Kew Palace, which stands in the world-famous Royal Botonic Gardens in south-west London, is Britain's smallest royal palace and the third building to bear that name. Built in 1631 as a merchant's house, it later became the home of George III. Queen Charlotte and their large family, and a private place of recuperation for the so-called 'mad' king during his illness. Around the palace, the eighteenth-century royal pleasure grounds gradually evolved into the world's centre for botanical study, shaped by Charles Bridgeman, 'Capability' Brown and others and adorned with important garden buildings by William Chambers.