Kenchanted at the Palace

The Kensington Royal Apartments have been transformed into The Enchanted Palace—now fit for seven secretive princesses, a bevy of frocks stitched by Britain’s finest couturiers, and a feral child.

Sounds unorthodox? That’s because it is.  Loosely speaking, The Enchanted Palace is a gothic fashionista shadow show and curio installation guaranteed to thrill those questers looking for a little sass in their history. But if your Saturday’s free and you’re looking for a traditional, hushed-tone, palace walk-through, keep your tail feather intact and head for the hills–we don’t want you.

It was time for a shake-up, anyway.  While the Enchanted Palace is open for discovery, the rest of the palace is undergoing a £12 million reno and restoration.  And from the rubble and wreckage of this project, so the story goes, stories from seven of Kensington’s princesses have been unleashed.

And what juicy stories! Made juicier, as seems to be the case with princesses, by fab clothing. Each princess’ trials and tribulations are told throughout the palace’s rooms, and reinterpreted through fabric concoctions by Britain’s top designers. Vivienne Westwood, the grand dame of punk couture herself, illustrates the high-spirited Princess Charlotte’s wild life in her “Dress for a Rebellious Princess.” Rising star William Tempest, on the other hand, painstakingly created the “Dress for Dreaming of Freedom” from thousands of origami cranes the colour of robin’s eggs, bringing Queen Victoria’s restrictive Kensington childhood to life.

While it may sound a tad highbrow, the exhibit isn’t just about capital-F Fashion and capital-H History. There is also some capital-E Engagement with visitors, especially the youngsters.  Upon entry, guests to the Palace receive a map of the exhibit and told they are on a quest to discover the identities of the princesses whose stories the palace has kept secret.  A curious set of performance artists from the WildWorks collective parades around singing and miming various discovery actions.  These were an interesting addition, but need to be better road-marked because loads of visitors were baffled by their presence.

The Historical Royal Palaces deserves applause for choosing to showcase Kensington’s less famous female occupants, giving only a brief hat-tip to the late Princesses Margaret and Diana in the albeit spell-binding Room of Dancing Princesses.  Here, clothing and accessories from both princesses are positioned as if in mid dance within a dimly-lit room from which birch trees sprout from Aubusson rugs.  These famous dames, while celebrated, do not steal the show, a welcome change from the touristy cash-grabs that are often associated with “preserving the memory” of Diana and Margaret.  Insert sigh of relief here.

And I haven’t forgotten the feral child, but some things need to stay secret.  Suffice it to say, he’s probably the first one to have a website.  You’ll just have to visit the exhibit to learn more; it’s well worth it.

The Enchanted Palace runs at Kensington Palace, Hyde Park from 10-18h daily until January 2012.
Adults get in for £12, concessions for £11