What is the best way to see the palace and gardens....can anyone recommend a good private tour?
It could just be me, but it was rather smallish, can't see why a private tour would be needed. After visiting Chatsworth House and Blenheim Palace, Kensington made the royals look like the poor relations.
Note that because of the popular Princess Diana fashio exhibit there, advance tickets for Kensington Palace are completely sold out on the official website through July 19, with scattered availability after that for the rest of July.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/#gs.IWmGvXg
Curiously, other vendors such as visitlondon.com are still selling tickets for all dates.