10/06/2025. London, UK. The Princess of Wales during a visit to the V&A East Storehouse, a brand-new cultural destination in east London, to highlight the importance of creative opportunity and celebrate the joy found in creative expression. The Princess was given a behind-the-scenes tour by the V&As curatorial team and met with V&A East Storehouses […][/caption]
THE Princess of Wales is being given a behind-the-scenes tour of London’s newest tourist attraction.
Kate, who scored a degree in arts history, is at V&A East Storehouse, which only opened last Sunday (May 31).
Kate dazzled in blue during the tour today[/caption]
The Princess of Wales during a visit to the V&A East Storehouse in east London[/caption]
The three-storey attraction is situated on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.
The Storehouse boasts half a million exhibits and archives from the V&A collections on show which are usually tucked away in storerooms accessible to visitors for free.
Where possible glass has been removed to get visitors closer to exhibits.
During the tour, Kate has seen the storeroom in action and meet curators who collect, conserve and display the masterpieces.
It comes after the V&A East Storehouse opened in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, on May 31, 2025.
It shows off everything from Elton John’s costumes and retro football shirts, to vintage Glastonbury memorabilia.
It features a huge new David Bowie exhibition, opening in September 2025, with more than 80,000 items from the star’s life.
Visitors can also see what happens behind the scenes in a museum – why and how they collect objects and how they look after them.
This includes a glimpse at conservators preserving items like clothing, paintings and puppets.
The purpose-built home includes more than 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books and 1,000 archives from the V&A’s collections
According to the website: “Because the V&A’s collections span 5,000 years of human creativity, the team at Storehouse cares for everything from the pins used to secure a 17th century ruff to a two-storey section of a maisonette flat from the Robin Hood Gardens housing estate, demolished in 2017.
“The sheer scale of Storehouse means it is now possible to see other huge artefacts, including The Kaufmann Office (the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside of the US) and the spectacular 15th-century gilded wooden ceiling from the now-lost Torrijos Palace in Toledo, Spain.”
In a world-first, the centre offers an ‘Order an Object experience,’ which lets visitors book in advance to see a specific item up close, along with an experienced member of staff.
The Storehouse has opened a short walk from where the new V&A East Museum is being built, and which is scheduled to open in 2026.
Princess Kate has been busy of late, having officially named HMS Glasgow by smashing a bottle of local Scottish whisky against its hull, late last month.
Joined by her husband, Prince William, she uttered the time-honoured words: “I have the pleasure to name this ship HMS Glasgow, may God bless her and all who sail on her””
Then flicked up a small red ‘launch’ button to conduct the traditional naming ritual at the BAE Systems’ shipyard in Scotstoun, on the bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow.
A bottle of exclusive single malt whisky made by the nearby Clydeside Distillery smashed into the hull in the maritime tradition.
Kate has been the ship’s sponsor since 2021 and this was her first naming ceremony for a naval vessel.
Each bottle of the whisky sold includes a donation to HMS Glasgow’s chosen charity, Place2Be, of which the Princess is patron, and which supports children’s mental health in the city.
A bagpiper marked the start of the 25-minute ceremony before a P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft from 120 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth performed a flypast.
Sir Simon Lister, managing director of BAE Systems Naval Ships, and Second Sealord Vice Admiral Sir Martin Connell, gave speeches.
Sir Martin Connell thanked the Prince and Princess for their support in reaching the milestone.
