A huge ice rink is set to be opened over the Christmas period at royal residence Kensington Palace – the London home of Prince William and Kate Middleton – in a new business venture launched by the late Queen’s oldest grandson Peter Phillips
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ back garden is set to host the UK’s largest festive ice rink – in a business venture launched by the late Queen’s eldest grandson. Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne, has revealed that a 750-person winter wonderland rink will open over the Christmas period and will be built on a helipad in the grounds of Kensington Palace – the London home of his cousin Prince William and his wife Kate.
Ice At Kensington Palace is billed as “a magical winter event with sustainability at its core” â values which Mr Phillips said were inspired by his uncle, the King, and his Earth Charter project, Terra Carta.
Mr Phillips, 45, told Hello! magazine it was his own idea to use the royal palace as the backdrop for the ice rink. He said: “I’ve obviously done a number of events in central London and on this site, so we looked at it and we started to come up with some plans. And then started to approach the household in the manner that you have to approach them, to be able to plant the seed and see if we could make something happen.”
He explained that “fortunately” he is now in a position to host the event, and that the drive towards sustainability is related to “whose backyard we’re in”. The King owns Kensington Palace on behalf of the nation. Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm whether Charles made the final decision to grant his nephew permission to use the site.