Kew Palace closed nearly a decade ago for a multi-million pound refurbishment which has held the interest of thousands of history enthusiasts throughout the UK.

The Duchess of Cornwall is one of them.

Last June she and the Prince of Wales hosted a dinner to boost funding for the project.

And last Thursday she was the first Royal to see the completed restoration of the palace, which was the country home of King George III, Queen Charlotte and their 15 children from 1800 to 1818.

The first years of its closure were given over to urgent structural repairs.

Then came a £6.6million crafts and conservation exercise that, backed by detailed documentary and archaeological research, has restored the rooms to their appearance when the Royal family was in residence.

The palace will re-open to the public in the spring.

Meanwhile, the Duchess stepped back more than two centuries during a tour which included the Queen's private bedchamber, where she died in 1818, the King's study, who was wrongly diagnosed as mad, and the drawing room, the scene of the double Royal wedding of the future King William IV to Princess Adelaide of Saxe Meiningen and the Duke of Kent future father of Queen Victoria to Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg.

The Duchess also came face-to-face with George III in the form a wax life-mask created from a cast made by Madame Tussaud herself.

The second floor, mainly given over to servants' quarters, will be revealed to the public for the first time after the spring re-opening.

Money to restore the palace, which is a unique tourist attraction, has been given by the Heritage Lottery Fund, various foundations and many private donors.

However Historic Royal Palaces, the charitable trust responsible for the building, says there is still a shortfall of £700,000.

jsampson@london.newsquest.co.uk