Depart by coach from Coventry, Bedworth or Nuneaton and travel to London. We will drop you off at Kensington Palace. From here there will be time for shopping and sightseeing. Be sure to return to the Palace where timed admission has been booked. Your driver will notify you of the timed admission.
The Victoria Exhibition
Victoria, who ruled from 1837 to 1901, was the nation’s longest-serving monarch until Queen Elizabeth II overtook her record in 2015.
Her initially idyllic childhood became governed by the strict rules of the so-called Kensington System when it looked likely she would become the heiress presumptive. She was kept under constant surveillance and isolated from the company of other children at the instruction of her mother the Duchess of Kent and her father’s former equerry John Conroy.
The young princess escaped into a fantasy world of story writing, doll making and drawing inspired by her love of opera and ballet.
As well as the new family-friendly route of rooms examining her childhood, an exhibition in the palace’s Pigott Gallery will consider the woman behind the public monarch, and re-examine Victoria’s later life and legacy.
Rare surviving pieces from the 19th century monarch’s wardrobe will be displayed at the palace for the first time – including a simple cotton petticoat dated to around the time of her marriage, and a fashionable pair of silver boots.
Return back to the Midlands after visiting the Palace.