Kensington Palace remembers Diana
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Many will be drawn to visit Kensington Palace, where the princess lived in apartments with husband Prince Charles after their marriage.
Visitors will likely be mesmerized by a display of Diana’s designer gowns – including the off-the-shoulder deep blue dress she wore dancing with John Travolta in 1985.
Also on display is a compelling photo exhibit by fashion photographer Mario Testino, shot for Vanity Fair three months before her death in a car crash in Paris. The laughing, relaxed Diana is charming, ingenuous, with her trademark touch of shyness.
Kensington Palace will no doubt draw crowds this summer. So it’s odd that the palace Web site offers very little mention of the exhibits. Same applies to the official palace guidebook, which gives just scant mention of her.
Clearly, the royal disdain, as portrayed in the movie “The Queen,” touches the truth. The royals would still like to disown Diana, but the public still adores her.
The guide who showed us into Kensington Palace gestured at the very long walkway leading to the entrance. “The flowers were 4 feet deep,” he said. “They removed them when they started to smell.”
The palace, of course, embodies more than three centuries of British history. This was London’s royal palace from the time of King William III and Queen Mary II at the end of the 17th century.
Crowns lived here until King George III moved to Buckingham Palace in 1760. After that it housed dukes, duchesses, princes and princesses.
And then there’s Diana. In the Testino photos, she is so vibrantly alive, she glows. Visitors look at the pictures and do not move away.
Testino has her wearing a simple evening gown, no jewelry, leaning casually on a couch, her hair tossed as carelessly as a girl’s.
“She looked so happy and fresh and sure of herself – it was just laughter and laughter and laughter,” Testino said of the shoot, according to the audio guide to the exhibit.
Upstairs in the palace, the state apartments are interesting and elegant, and there’s a Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection on display as well.
The palace gardens are extensive. The Orangery, originally a greenhouse, is a lovely place to have lunch.
But after lunch, as you walk the Kensington Gardens, you might find yourself looking for the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
We walked some distance trying to find it. Where might it be, we finally asked a man.
“Fountain? It’s more of a trough,” the man laughed, pointing the way.
We found the fountain and had to admit, it is more like a canal running through the grounds. Perhaps the idea is that kids will find it inviting to climb in, or sail boats on – a reflection of Diana’s love for children.