Enchanted Palace

Enchanted Palace is a sweet, magical adventure of an exhibition. Housed in the sumptuous State Apartments of Kensington Palace, where royal personages have lived for centuries, it takes up the stories of 7 princesses (whose names you discover as you weave through the labyrinth of rooms) and explores key elements of their history in imaginative displays (a ferocious fall out with a friend, a broken heart, wild rebelliousness, a dramatic accession to the throne etc).

It begins with a room of tears - a dark, melancholy bedchamber where a princess clad in a blue dress is suspended under the canopy of a blue four poster bed, surrounded by bottles of glass tears, shed for her marriage to an older man who she didn't love, and for whom she was unable to bear a much-longed for heir. Another room sees two dancing princesses, their glittering party frocks displayed in cases hidden in a whitewashed wood. The playroom sees the fairytale of the princess and the pea come to life - and a windswept dress by William Tempest appears to sweep from the walls, while down the corridor a rebellious princess in a dress by Vivienne Westwood attempts to make a controversial escape. In the grandness of the King's Drawing Room is a fabulous cabinet of curiosities - open the drawers, cupboards, flaps and slides of the magnificent 4 sided cupboard to discover eccentric curios - shell collections, severed heads, jewellery made from objects trouve, delicate paintings.

I loved the slide projections in the last room where silhouetted figures dance on the ceiling, and also the fur-lined glass cabinet - the secret den of a feral child. Look out for secrets hidden in fireplaces, behind doors, and in unexpected nooks and crannies.

So many displays were beautifully poetic - Stephen Jones hats hanging in the room of thinking, Boudicca armour hanging in the Cupola room where the centre piece is a magnificent gilt clock - like an indoor sun dial.

It's such a imaginatively thought out project, by Cornish theatre company Wildworks, definitely worth making time for - take a picnic and saunter round Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park too. Completely glorious. Late night openings 21 May, 18 June, 16 July and 20 August 2010
(Open until 21.00, last entry 20.00).