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Kings Road is a major east-west street in London 's Chelsea , running roughly west from Sloane Square . During the Hippie and Punk eras, it was a major centre for the Counterculture , but is now Gentrified . It is effectively Chelsea's High Street , and is one of the most fashionable shopping streets in London.

Kings Road derives its name from its original function as a private road used by Charles II to travel to Kew . It remained a private road until 1830, but people with the right connections were able to obtain a pass to use it. Some of the houses date from the early 18th century. Thomas Arne lived at No. 215 and is believed to have composed " Rule Britannia " there. Ellen Terry lived in the same house from 1904–1920, and is commemorated by a Blue Plaque .

Kings Road was home in the 1960s to the Chelsea Drugstore (originally a chemist, that is to say a Pharmacy , with a highly stylized chrome-and-neon Soda Fountain upstairs, later a Public House ; more recently the site became a McDonalds ) and in the 1970s to Malcolm McLaren 's Boutique SEX .

Kings Road or '''Old Kings Road''' is also a name given to many old highways that were laid out by various kings. One ran from New Smyrna Beach, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina .


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