KENSINGTON PALACE 87 



long and most eventful reign, and here she held her first 

 Court. But she never actually resided there after coming to 

 the throne. In fact George II. was the last English sovereign 

 to make any permanent use of Kensington as a royal residence. 

 For it was within a year or two of the accession of George III. 

 that Buckingham House was purchased by the Crown, and 

 became, and has ever since been used as, the London palace 

 of the Sovereign. Their Royal Highnesses Princess Louise, 

 Duchess of Argyll, and Princess Beatrice, Princess Henry of 

 Battenberg, both have, at the present time, a London residence 

 in the old palace at Kensington. 



A most interesting plan by Rocque, dated 1736, shows 

 that comparatively few changes were made between his time 

 and that in which Kensington Gardens were thrown open to 

 the public. Before that privilege was granted, they were, of 

 course, the private pleasure-grounds of royalty, but permission 

 to visit them began to be given, for Saturdays, by George II. 

 and Queen Caroline, who generally went to Richmond on 

 that day. And when in 1760 the Court ceased to reside at 

 Kensington, the public was admitted daily during the summer 

 months. A few years later the time was further extended, 

 and Sir Richard Phillips in his Modern London, published in 

 1804, says they were open to the public from spring to 

 autumn. Thirty-five years afterwards, the gardens were " open 

 all the year round, to all respectably dressed persons from 

 sunrise to sunset." It is therefore to Queen Victoria, with 

 her natural kindness of disposition and her particular attach- 

 ment to the place of her birth and the home of her youth, 

 that the privilege of visiting these gardens, as well as those at 

 Hampton Court and Kew, is mainly due. Privileges which, 

 for the pleasure and recreation given to thousands of her 

 grateful subjects, it is impossible to over-estimate. 



About 1840 Kensington Gardens were greatly improved 

 by being better drained, turf being re-laid, and a large number 

 of trees and shrubs planted. At this time, too, most of the 

 old high walls not removed by Bridgeman were taken down. 



