Buckingham Palace

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Buckingham Palace is famous across the four compass points of the world, known to many who have never set foot on British soil. The palace is the official London residence of the British monarch, although Queen Elizabeth II uses it mostly ‘for work’, prefering to live at Windsor Castle to the west of London. At other times, the Queen stays at Sandringham House in Norfolk and spends her summers at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Buckingham Palace is used for entertaining during state visits, audiences in the 1844 Room with incoming ambassadors to the court of St James, investitures, garden parties and in total more than fifty thousand guests pass through the palace on a yearly basis. Those invited are an eclectic mix from all walks of life, for instance in 2007 the Queen invited the entire Arsenal football squad.

Land records on which the palace lies are extensive and date back to the Norman Conquest, with the site falling in and out of royal ownership several times. Buckingham Palace began as a large townhouse, originally built by a Dutch architect in 1703 and commissioned by the Duke of Buckingham. Indeed, the palace originally faced out across its gardens towards Buckinghamshire and today the public are generally unaware that they view the rear of the palace. The title ‘Duke of Buckingham’ is currently dormant. In 1761 King George III acquired the building for £21,000 as a retreat for Queen Charlotte. George IV intended to make Buckingham Palace fit for a royal residence and he commissioned John Nash to reconstruct it in the Palladian style between 1825 and 1826. William IV was not endeared to the building and he even offered it to parliament as the site for its new home after the Palace of Westminster burned down in 1834.

The first monarch to officially occupy the palace was Queen Victoria on her accession in 1837. Ten years later the final wing was completed, enclosing the central courtyard. In 1912, using surplus funds from the public subscription for the Victoria Memorial, a new East façade was built, in straightforward Renaissance design. A stone bulustraded balcony was the centrepiece and it was finished within three months, whilst King George V and Queen Mary were on holiday. The King was so pleased with the speed of the work that he invited all of the labourers to dinner at Buckingham Palace.  The palace was bombed seven times during the Second World War and besides the repair work, it has been little changed since.

The young Prince Philip counted six hundred and sixty-one rooms when he moved in, however he apparently included room-sized cupboards. The Prince is said to frequently get lost in areas of the palace unfamiliar to him, as the Royal Family are housed in only the north wing. Much is occupied by members of the Royal Household for their offices and accommodation, as the palace acts as their administrative headquarters. There are nineteen staterooms, fifty-two guest bedrooms, seventy-eight bathrooms, a thirty seat cinema, a swimming pool and an air-raid shelter containing gilt chairs. Best known to many is the balcony where the Royal Family congregate and wave to the crowds on special occasions. The Buckingham Palace gardens are spread over forty acres and contain a lake and tennis courts. Here the three annual summer garden parties take place, catering for eight thousand guests at a time. In 1996, two middle aged women were struck by lightning during a garden party, whilst sheltering from a storm just fifty yards from the Queen. The garden parties are a relatively recent tradition, started in 1958 as a replacement event to the Queen’s ending of the presentation parties for debutantes. 

No sign written vehicles are allowed to pass directly in front of Buckingham Palace, a measure that is enforced under legislation stating that it is illegal to advertise in the nearby St James’s Park. St James’s Park was created by Henry VIII in 1532, making it the first Royal Park in London.  It is spread over ninety acres and it bridged the land between Henry VIII’s palaces at Whitehall and at St James’s. In 1649 King Charles I walked across the park to his place of execution at the Banqueting House. Chairs have been on hire in St James’s Park since 1735 and they are popular with those listening to the bands that play in the park during the summer months. To the south of St James’s Park is Birdcage Walk, named after an aviary owned by Charles II in the seventeenth century. The aviary contained many weird and wonderful birds, including a crane with a wooden leg and another bird that would eat only scalding hot coals. To the north of the park is The Mall, (see earlier blog: THE MALL.)

Many children who press their noses through the railings of Buckingham Palace wonder whether the Queen is inside. It is simple to tell, as when the Queen is in residence the Royal Standard waves from the roof and when she is absent, the flag does not. The Royal Standard flies wherever the Queen is and only where she is, be it on her car, aircraft and on any building she happens to be visiting. The Royal Standard never flies at half-mast because the monarch is never dead. Led by the tabloid newspapers, ignorance of this caused confusion in 1997, on the death of Princess Diana. Swathes of the general public expecting to see a flag flying at half-mast over the palace, only saw an empty flagstaff or the fully raised Royal Standard. This led to a change to protocol and now when the monarch is absent from the palace the Union Flag flies in its place, which can lowered to half-mast on such occasions.

They’re changing the guard at Buckingham Palace, Christopher Robin went down with Alice…” A.A. Milne’s lines from ‘When We Were Very Young’ were written in 1924 and have been familiar to many millions over the past ninety years. The Changing of the Guard takes place at eleven-thirty in the morning on alternate days, except in the height of summer when it takes place daily and it lasts for approximately forty minutes. It is free of charge and very popular with tourists, so it is advisable to arrive early to be near the front for the finest views. The new guard and accompanying marching band cross over from the nearby Wellington Barracks to the palace forecourt. Under the command of the Captain of The Queen’s Guard, the guardsmen march the length of the forecourt, so all the spectators are able to see. Younger people climb up onto the lower parts of the nearby Victoria Memorial for an elevated view.

The Queen Victoria Memorial was positioned in 1911, but parts were added to it right up until 1924. It is made from white marble and crowned by a gilded bronze figure of Victory. Queen Victoria, sometimes referred to as the grandmother of Europe as she has royal descendants all over the continent, is represented as a seated statue looking down The Mall. Victoria is surrounded by the Angels of Justice, Truth, Charity and Courage. There are other allegorical groups that include peace and progress, science and art, manufacture and agriculture and naval and military powers.

The nineteen state rooms of Buckingham Palace are open to the public between August and September when the Queen is on her summer holidays in Scotland. The money raised goes towards upkeep of the Royal Collection.  The Queen’s private apartments are not on view. The entrance to the state apartments is at The Ambassadors Entrance on Buckingham Palace Road. During the tour, visitors pass through the throne room used on royal occasions and the music room where several of the Queen’s children and grandchildren were baptized. They end their visit through part of the garden, which is truly a walled oasis of calm within the central hub of London.

The Queen’s Gallery is a permanent space dedicated to treasures selected from the Royal Collection. Situated on the site of the former chapel, which was bombed during the Second World War, it offers visitors a unique look at tastes of monarchs since 1600. Items are changed each year and there is a continual series of uniquely themed exhibitions. The Royal Collection is probably one of the most valuable and important in the world. It includes 10,000 paintings, 20,000 drawings, 109,000 watercolours, 500,000 prints as well as furniture, jewellery, sculpture and glass. The entrance is to the south-easterly side, on Buckingham Palace Road.

The Royal Mews is set behind the palace with its entrance on Buckingham Palace Road. One of the finest working stables in the world, it houses the State carriages and some motor vehicles. The word ‘mew’ has its origins with the cages in which hawks were kept, hawks and horses being traditionally kept together. The Royal Mews moved to its present site from near to Charing Cross in the 1760’s and was rebuilt by Nash in the 1820’s. The Royal Mews is generally open to the public, although closed during Ascot week, during State visits and on occasions when the horses and carriages are in use. Visitors to The Royal Mews begin by looking at the riding school, one of the oldest in the world, before moving to the coaches and carriages. The Irish State Coach was built in Dublin and is used for the State Opening of Parliament. The 1910 Gold State Coach is reserved for royal weddings and the 1762 Gold State Coach is always used for coronations.

Where to view Buckingham Palace and video clips of London

London in Motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘Buckingham Palace’ category of this website.  New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months.