DISHING THE DIRT AT KENSINGTON PALACE

Kensington Palace and the Golden Gate

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.

The palace gardens

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

HONORING THE DEAD ON ALL SOULS NIGHT

Mountain View Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Vancouver, in operation since 1887.  It covers 106 acres, home to 92,000 graves and 145,000 interred remains.  The cemetery is located in what was once farmland, in the area of Fraser Street between 31st and 43rd Ave.  Buried beneath the ground here are everyone from war heroes to sea disaster and slide victims and victims of the worst transit accident in BC when a transit streetcar crashed in 1909 killing 15 people.  There are wealthy people interred here as well as those who met their ends through violent or tragic means.

The wealthy include Henry O. Bell-Irving, a cannery owner and Yip Sang, a Chinese businessman.  But there are also grave of well known athletes:  Joe Fortes, a popular African/Canadian lifeguard and Harry Jerome, an Olympic runner.  The mother of poet Robert W. Service, Sarah Emily Service, is buried here along with murder victim Janet Smith, age 22, aka "The Scottish Nightingale". Her murder in 1924 was known as "The notorious Janet Smith Case" 

Burials are often grouped together according to religion or nationality or organization affiliations.  Other groups are paupers, and war vets including Canadian military graves.

On Saturday, Oct 29,  "All Souls Day",  the cemetery was open for visitors during the night.  Candles lit up the pathways and shrines were set up with candles and incense to honor the dead.  There was choir music,  the Carnival band, and music by a Asian musicians playing instruments made of bamboo.

It wasn't at all spooky wandering the candle-lit pathways.  Occasionally there was a pyre burning in a cauldron or a piece of timber.  There were adults and children, many of them visiting specific grave sites.  My friends and I wandered the labyrinth of tombstones and pathways, stopping now and then to light candles and read the inscriptions left on the shrines. 

It was a tasteful and nostalgic way of celebrating the Hallowe'en weekend.  Inside the cemetery office building tables were set up where you could make your own votive candles with materials supplied including flowers. 

I thought of my many friends and family members who have passed, several of them just this year.  It was a good way to remember and honor their memory.  I've been on the Ghost Tours of Vancouver bus trips which also stop at this cemetery and focus on the more sinister side of the graveyard sharing gruesome tales of old murders and accidents.  But wandering the tombstones by candlelight, listening to music, lighting votive offerings, seemed a much more meaningful way to celebrate the Hallowe'en weekend.