My friend Becky and I (her blog is here) booked to go to Clarence House, Prince Charles London residence. It's only open during August and we thought we'd check it out. We were excited to be out as you can see...! 

There was extremely strict security in Clarence House so there were no photos anywhere in the house or grounds. The house was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed our visit. You are taken on a guided tour around 4 rooms with the tour guide giving a rich history of the house which I found really interesting. It was particularly nice to see a lot of personal photographs of the royal family, including the young princes and princesses and photos of Meghan and Harry's wedding. I also loved seeing a piece of Charles' own art work. 

I have some mixed feeling about this tour. So I would say if Royals are your thing then this would be something you'd really enjoy. It feels quite exclusive due to the fact that it's only open one month of the year. The house is beautiful, the information interesting, the tour guide was very engaging and it seemed very accessible with wheelchair access.

However, we found staff unwelcoming to start with, there was a delay on getting through security (leave a bit of extra time for this) and we had booked disablity tickets and were not approached about any ways in which they could assist. Our tickets were also cheaper and I'm not sure there was quite enough there for me to justify the full entrance fee. I have contacted Clarence House and they have been really apologetic and helpful about the way we were treated. Even offering us tickets for a future exhibition to show us that this was a one of problem. Clearly customer service is very important to them and I will definitely be taking them up on this offer. 

In conclusion, I'm glad I went but wouldn't go again,

We had something else booked for the afternoon but had left plenty of time to get there slowly. We had a slow walk over to Carnaby Street taking our time and stopping to look in Fortnum and Mason on the way. It's been years since I've been here and I love it! We only explored the first level but I just adore the colours, the displays, smelling the various teas, and browsing the foods and gifts. The window displays I had to get snaps of. These teacups were all made from paper and were so simple yet so incredibly effective visually! I quite fancy making some at some stage. 

We walked on to Carnaby Street and had about half an hour before our next booking. I'm so glad we decided to take a wander because we immediately found the new Spectrum brushes shop. I knew nothing about this but Becky did! The shop had only been open a couple of days, an Instagram hit pop up shop it showcased the brands amazing brushes on the ground floor, they do Disney collaborations as well as just distinctive beautiful designs. Upstairs is the prettiest cafe you've ever seen. Millennial pink, gold and dark green, it's a bright, light space with plenty of plants and large screens showing make up applications. 

The tables are comfy and you can get coffee, tea and cake. We shared a lot of hibiscus tea that was pink and really delicious! It was one of those places that you didn't plan to go to but are so glad you found. We weren't there long but it was such a nice space and I genuinely could have stayed all afternoon. Plus will you look at that glass cup and saucer with the gold spoon?! I'm not easily won by stuff like that but it was just so pretty! The staff were happy to chat, very polite and welcoming. For me it was such a nice break from the cancer bubble too! I would highly recommend checking it out but good luck leaving without buying something downstairs.

Part 2 up soon!