London Places: Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace is famous for being the home of Princess Diana.

And of course it's the new London home of Wills, Kate & baby Prince George.

It also has an epic garden. Oh, & it was the birthplace of Queen Victoria.

Jenny & I got to visit last year. It was one of my favourite things we did while we were bashing around London.

We kept our eyes open for Kate & Lupo while we were there, but they must have been in Wales that day.

It was typical drizzly grey London weather, but check out those flowers.

While we were at Kensington Palace there was a special display about Queen Victoria, which walked through her whole life.

Love affair with Albert, throne by age 18, nine kids, years of grief & seclusion, England's beloved monarch, etcetera. It was awesome.

Kensington Palace also has a few of Princess Diana's dresses. And Princess Diana wallpaper, naturally.

And here's the gate where everyone laid flowers & cards back in 1997 when Diana died.

I'd say Kensington Palace is totally worth the cost of admission.

And not a bad London home for Prince George.

6 Reasons the Queen Is More Fun Than You Think She Is

We all love the Queen, pretty much. But she does have a kind of austere reputation... duty & tradition & all that.

Remember the opening of the Olympics in London? She came out looking all grim, & everyone kept saying "Why can't she just smile?"

To which I said -- Her Majesty the Queen of England just invited James Bond into Buckingham Palace, & then allowed a stunt double dressed like her to be flung from a helicopter while the whole world watched. She doesn't have to smile, she just proved she has a killer sense of humour.

Here are 6 reasons The Queen is more fun than you think she is...

1. Her impressions.

The Queen is apparently known among her family & friends for doing hilarious & spot on impressions of people she meets. I bet she's even better than Jimmy Fallon.

The Queen is the ultimate in the famous British reserve. But maybe she also knows a thing or two about the good ol' dry British sense of humour.

2. She laughs when she shouldn't & says what she wants.

Once in a while she seems to just do what she wants. When she saw the exhibit of Kate's wedding dress, where the veil & tiara were hovering creepily over the dress, she just said "That's horrid." Which it was.

3. She's met everyone who you think is interesting.

She has met just about every leader, pop star, & dictator from the last 60 years. Oh, J.K. Rowling? Nelson Mandela? Lady Gaga? Idi Amin? NBD.

Imagine the things she seen, the places she's been. She must be the most fascinating dinner party guest ever.

4. That time that guy broke into Buckingham.

Do you know this story? A guy literally broke into Buckingham Palace & got into the Queen's bedroom. She stayed calm & just chatted with him, until he was relaxed enough to just let her ring for tea. Eventually someone realized something was happening (maybe it was when the Queen asked for two cups of tea when she was supposedly alone?) & they came & got the guy.

She definitely proves that she can keep a cool head in crazy situations. I think just dealing with her weird life must take a certain amount of levity.

5. She occasionally busts out a seriously charming smile.

She may not smile all the time, but when she does it is charming.

6. That James Bond stunt.

Danny Boyle was actually planning on using Helen Mirren or another actress to play the Queen for the Olympics Opening Ceremony. But the Queen volunteered to do it herself.

(Watch the whole crazy thing here.)

I mean, seriously, guys. The Queen is more fun than you think she is. Right?

Images of the Queen via Daily Mail, here, NYDailyNews, here, & Telegraph

London Places: Buckingham Palace

When Jenny visited me in England last summer, we got to spend a week staying with a friend in London. We went out every day & wandered around our favourite London places (all the old haunts, as Anne Shirley would say) & discovered a few new ones too.

And of course, what's a visit to London without a trip (or 2, or 3) to see Buckingham Palace.

Even the details on the gates & statues are regal:

There are beefeaters:

And the rather imposing Queen Victoria:

The Union Jack was flying that day, rather than the Royal Standard, so the Queen was not in residence.

Before 1997, the flagpole would just be empty when it wasn't flying the Royal Standard. But in the days after Diana died, reporters were suddenly asking why the Queen didn't have a flag at half mast over Buckingham.

The reason was simple: she wasn't there, so there was no flag to lower. Even when a king died, the flag had never been lowered.

But after a few days of heated press attention, the Queen broke with tradition & on the day of Diana's funeral the Union Jack was seen at half mast over the palace. There's been a flag flying there ever since.

Not all the Queen's guards wear red uniforms & furry hats:

But some of them do:

Here's the balcony where we occasionally see the royal family, during weddings & Trooping the Colour:

The thing I like about Buckingham Palace, the Mall, & the whole area around it is that it always seems kind of peaceful, a slightly calmer oasis right in the middle of bustling London. Not a bad place to live, I think.

As city homes go, you could do worse.

The Prince of Cambridge

In honour of the newborn royal baby, here's a little family tree, in baby pictures.

The Great-great-grandparents of The Prince of Cambridge:

King George VI (Bertie of King's Speech fame) with the Queen Mum & new Princess Elizabeth 

The Great-grandparents of the Prince of Cambridge:

The Duke of Edinburgh & The Queen with Prince Charles

The Grandparents of The Prince of Cambridge:

Prince Charles & Princess Diana with Prince William


And of course, the parents of The Prince of Cambridge:

Will & Kate with the new royal baby

If you want more royal pictures, The British Monarchy happens to have Instagram.

And here are a few good videos about the royal baby from the BBC:

William & Kate present baby prince

Bucklebury residents delighted for Duchess of Cambridge

RAF Anglesey colleagues congratulate Flt Lt Wales & the Duchess of Cambridge

Charming Royal baby pictures via DailyMail, Mirror,  here & The British Monarchy's facebook page.

Top 5 Books on The Royals

In honour of Wills, Kate & the soon-to-be-born Royal baby, here are my Top 5 Books on The Royals.

#1 The Making of a Royal Romance

This is the book to read if you want to know all about Kate's major in college, Harry's military career, & Wills' clubbing days.

Don't you think it must be hard to be a young royal? Or any royal really. I know they're rich & famous & there are some massive perks. But just imagine having absolutely no choice over your life or career, & being required to live two blocks from your parents even when you're in your sixties. Must be a bit brutal sometimes.

#2 The Young Victoria

If you liked the movie Young Victoria, try the book too. I bought this one in the Kensington Palace gift shop, so I figure it must be legit.

Victoria is everywhere you go in London... statues, portraits, train stations named after her. She was only 18 when she became Queen & she had 9 kids with Prince Albert before he died at 42. All while, you know... ruling the country.

#3 The Diana Chronicles

Princess Diana managed to capture the attention of basically everyone who was alive in the eighties & nineties. This book has it's gossip-column-y moments, but it's actually pretty insightful & manages to reveal Diana as a charming & deeply flawed girl.

(Have you seen previews for the film Diana that's coming out with Naomi Watts as Princess Diana?)

#4 Prince William: Born to Be King

Get to know good ol' Wills, the man born to be king. (Just to clear up any confusion out there: Charles will be king first. Then after Charles, there will be King Will & Queen Kate.)

#5 The Diamond Queen

Did you know Elizabeth was in a treehouse in Africa when she got the news that her dad had died, making her Queen?

And do you know what the Queen actually does all day? (Spoiler alert: She's a crazy hard worker.)

Have you heard about the time Windsor Castle caught on fire?

(Update: I just figured out that in the States this book is called The Real Elizabeth.)

So those are my Top 5 Books on The Royals, to get you kick-started if you want to learn a little more about the lovely, eccentric British Monarchy.

Top 5 Books on The Royals images via ABCNews, Barnes & Noble & MirrorUK