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Everyone enjoys a bit of gossip, especially when it concerns famous people. I was surprised to learn, on my recent visit to Kensington Palace in London, that there is no end of gossip associated with the British royal family. And I don't mean recent 'gossip' as reported in newspapers and magazine after such tragic events as the untimely death of Princess Diana or the antics of Prince Harry and Sarah Ferguson. The gossip heard at Kensington goes way back to the first royal inhabitants.


Kensington Palace has been a royal resident since the late 1600's when it was purchased by King William II and Queen Mary II after they assumed the throne as joint monarchs in 1689. Before that it was known as Nottingham House, originally a Jacobean mansion built in 1605.

There's a lot of tragedy in the stories of Kensington Palace too. Sadly, Queen Mary II died of smallpox in the palace in 1694 and just a few years later, King William III suffered a fall from a horse and died shortly after. Then the palace became the residence of Queen Anne whose life was fraught with health issue and unhappy relationships. By the age of 30 she was lame and corpulent. She had 18 children but only two survived past the age of three and many were stillborn. One room in the palace shows all the little chairs representing "Queen Anne's Hopes"


In 1710, in the Queen's State Apartments (also known as the Queen's Closet), Queen Anne and her best friend Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough had a huge argument. The Duchess was jealous of the attention the queen had shown to another woman and actually accused them of having a lesbian relationship. After that gossip circulated the Duchess was stripped of her official duties and the two women never spoke to each other again.

There is a "Whispering Room" in the palace where you can actually 'hear' the whispered gossip of all the royal goings-on.  Lean your ear close to the horns of the Victrola and you'll hear it: "Psssss pssss...did you hear...?"  Quite amusing!



Queen Victoria was born in the palace in 1819 and lived there much of her life. At the entrance is a beautiful statue of her on a pedestal. 



And you can visit several of the rooms she occupied from the nursery to the Privy Council room where she signed her official documents upon become Queenon June 20, 1837.


You will see the piano that her beloved consort Prince Albert used to play music he had composed for her. There is also a display of her clothing, including the formal mourning clothes she and her children wore after dear "Bertie" died.



Death and tragedy are as much part of the palace as the titillating gossip.  We all remember that sad day on August 31, 1997 when "the People's Princess", Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Within hours of the news the golden gates at the south side of the palace were covered in floral tributes and in the following days ever bit of railing around the palace was covered with flowers.




As you enter the Vestibule of the palace there is a beautiful photo of Diana and embroidered pillows of her as well as William and Kate who will reside there once the new renovations are completed.



(The palace is divided into two parts - the historic state apartments which you can tour, and the private living quarters of the royal family.) There is a Diana Memorial Playground in memory of the late Princess located next to the palace.

I really enjoyed the brief visit I made this summer. I didn't have as much time as is needed to see everything because I had a plane to catch.  But I'd definitely recommend this as an interesting destination if you happen to be visiting London.

Check out details for opening times etc at www.hrp.org.uk

This is the last part of my Seattle Adventure with a few more photos and stories about what I saw and did on my two-day visit there.

Seattle Washington is a neighbour city of Vancouver but although I've often passed through, sometimes spent a few hours browsing or shopping, I've never actually stayed any length of time. I went down on a Friday evening on the Greyhound and returned on the Sunday evening so it gave me a fair amount of time to sight-see.  My main purpose had been to see the King Tut Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center and also to browse around the Pike's Market.  It turned out my lovely five star hotel was centrally located so I could walk to many of the places I'd come to see and a short cab ride to others.

Seattle is a major coastal seaport located on Puget Sound. The name, "Seattle" comes from an Indian chief whose people once occupied that territory.  The city has around 620,778 residents (as of 2011) and is the largest city on the West Coast north of San Francisco.  Metropolitan Seattle has over 3.5 million population.  Back in the early days it was a logging town but by the late 19th century it was a commercial and shipbuilding center and a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush.

By the early 1900's the city was booming and it was one of the largest cities in the country. In 1913 firearm and typewriter magnate Lyman Cornelius Smith built a 489 ft. tower, at the time the tallest building west of the Mississippi. The thirty-eight storey building remained the tallest building on the West Coast until the Space Needle was built in 1962.


I enjoyed a tour through the Seattle Underground and the historic area around Pioneer Square where there's many heritage buildings. You'll see the old along with the new in Seattle making it an interesting city-scape.


That night there was a Blues band, Gin Creek, playing � four guys and a woman vocalist.  I took in a couple of sets then meandered back to my hotel.  There'd be lots more adventures the next day.

I too some time to explore inside the market area where there were a number of amusing statues depicting the gold miners as well as  my favorite, a pirates shop.  I just had to go in there and buy myself a couple of pirate souvenirs. 








Inside the little mall there were also a couple of restaurants and some other small shops.


I decided to go back that evening to have a feast of oysters at one of the sea-food restaurants at the Pier. I had been entranced on my first evening in Seattle by the brightly lit Big Wheel so it was fun explore the Miner's Landing by night.


I chose Elliot's Oyster House as the place to have my feed of fresh Pacific Coast oysters. It had a large selection of various kinds of oysters as well as other seafood. Raw oysters seemed to be the favorite choice, and there were dozens of varieties to choose from. 

The oysters are kept smothered in ice and are picked fresh every day.  The staff shucks the oysters at the counter and prepares the trays of customer's selections.





And a crisp warm bun made with basil served with fresh whipped butter.  And of course, a glass of white wine!  Mmmm, delicious! 

Elliott's Oyster House at Pier 56
www.elliottsoysterhouse.com

NEXT:  My Excellent Seattle Weekend Part III:  BEER & CLAMS AT PIKE'S BAR