The Queen's Cousin, Prince Richard, Offered a Rare Glimpse Inside Kensington Palace

• Queen Elizabeth (opens in new tab)'s cousin, Prince Richard, spoke to veterans' charity Scottish Veterans Residences Monday, and the royal family shared a photo of Richard making the call on Twitter.
• Richard made the call while in quarantine at home—and said home happens to be inside Kensington Palace.
• The Twitter photo offers a rare glimpse into the private residences of the historic palace, which is also home to Prince William and Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) as well as Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank (opens in new tab).

Today I learned of the existence of Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who is the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. An entire prince who I, as somebody who regularly covers royal happenings, did not know about! Life truly is a beautiful journey of learning and understanding.

Anyway, Prince Richard came to my attention following a tweet (opens in new tab) from the official account of the royal family, helpfully titled @RoyalFamily. The Duke of Gloucester is the patron of veterans' charity Scottish Veterans Residences, which provides supported accommodation to homeless former service members. On Monday, he called the charity "for an update on their services, and how the veterans they support are coping in the current challenging circumstances," according to the royals' Twitter account.

As Town & Country notes (opens in new tab), the tweet was accompanied by a photo of Richard making the call, presumably from his home due to British lockdown measures. And said home just so happens to be on the grounds of Kensington Palace, meaning the photo offers a rare glimpse of the palace's private living spaces. (Last summer, Richard and family relocated (opens in new tab) from the 21-room Apartment 1 to the smaller Old Stables, still within the palace grounds, Town & Country reports.)

Admittedly, the Old Stables interior looks pretty much exactly as you'd expect: Many, many leather bound books; a gilded portrait sitting on the fireplace that would probably make a killing at Antiques Roadshow; old wooden furniture that can probably sustain the weight of one elderly cat and nothing more. Relatable, isn't it?

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