FAMOUS LONDON SIGHTS - KENSINGTON PALACE
Among the famous London sights I have long wanted to tour is Kensington Palace. Tom and I met in August of 1997 during a tour of London, and I had hoped to visit the palace at that time since it was then the residence of Princess Diana.
Unfortunately, time ran out for us to tour it, and only a few weeks later time ran out for Princess Diana. Her life was indeed a "Candle In The Wind".
We were pleased to discover that our hotel, the Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt (once the London home of the Vanderbilt family), was a pleasant walk to Kensington Gardens which is adjacent to Hyde Park. Of the many London gardens, the one attached to Kensington Palace is one of the most popular. Hyde Park is the setting for several Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and one of the most famous London parks.
A leisurely stroll through the gardens brought us to the gates of the Kensington Palace. We were surprised and pleased to discover that the palace would also be treating us to one of the very famous London sights of the 1980s and 1990s: an elegant collection of evening wear belonging to Princess Diana was on display. I remember well the Princess of Wales (Diana) wearing the elegant blue-black gown (on the far left of the photo below)to a state dinner at the Whitehouse where she danced with John Travolta. The ink blue silk velvet dress took the highest bid at a charity auction arranged by Princess Diana, netting a wopping $225,000 which broke the previous Christie’s record of $145,000 for a garment.
My favorite gown is the elegant creation below. It is typical of Diana's ascent as a style setter. The gracious Grecian (or perhaps Mesopotamian) neckline adds to its distinctive beauty and sophistication.
Earlier in her reign, she wore fashions that could be typlified as 'fairy tale princess' style. The display above is a selection of her 1980's gowns following her marriage to Prince Charles on July 29,1981. As she matured, Diana employed well known designers to create sophisticated fashions for her. Throughout the 1990s she was known for her elegant, and often trend setting wardrobe. 
The room pictured above in Kensington Palace displays the extremely antique bed where Mary of Modena, wife of James II, gave birth in 1688. 
Pictured above are some artistic details from Kensington Palace
KENSINGTON GARDENS - One of the many beautiful London gardens
Kensington Gardens and the Round Lake from a palace window.
As we entered Kensington Gardens we followed this path, and I decided to sit and enjoy the unexpected 78 F (!) weather while Tom took garden "portraits". We were so glad we included this leisurely afternoon on our short list of famous London sights. We took several floral closeups, but the picture on the right is one of our favorites.
Queen Victoria was devastated at the death of Prince Albert, her beloved husband, of small pox in 1861 at the age of 42. The Albert Memorial was completed in 1868, formally opened to the public in 1872 and the statue of Albert "seated" in 1875. The exquisite architecture is a fitting memorial to Prince Albert who was Queen Victoria's advsior, was deeply involved in improving the life of the citizenry, headed a commission to encourage the fine arts, planned and landscaped the royal home on the Isle of Wight and was loved by the English people as well as by his wife, the Queen. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic revival style...and is 176 feet tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000.[Wikipedia]
Kensington Street Scenes Along The Way To Kensington Gardens
We love London architecture. Although we don't think it is on any list of famous London sights, the Church of Saint Stephen around the corner from our hotel, arrested our attention. The stunted tower in the foreground makes it different from any churches we've seen.
Wisteria is so romantic, and it is everywhere in Kensington...at least in April when we were there for our second honeymoon. The row house on the right was midway on the street pictured on the left. I Photoshopped it into a painting which gave it even more of a dark vintage look and lighted the windows.
Traveling Photographer By Rail and Road
The striking yellow fields on the left were a common site along the road as we headed to the site of our first honeymoon in Devon.
Mysterious Stonehenge on the right is an awesome place to visit. . We spent a couple of hours viewing the monoliths on our honeymoon in 1999. This time Tom just snapped a picture as the traffic slowed while we were on the motorway heading south from London. How can you access the latest updates and additions to our pages featuring Pictures of England and famous London sights to Photoshop Tips to the biographies of Famous Photographers such as Ansel Adams to inspirational devotionals based on our photographs of Gods Art? Click on the RSS feed at the top left of this page to have our new pages and updates sent right to your desktop! Or access our Blog-ography page for the latest updates.
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