Buckingham Palace

We were on holiday with family in Peterborough, England, and one beautiful summer day decided to see the Buckingham Palace. We boarded the Flying Scotsman, and got to King's Cross Station. We came out on Piccadilly Circus and got on to a hop-on-hop-off bus which would take us on a tour of London. The advantage of being on this bus was that we could get off wherever we wanted, and we got off at St.James' Park, on our way to Buckingham Palace. The long gracious drive, the beautifully tended lawns, the weeping willows bending over the lake, the white swans gliding on the water, all added up to create the aura around the Palace. And, then, at last the Palace itself comes into view....

The official address is simply:

Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA

Telephone number: +44 (0)20 77667300
Fax number: +44 (0)20 7930 9625

E-mail: information@royalcollection.org.uk

History

The Buckingham Palace is where the British monarch lives. All state occasions are held in the palace. It is also a very major tourist attraction. This palace was originally known as Buckingham House. It was a large townhouse which was built for John Sheffield the Duke of Buckingham in 1703. In 1761 George III procured this house for his private residence, and had it altered and redone for his family by William Chambers. It became known as the Queen’s House. At the behest of King George IV, in 1826, architect John Nash started work on expanding the house. King George, however, did not live to see the changes and expansions that were being made. Edward Blore was commissioned to join John Nash. It was in July 1837 when Queen Victoria became the ruling monarch, that Buckingham Palace became the royal residence.

Queen Victoria moved into the Buckingham Palace from Kensington Palace which was her childhood home and where she lived up to the time she became Queen. In 1850, the large east wing was added. The three wings were built around a central courtyard. Right up to the 19th and 20th centuries structural changes were being made. The public face of Buckingham Palace, as we see it today, was made in 1913 by Aston Webb. During World War II, the palace chapel was destroyed during the German bombing. The Queen’s gallery has been built on this site. It was opened to the public in 1962 and has exquisite works of art from the Royal Collection on display. The state rooms are the nucleus of the palace. This is where Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family do all the official and state entertaining. The magnificent Buckingham Palace Garden was originally landscaped by Capability Brown. Later, William Townsend Aiton of Kew Gardens redesigned the gardens along with John Nash.

It is interesting to know that the roots of the Buckingham Palace can be traced back to the Middle Ages. The site of the palace was a part of the Manor of Ebury. The ground was marshy because of the river Tyburn which still flows beneath the courtyard, and the South Wing. The site changed many hands. During the time of the Saxons, Edward the Confessor, and Edith of Wessex who was his Queen Consort lived here. After the Normans came to power, it was the home of William the Conqueror. William gave Geoffrey de Mandeville the site and he later bequeathed the site to the monks of Westminster Abbey. Henry VIII, procured the Hospital of St. James from Eton College.

This later became St. James’ Palace. In 1536, he took back the Manor of Ebury from the Westminster Abbey. This, then was the site where Buckingham Palace was created. It was during the time of Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra that Buckingham Palace became the central hub of the British Empire. The Ballroom, Grand Entrance, Marble Hall, Grand Staircase, all the vestibules and galleries were redecorated, and looks exactly the same as it did all those years ago. Prince Albert was a connoisseur of music and during his time there were many musical entertainments. Mendelssohn played there thrice. Johann Strauss II and his orchestra performed here. In fact, Strauss’s Alice Polka was composed in honor of Princess Alice, the Queen’s daughter, and performed for the royal family in 1849. During Queen Victoria’s reign, Buckingham Palace was the scene of all investitures and presentations. All royal ceremonies were held here as well as lavish costume balls. After 1861 when Queen Victoria was widowed, she left Buckingham Palace and lived at Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle and Osborne House. This was the time when Buckingham Palace was completely neglected.

Interesting Facts

Buckingham Palace is 108 meters long, 120 meters deep and 24 meters high. The total floor area from the basement up to the roof is 77,000 square meters. The Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. There are 19 State rooms, 52 bedrooms including the Royal bedrooms and guest rooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.

The Palace garden covers 40 acres. The Queen holds her garden parties here every year. Other family functions are held here as well. The artificial lake was completed in 1828. The water for the lake comes from the Serpentine, which is a river that runs through Hyde Park. Next to the palace is the Royal Mews. Nash designed this as well. The Royal Mews houses the royal carriages including the Gold State Coach. The monarch rides in the Gold State Coach only for coronations and jubilee celebrations. William Chambers designed this gorgeous coach in 1760. The rococo gilt coach has painted panels by Cipriani. The very first time this coach was used was by George III in 1762 for the State Opening of Parliament.

The ceremonial approach to the palace is the Mall. It was designed by Aston Webb. The Mall was part of a memorial to Queen Victoria. It extends right from the Admiralty Arch up to the Victoria Memorial and around up to the palace forecourt. When visiting Buckingham Palace, all visiting Heads of State with their accompanying cavalcades and motorcades, go down the Mall to the palace. The Royal Family uses this route only on State occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Color. Buckingham Palace is the home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. It is also the residence of the Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The offices of the Royal Household are here and 450 people work here regularly.

The Queen entertains around 50,000 guests every year. She holds the three Garden Parties usually in the summer and one in July, besides the receptions, audiences and banquets. The forecourt of the palace is used for the very ceremonious Changing of the Guard. This is a major ceremony and tourist attraction. The Changing of the Guard takes place every day during the summer and on every other day in winter.

Many of the beautiful and priceless contents in Buckingham Palace, and St. James’ Palace are owned by the nation. This is known as the Royal Collection and is open to the public at the Queen’s Gallery, which is near the Royal Mews. The State Rooms at the palace have been open to the public during August and September since 1993. The entry fees are put to good use for the building. For example, in 1992, a fire destroyed many of the palace’s State Rooms. The money that was collected as entry fee, went toward rebuilding the rooms and restoring them to their original splendor.

Significance

The Buckingham Palace is the symbol of the British monarchy. There is a strong feeling of history associated with the palace, and there is a feeling of continuity, of being part of a great tradition. For instance, St. James’ Palace used to be the official and ceremonial residence of King George IV. Even today, though the foreign ambassadors go to Buckingham Palace to present their credentials to the Queen, the tradition of being formally accredited to the Court of St. James continues. It is this sense of history that gives the country a mellow beauty as it were. Monarchy may not have as important a place in today’s world, but no one can deny the hold that monarchy has on the minds and imagination of the common man. The Buckingham Palace has always been a rallying point for the British, whether it is during good times or during a crisis.

I had seen Buckingham Palace, first, in 1969. Those were the days of the flower power and anti-establishmentalism. Even then, this symbol of 100% establishment struck me with awe. Something about it was pure majesty. In 2006, when my husband and I saw it, the Palace again revived those same feelings of awe and grandeur.......