After leaving the palace, we wandered through a field of daisies. They bloomed so abundantly it almost looked as if it had snowed.
Whenever I’m in a field of daisies I always feel like making a daisy crown.
Because I am whimsical like that.
What do you think?
We strolled on on through the bluebell woods.
And eventually we arrived at Queen Charlotte’s cottage.
Cottagecore and Royalty
Queens of the 18th Century loved cottages.
You may even say they were the original inventors of the cottagecore aesthetic, long before the internet gave it this name.
The most famous “cottagecore influencer” possibly being Queen Marie Antionette of France, who didn’t only have a cottage but an entire country village where she dressed up as a shepherdess.
It must have been a form of escapism for them. Royalty have always known to have an interest in how commoners live, just like we fantasise about being princesses. Perhaps they also have a slightly romanticised view of our lives, just as we have of theirs.
Queen Charlotte was close friends with Marie Antoinette and they used to write letters to one another. This probably inspired her to have her own little country cottage on the grounds of Kew palace where she could escape palace life for a while and pretend to be a regular countrywoman for a while.
Inside the cottage is a small kitchen, which definitely is the dream for everyone who loves cottagecore.
If that isn’t enough, take a look upstairs!
There you’ll find the picnic room.
The cottage wasn’t only an escape location for 18th century Royalty though. Even our current King Charles III (when he was still a young prince of course) went on a date in this cottage with a certain Diana Spencer.
It must have worked its magic to a certain extent because the rest is history, obviously!
To be honest, I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t love to be taken on a date here!
Chaps, if you’re reading this and are looking for ideas: take notes!
Japanese gardens and the Great Pagoda
After the cottage we wandered on through the Japanese gardens.
Towards the pagoda.
No this isn’t a Chinese pagoda or even a replica. It was completely designed by an English fella named William Chambers. Chambers had been to China once, but never actually got off the ship, so the entire pagoda was based on what he imagined Chinese architecture looked like at the time.
Chambers was hired to design all kinds of follies, purely decorative buildings, inspired by architecture from all over the world. There was an Alhambra, a Domed Mosque and even pyramids!
However, only the pagoda is left today. And you can actually go in and up!
The pagoda is around 163 feet tall, and has about 253 steps and 9 floors.
So it’s not for the faint hearted. But I can recommend it because it comes with great views over the gardens.
Including the Temperate House, which is probably one of my favourite parts of the gardens.
Let’s take a closer look.
Temperate House
The Temperate House is a Grade 1 listed Building containing rare and threatened plant species.
It contains about 3000 individual plants.
And if you want to see more: climb one of the beautiful spiral staircases.
Which will give you an even more beautiful birdseye view of all the plants and trees of the Temperate House.
Great for taking a little tropical break while in London. When Aya used to work here, I wonder if she ever managed to take a walk here on her lunch breaks, because that would be quite the lunch break!
Beats my local park any time!
After the walk it was around 6 PM, which is the time both the Temperate House and the Palm House close.
So sadly I didn’t get to see the Palm House. Well, that’s another excuse to come back.