Marilyn Monroe: A British Love Affair, National Portrait Gallery, London

I went to the National Portrait Gallery in London initially to just see the Marilyn Monroe exhibition but stayed and took two and a half hours to have a walk around.

First the Marilyn exhibition - it doesn't include many photos but looks at her time filming and promoting The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier.

It has some beautiful photos taken by Cecil Beaton,  Larry Burrows and Jack Cardiff. I also found out that one of my favourite photos of Marilyn on a Geshia print blanket holding a rose was taken by Beaton.

It just shows her natural beauty and it is free.

If you have never been to the gallery I cannot recommend it enough. I really enjoyed walking around the portraits. Paintings range from The Tudors to the Victorians to modern day.

It was great to see a sketch of Jane Austen drawn by her sister Cassandra Austen. I nearly missed it a couple of times but found it eventually and I'm glad I did.

There are so many recognisable paintings of Queen Elizabeth I, King Charles I and Queen Victoria. However, one of her after her coronation is actually a replica as the original is in Buckingham Palace.

At the moment they also have photos of the current Royal family taken by Mario Testino. It includes the two engagement photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - Prince William and Kate Middleton.

There are paintings of Paul McCartney, photos of the Queen after her wedding and her coronation again taken by Cecil Beaton. 

I also paid £2 and saw the exhibition from Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 which has some beautiful photographs including one of Mo Farah and one of Victoria Pendleton. Worth the £2.

I went round a couple of times soaking up every painting and photograph. It also had the film of David Beckham sleeping done by Sam Taylor-Wood...
A beautiful museum and on the whole free. Well worth it.

Also I had a cup of tea and the most delicious walnut and chocolate brownie in the cafe down stairs, amazing!

The day I went to Buckingham Palace

This weekend I got to do something I never thought I would.

I got to visit the state rooms at Buckingham Palace and not only that we also got to see the very special diamond collection, which is on offer as it is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year.

In the Diamond exhibition we saw the small crown worn by Queen Victoria when she was in mourning of Prince Albert (as seen on this Wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_victoria) and was also won by Queen Alexandra the consort of King Edward VII - Queen Victoria's son and successor.

Also the crown and necklace Her Majesty the Queen wore on her coronation and more recently in the official photo for her Diamond Jubilee.

And seven pieces created by the Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough gem-quality diamond. All the diamonds were exquisite, the clarity and colour were beautiful and they just sparkled like stars in the sky, amazing! Diamonds truly are the Queen’s best friend.

The state rooms were just as magnificent, you see the throne room where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip had their wedding photo and more recently the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had their photos taken. It was just amazing to walk where heads of state such as President Obama and other Royals have walked. To see where the Queen lives and works.

The rooms were huge and the decoration over the top. My favourite room was the ballroom, created for Queen Victoria to host social gatherings. It is the largest room in London and has four chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, they are five foot in diameter and I think they said about 11 foot high; they work on a winch and are cleaned once a year. It also has an organ from the Brighton Pavilion; it was a truly regal room.

All the paintings around the state rooms are amazing. My favourite was the family portrait of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children by Winterhalter it is stunning and shows the family in a fairly informal setting but still she looks like a Queen, mother and wife.

You are not allowed to take photos on the tour but you can in the garden.

The state rooms are just amazing, I cannot recommend them enough.

Also if you buy your tickets through the palace you can get your ticket stamped and return for free within the next 12 months, how fantastic is that! Well with the £18 entrance fee.

I will say though that the cafe is quite expensive over £2 for a tea, but the cakes did look amazing aand I do wish I had had one.

If you go in August or September don’t expect to see the Queen as she holidays in Balmoral.

If you are interested in the tour visit: http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/buckinghampalace