There is only a little time left this season to visit the delightful Kew Palace which closes for the Autumn and Winter months on 27th September.

Kew Palace is the smallest and most intimate of the royal palaces. The four-storey brick house was built c. 1631 by Samuel Fortrey, a merchant of Dutch origin, whose initials together with those of his wife Catherine, can be seen above the entrance. It is constructed of red bricks laid in a style known as Flemish bond, consisting of bricks arranged with sides and ends alternating. The gabled main front gives the house a Dutch appearance. Later alterations included the installation of sash windows to replace the original brick mullions and transforms.

Kew Palace was the favourite family home of King George III, Queen Charlotte and some of their 15 children. It is these figures and their stories that form the heart of any visit to the palace, as the drama of the royal family life is played out in these intimate rooms.

The setting for these stories and many more at the ornately decorated and furnished rooms, also home to unique objects belonging to the palace’s inhabitants including the remarkable doll’s house made by the daughters of King George III, the poignant waistcoat worn by King George in his final years and Queen Charlotte’s chair in which she died.

Kew Palace is open 10am to 5pm (tues-sun),
11am to 5pm (mon) until 27th September 2009.
Contact: Kew Palace,
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew,
Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB
Tel: 0844 482 7777 (from UK)
Tel: +44 (0)20 3166 6000 (from outside the UK)