 people were turned away for this 'Meet the Neighbors' event, so I was very lucky to have been included (and to live two blocks from the palace). 

We started with wine and nibbles ... 

And learned some fun facts from the Head of Kensington Palace ...

Then we began our private tour of The King's State Apartments ...

We all ascended the King's Grand Staircase ...

These little characters were all illuminated in the lanterns lining the staircase ...

The first series of rooms we visited were covered in massive tapestries and had the most amazing hand-painted ceilings ...

Then we entered the Cupola Room where the King entertained with live music and dancing ...

The ceiling was a magnificent optical illusion, even though it was entirely flat, it was painted to resemble the ceiling in the Pantheon in Rome ...

 From there we went into the Drawing Room, where the King would host card games ...

And on into his private study, which now houses royal period dress ... 

Quite an elaborate window treatment ...

We also saw the King's Coronation robe, lined in ermine fur with a train that took six boys to carry ...

The last room of the King's State Apartments was perhaps the most grand and impressive. The ceiling depicted one of the many scenes from Homer's Odyssey ... 

 We descended the King's Grand Staircase again and returned to the cocktail party. It was such a privilege to be in the Palace after hours and have it all to ourselves.