HRH The Princess Royal yesterday (17 March 2026) opened the new Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace. The opening ceremony was attended by Dame Vivien Duffield, DBE, Chairman of the Clore Duffield Foundation, Sir Nicholas Coleridge CBE, DL, Chairman, John Barnes OBE, Chief Executive of Historic Royal Palaces and children from Ark Brunel Primary Academy.
HRH The Princess Royal and Dame Vivien Duffield at the new Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace, Photo by David Jensen
Press images are available to download via: https://tinyurl.com/47upzfpc
A Clore Learning Space, funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation, is a specially designed, multi-functional space within arts, heritage, and cultural institutions dedicated to active, hands-on learning for children, families, and communities. These spaces replace passive, classroom-style environments with creative, flexible, and immersive workshops. The Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace is a fully accessible space attached to the historic Orangery, where schools and community groups can meaningfully engage with the stories and spaces they encounter in the palace. The spacious purpose-built education facility creates opportunities for groups, including schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities, to learn through creative and hands-on experiences.
Since 2000, the Clore Duffield Foundation has funded more than 80 Clore Learning Spaces in national museums, performing arts centres, heritage sites and libraries across the UK. New Clore funded Learning Spaces have opened recently at the Natural History Museum, V&A Storehouse, the Old Vic, Theatr Clwyd in Wales and Norwich Castle. Others have been announced at Stonehenge, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and London Museum with further announcements expected later in the year. Clore Learning Spaces have also recently been refurbished at Turner Contemporary, Margate, the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Theatre and the Glasshouse International Centre for Music.
Dame Vivien Duffield DBE, Chair of the Clore Duffield Foundation, said: “I believe passionately that children and young people deserve the very best opportunities to benefit from the transforming power of our world class cultural organisations. I am delighted that we have been able to support this Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace. Now more than ever, I believe that culture should be at the heart of our children’s learning.”
John Barnes, Chief Executive of Historic Royal Palaces, added: “The new Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace represents a major step forward in our mission to open up the stories of this remarkable palace to everyone. It welcomes thousands of school pupils and community groups each year through programmes such as the Kensington Enrichment Programme and creative youth initiatives like Dress Codes, as well as providing a Warm & Welcome space for local residents. We are grateful to the Clore Duffield Foundation for their generous support in helping create an inclusive learning environment for future generations.”
The Clore Duffield Foundation is supporting a number of other projects. The celebrated landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith Studio, in collaboration with architects Feilden Fowles, is creating a new Clore Garden at Tate Britain. The project, realised in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, will create a beautiful new green space on Millbank which will be open to all.
The Foundation also recently launched an ambitious programme of over 20,000 visits for 5,000 school children from some of the areas of greatest need across the UK in Blackpool, Cornwall and Portsmouth. This is transforming schools’ current trips programmes and providing never before experienced visits for students, including trips to London.
The Clore Duffield Foundation has supported over 750 UK charities since it was formed in 2000, awarding grants of over £110 million to enhance the arts, Jewish life, education, health and welfare. Between 1980 and 2000 the Clore Foundation and the Vivien Duffield Foundation awarded over £51 million and £15 million respectively. Major beneficiaries include Tate, the Royal Opera House, the Southbank Centre, Oxford University and the Royal College of Art, who have all been supported by the Foundation to carry out major capital projects. The Foundation has also created a number of transformative programmes and institutions, including JW3, Eureka! and the Clore Leadership Programmes.
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For enquiries about the Clore Learning Centre at Kensington Palace, and Historic Royal Palaces, please contact the HRP Press Office at press@hrp.org.uk.
Notes to Editors:
The Clore Duffield Foundation
The Clore Duffield Foundation was established by Sir Charles Clore in 1964. Now chaired by Sir Charles Clore’s daughter, Dame Vivien Duffield, the Foundation supports UK charities working in the arts, education, social welfare and health. The Foundation’s work includes: developing programmes and partnerships to create opportunities for people through art, culture and heritage in the UK; supporting artistic talent wherever it exists and ensuring that careers in the cultural sector should be open to all; supporting new and existing Clore Learning Spaces to ensure children and young people, in particular, have the chance to benefit from art, culture and heritage and the inspiration, knowledge, joy and wellbeing they bring; and ensuring the important organisations created by the Foundation continue to be strong, impactful and resilient, including JW3, the Clore Cultural Leadership Programme and Eureka!
Historic Royal Palaces is the independent charity that loves and looks after six of the most wonderful palaces in the world. The palaces are the setting for the stories that shape us all, and we’re bringing them to people in ways that mean more to them. We want everyone to find themselves in the spaces and stories we share.
Registered charity number 1068852. For more information, visit www.hrp.org.uk.