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27 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 27 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012 dramatized conversations between actors impersonating past palace residents, audible along the edges of the rooms—are more distracting than enlightening. While there is an element of fun in discovering the palace's hidden history for oneself, most tourists do not have the time or patience for this, and it is often unclear which objects are reproductions meant to be touched, photographed and sat upon, and which are priceless museum pieces. The interactive approach works best in Revealing Victoria, a long-term installation dramatizing events in Queen Victoria's life, in the very rooms where they happened. Poignant quotes from the queen's letters and diaries are woven into carpets, blazoned across tables and engraved on mirrors. Thanks to Hollywood, Victoria's biography is so familiar that most visitors will have no trouble following the narrative, and the objects themselves speak eloquently. Clothes and jewels worn by Victoria and her family are showcased alongside portraits and photographs. The queen's wedding dress is here; however, visitors must trek downstairs to a separate exhibition on her Diamond Jubilee to see its Honiton lace flounce, the only historic artifact in a room dominated by a three-dimensional map of Victorian London. There, the kid-friendly installation overshadows an interesting selection of Jubilee souvenirs including commemorative textiles and a pair of Berlin woolwork slippers. Another exhibition is devoted to a more recent resident, Princess Diana. Five of her dresses are on display alongside photographs and sketches, including the famous strapless black David Emanuel gown the newly engaged Diana wore to her first public event in 1981—a fashion misstep she would not repeat. Elsewhere, visitors will enjoy artist Julie Verhoeven's colorful wallpaper printed with scenes from Diana's life and throw pillows adorned with the images of past and present royal inhabitants. But these playful touches just as often fall flat. The magnificent bed made for James II and Mary of Modena, with its Genoa velvet hangings, is almost completely obscured by a wall of birdhouses, part of an art installation by the theatrical firm Coney. Grinling Gibbons's carved overmantles and William Kent's trompe l'oeil ceilings compete for attention with paper doll chains and gilded mannequin torsos hanging from the chandeliers. Eighteenth-century court dress is shown on trendy headless, limbless forms, which do no favors to knee breeches and lace caps. But none of these flights of fancy can detract from the regal splendor of a mantua with vast hoops or the ermine-trimmed coronation robes of George III. The dress collection itself is moving to Hampton Court later this year, to make way for the incoming Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It is part of life in a functioning royal residence, and Kensington Palace will continue to host exhibitions drawn from the collection—hopefully including one devoted to these stylish new neighbors. QUEEN VICTORIA'S PRIVY COUNCIL DRESS worn by Queen Victoria at her first Privy Council meeting at Kensington Palace, June 20, 1837. The black silk has changed color due to the chemical compound of the dyes. © Royal Collection. PHOTOGRAPHERS snap Queen Victoria's Wedding Dress.