Kensington Palace — The Sunken Garden
The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in London is a formal Edwardian garden constructed in 1908 that features sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley's statue of Princess Diana. Modeled after Hampton Court Palace's Pond Garden, the space contains terraced flower beds surrounding a central pond. Five gardeners spent 1,000 hours planting over 4,000 flowers around the statue, which was unveiled on July 1, 2021.
London · from the walk “Kensington High Street: Shop, Eat & Explore” · audio ~4 min · Generated
Kensington Palace, London W8 4PX
- The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace was constructed in 1908 on ground previously used for potting sheds.
- Queen Victoria was born in the dining room of Kensington Palace on May 24, 1819.
- Sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley created the statue of Princess Diana, which was unveiled on July 1, 2021.
- Five gardeners spent 1,000 hours planting over 4,000 flowers in the Kensington Palace Sunken Garden.
Who sculpted the statue of Princess Diana in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace?
Take a deep breath... and look around you. Right here, tucked behind the walls of Kensington Palace, is one of London's most quietly Powerful spots... the Sunken Garden.......... Now, you might not guess it, but this elegant space was first designed and constructed in nineteen oh eight, on ground previously occupied by nothing more glamorous than potting sheds and greenhouses. The new layout was modelled on the Pond Garden at Hampton Court Palace, celebrating a formal Edwardian style of gardening. The garden is terraced with ornamental flower beds surrounding a central ornamental pond.......... But the story of this ground goes back much further. In sixteen ninety, King William the Third and Queen Mary the Second purchased a mansion on the edge of Hyde Park to be their London home. They renamed it Kensington Palace, and Mary began to create a flower garden with box hedges in the Dutch style... to remind the King of his Dutch homeland. And can you guess who Else called this palace home? The future Queen Victoria was born right here on the twenty-fourth of May, eighteen nineteen... in the dining room of all places! It seems a strange choice, but hot water could be brought up more easily from the kitchens.......... Now look at the covered walkway surrounding the garden. That's called the Cradle Walk, and it has a rather charming nickname. It was once affectionately known as the "Nanny Walk," because royal nannies would gather here while watching over young princes and princesses... pushing prams or pausing in the fresh air.......... But the reason Most people come here today... is for Diana. This was Princess Diana's favourite spot during the fifteen years she lived in the palace. She often spent time here and regularly spoke with the gardeners, admiring the flower displays. Imagine her, walking these very paths in the quiet of the morning.......... Her sons William and Harry commissioned a statue of their mother on the twentieth anniversary of her death, designed by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley. It was unveiled on the first of July, twenty twenty-one, on what would have been Diana's sixtieth birthday, and shows her surrounded by three children who represent the universality and generational impact of her work.......... And here's something most visitors miss. A paving stone in front of the statue features an extract from the poem "The Measure of a Man"... the same poem used in the memorial service marking the tenth anniversary of Diana's death in two thousand and seven. Five gardeners spent a total of one thousand hours planting over four thousand individual flowers, including over two hundred roses of five varieties.......... Oh, and before you leave... look across the grounds toward the east front of the palace. There you'll find a statue of Queen Victoria, and here's a wonderful detail... it was sculpted by her own daughter, Princess Louise. Louise submitted her entry anonymously, and it was selected by the judging panel. She was herself resident at Kensington Palace and sculpted the statue at her studio right here on the grounds. A mother immortalised by her daughter... and a princess, immortalised by her sons. This garden holds both stories, separated by more than a century, yet bound by the same thread of love.