Ethan and I both purchased London Passes, a tourist pass that gives access to over 60 attractions in and around London. They can be purchased for multiple days and allow you to go to £90 worth of sights each day. We bought two-day passes and made a list of our top sights, although some proved too impractical to do within the two-day window. However, today we tackled the Banqueting Hall of Whitehall Palace, Westminster Abbey, Royal Albert Hall, and Kensington Palace.
We picked up our Passes in Trafalgar Square and, as we headed to our first stop, we stopped into St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I was very excited to visit the church as it has a very strong music history. Most notably to me is the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, a conductorless string orchestra. The group is named for its first performance in the church. Since then, they have achieved musically and professionally. You may have heard them without knowing, as they recorded the soundtracks to Amadeus and The English Patient. I know them from a recording of Mozart's Requiem in D minor that is one of my most listened to pieces of music. Below is the gorgeous organ in the church.
Ethan and I then headed to the Banqueting Hall. The Hall was once part of Europe's largest palace complex, larger than Versailles or the Vatican. The Palace, designed by Inigo Jones, was built for Henry VIII and was constantly expanding; the palace was made up of more than 1,500 rooms. Sadly, the vast majority of the palace was destroyed in 1698 by a massive fire and only the Banqueting Hall survived.
In 1635, Charles I commissioned Peter Paul Rubens to decorate the massive ceiling of the Banqueting Hall. The central painting of the nine shows the apotheosis of James I, the father of Charles I. The paintings focus on the accomplishments of James I and his rule, which Charles had depicted was being full of wisdom and good virtue. The central painting shows James I being brought to heaven by virtues such as Justice, Faith, Religion, along with the goddess of wisdom, Minerva. Other paintings show James uniting England and Scotland and allegories for temperance and abundance. They are massive masterpieces by Rubens and the only ceiling paintings by the artist still in situ.
The Banqueting Hall was used for masques until the Rubens paintings were added. After that point, the room was used by the kings of England for official purposes, especially the meeting of foreign ambassadors. The ambassadors would have proceeded towards the king in his throne.
The Banqueting Hall also witnessed the execution of Charles I, who was beheaded just outside the building. After his fall from power, the building saw use by Oliver Cromwell, was turned into a church for later royals, then a museum, and now stands a historic site and function venue.
On our way to Westminster Abbey, we stopped to see two members of the Blues and Royals monitoring the Horse Guards Parade. Only the monarch is allowed to drive through the central arch, which leads to the site of the 16th century jousting tiltyard. The site is used for major events involving the British military, such as the Trooping of the Colour.
There is no photography allowed in Westminster Abbey, so I don't have any pictures to share. However, Ethan and I got to see the tombs of many British monarchs and notables. There are far too many to name, but I know Ethan's favorite (even without asking him): the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I. I think my favorite moment was accidentally coming across the tomb of Muzio Clementi, a renowned pianist and composer who wrote many delightful sonatinas. Sadly, Westminster is hurt by its status as a tourist destination and it's nearly impossible to really enjoy or experience the Abbey. Instead, most of the time is spent getting pushed through crowds of visitors with audioguides glued to their ears. Still beautiful and stunning, but I think I've seen more beautiful churches on this trip.
After lunch, we headed through fairly heavy rain to Royal Albert Hall. The building is beautiful. At the time, it had the largest unsupported roof in the world and to this day, the roof is unsupported and has been in place since it was installed.
Sadly, we were not supposed to take pictures for most of the tour (I accidentally took some in an area that I thought was okay, but apparently not). However, Ethan and I had an hour long, informative tour through the building. We got to listen to part of a rehearsal for Proms, which is ongoing, see the royal box, and the private room for the royal family. We also went up into the gallery at the top of the theatre, which gave great views of the orchestra rehearsing and how they've adjusted the ceiling to be more acoustic. All around, it was a really fascinating tour of a beautiful venue.
From Royal Albert Hall, we went to Kensington Palace, the home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The palace has been a residence for British royalty since the 17th century, with its purchase by William III and Mary. Now the palace is part private residence to the royals and part museum focusing on the history of the royals and their connections to the house.
One exhibit of the palace focuses on the fashion of the royal women, by looking at pieces worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, the Queen's late sister, and Diana, Princess of Wales. The dress above was worn by Queen Elizabeth in the 1950s on a diplomatic trip.
This Indian inspired gown was worn by Princess Margaret to a fancy dress party in the 1970s.
Diana, Princess of Wales, wore this red dress during a royal tour of Saudi Arabia in 1986.
Other portions of the museum were dedicated to earlier monarchs, especially King George II and Queen Caroline, the ruling royals to live in Kensington Palace. The house served both public and private functions, all in a wonderfully decadent style worthy of the British royal family. In one room, used for balls, projectors played dancing men and women against some of the walls.
The King's Gallery had commanding views of Kensington Gardens, but the art might have distracted from the view. Paintings by the likes of Tintoretto and Vasari covered walls throughout the palace, and the King's gallery had two massive Tintorettos.
The queen's portion of the palace was equally stunning, although in possibly a less grand way. It felt more homely, if a palace can ever be described in that way. This makes sense, as the rooms were much more private than those of the kings. The Queen's Bedroom was the probably the sight of at least the death of two British Queens, Mary and Anne.
The largest portion of the palace is dedicated to the life of Queen Victoria, who was born and grew up in Kensington Palace. It was even here where she was told she was queen and held her first privy council meeting. The dress above is from Victoria's early reign, when she had just been happily married and had her first of nine children.
Much of the exhibit is dedicated to the relationship between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Both were accomplished pianists and singers and Albert seemed to enjoy composing a great deal. He wrote quite a few pieces dedicated to and about Queen Victoria, including the one pictured above. Victoria loved to hear him sing them to her.
This is a locket, very much in style during Victoria's reign. It contains photographs of Victoria and Albert and lockets of their hair. Often the lockets of hair are symbols of mourning, which dominated much of Victoria's life and reign. Albert died twenty-four years into Victoria's sixty-three year reign and she never recovered.
It is often said that Victoria only wore black after the death of Albert. Though this is probably not true, almost all depictions of her show here in almost all black attire. This portrait of Victoria at age 80 shows her still in mourning clothes and looking rather forlorn. However, it was one of her favorite depictions of herself, stating that the artist had never painted a better portrait of her.
Queen Victoria was interested in arts beyond music. She started painting when she was young and here are some watercolor sketches of a sunset she painted. Quite a multitalented queen.
Although we didn't get to meet any royals, Kensington was truly fascinating and beautiful. Sadly, we got drenched going there and leaving. As we made our way back to our hotel on the tube, we heard increasing announcements about platforms shutting down due to flooding. It seems we picked one of the heaviest days of rain London has seen in a while to do lots of sightseeing. But what a successful day we had!
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