Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) wanted to create a compelling exhibition to offer new and existing audiences to Kensington Palace an insight into the world of the last debutantes. HRP envisioned a family friendly installation that would bring the world of 1958 to life and allow people to find links with their own lives and the world today.

Like People Do joined forces with design studio Maison Béton and the curatorial team at Kensington Palace to create a year-long exhibition spread through 15 rooms commemorating the last curtseys of aristocratic teenage girls to the Queen, 50 years ago.

Like People Do worked with HRP curators on the overall narrative, helping to shape the story and visitor take-out. A combination of interactive exercises, oral histories, video interviews and phantasmagorical displays of dresses and artefacts, draw visitors into the surreal world of the debutante and the detailed preparations required or The Season: they find out what to wear, how to tie a bow tie, how to waltz and ultimately how to achieve the perfect curtsey. The team involved local teenagers in a dialogue about young people’s lives then and now.

The exhibition was reviewed throughout the media including Time Out, the Financial Times, and BBC Breakfast and BBC Online. Everyday an actively engaged audience waltz, curtsey, even write their own memories with irresistible vintage typewriters.