It contains major museums and universities in Albertopolis, department stores such as Harrods, Peter Jones and Harvey Nichols, and embassies in Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Kensington Gardens.

The borough is home to the Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's largest, and contains many of the most expensive residential properties in the world, as well as Kensington Palace, a British royal residence.

Its motto, adapted from the opening words of Psalm 133, is Quam bonum in unum habitare, which translates roughly as 'How good it is to dwell in unity'.

[6] Of its history the council states: "Despite the boroughs being separate originally, Kensington and Chelsea still retain their unique characters.

In every corner of the borough signs of its history can be seen: from Grade 1 listed buildings Kensington Palace and the Royal Hospital, Chelsea to others recalled in street names such as Pottery Lane and Hippodrome Mews.

Commissioned by King William III, Christopher Wren enlarged and rebuilt the original house in 1689, turning it into a fitting royal residence.

In the 19th century the last emperor of the Sikh Empire, Maharaja Duleep Singh who was brought to England as a child following the Second Anglo-Sikh War, along with the Koh-i-noor diamond, lived in the borough at 53 Holland Park, while his mother Maharani Jind Kaur (wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) lived at the nearby Abingdon House till her death in 1846.

The borough is divided between two constituencies represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom: Kensington and Bayswater, held by Joe Powell for the Labour Party, and Chelsea and Fulham (partly in Hammersmith & Fulham), held by Ben Coleman for the Labour Party.

The borough has a higher proportion (16.6 percent) of high earners (over £60,000 per year) than any other local government district in the country.

The borough has a number of notable churches, including: It is home to a small Spanish and Portuguese synagogue, several mosques and the Sikh Central Gurudwara in Holland Park.

The borough contains the stations of South Kensington, Gloucester Road, High Street Kensington, Earl's Court, Sloane Square, West Brompton, Notting Hill Gate, Holland Park, Latimer Road, Knightsbridge, Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove.

There have for some time been long-term plans for a Chelsea-Hackney line, with a station in the King's Road near Chelsea Town Hall, and possibly another at Sloane Square.

[32] This station would be located near the northern end of Ladbroke Grove, and would serve the areas of North Kensington and Kensal.

Paddington and Victoria are the nearest major railway termini; National Rail stations in the borough are Kensington (Olympia) and West Brompton (and partly Kensal Green), both served by London Overground and Southern.

Kensington and Chelsea council has been criticised for its lack of support for cycle lanes and active travel in general.

[39] Prime Minister Theresa May previously branded the response to the tragedy "not good enough", with Whitehall civil servants drafted in as part of a beefed-up operation in the local area.

Anna Stec who gave evidence as an expert witness to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has urged the authorities to test rescue workers, nearby residents and survivors for carcinogenic chemicals following the fire.

[40] Within the borough there are several of London's tourist attractions and landmarks: The council's education department finances state schools.