   #copyright

Buckingham Palace

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Architecture

   Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. This principal façade of
   1850 by Edward Blore, the East Front, was redesigned in 1913 by Sir
   Aston Webb.
   Enlarge
   Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial. This principal façade of
   1850 by Edward Blore, the East Front, was redesigned in 1913 by Sir
   Aston Webb.

   Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British
   monarch. The Palace is a setting for state occasions and royal
   entertaining, a base for many officially visiting Heads of State, and a
   major tourist attraction. It has been a rallying point for British
   people at times of national rejoicing, crisis or grief. "Buckingham
   Palace" or simply "The Palace" commonly refers to the source of Press
   statements issued by the offices of the Royal Household.

   In the Middle Ages, Buckingham Palace's site formed part of the Manor
   of Ebury. It had several royal owners from Edward the Confessor onwards
   and was also the object of much property speculation. (A loophole in
   the lease of Charles I allowed the area to revert back to royal hands
   in the 18th century.) Precursors of Buckingham Palace were Blake House,
   Goring House, and Arlington House.

   Originally known as Buckingham House, the building forming the core of
   today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham
   in 1703 and acquired by King George III in 1762 as a private residence.
   It was enlarged over the next 75 years, principally by architects John
   Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard.
   Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the
   British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last
   major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th
   century, when the large east wing facing The Mall was added, and the
   former State entrance, Marble Arch, was removed to its present position
   near Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park. The east front was refaced in
   Portland stone in 1913 as a backdrop to the Victoria Memorial, creating
   the present-day public face of Buckingham Palace, including the famous
   balcony.

   The original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which still
   survive, included widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and
   blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII
   oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle epoque cream and gold colour
   scheme. Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese
   regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal
   Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House following the death of King
   George IV. The Buckingham Palace Gardens are the largest private
   gardens in London, originally landscaped by Capability Brown, but
   redesigned by William Townsend Aiton of Kew Gardens and John Nash. The
   artificial lake was completed in 1828 and is supplied with water from
   the Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park.

   The State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used
   regularly by The Queen and members of the royal family for official and
   state entertaining. Buckingham Palace is one of the world's most
   familiar buildings and more than 50,000 people visit the palace each
   year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the royal
   garden parties.
   Queen Victoria, the first monarch to reside at Buckingham Palace, moved
   into the newly completed palace upon her accession in 1837
   Enlarge
   Queen Victoria, the first monarch to reside at Buckingham Palace, moved
   into the newly completed palace upon her accession in 1837

History

   Buckingham House c.1710 as designed by William Winde for the first Duke
   of Buckingham and Normanby. This facade evolved into today's Grand
   Entrance on the west (inner) side of the quadrangle, with the Green
   Drawing Room above.
   Enlarge
   Buckingham House c.1710 as designed by William Winde for the first Duke
   of Buckingham and Normanby. This facade evolved into today's Grand
   Entrance on the west (inner) side of the quadrangle, with the Green
   Drawing Room above.

The site

   it to the monks of Westminster Abbey.

   In 1531 King Henry VIII acquired from Eton College the Hospital of St
   James (later St James's Palace), and in 1536 he received the Manor of
   Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of
   Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since
   William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier.

   Various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the
   subject of frenzied speculation in the 17th century. By then, the old
   village Garden at S. James's", suggesting it may have been a place of
   debauchery.

   Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from
   the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies.

First houses on the site

   Possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir
   William Blake, around 1624. The next owner was Lord Goring, who from
   1633 extended Blake's house and developed much of today's garden, then
   known as Goring Great Garden. He did not, however, manage to obtain
   freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640
   the document "failed to pass the great seal before King Charles I fled
   London, which it needed to do for legal execution". (It was this
   critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the
   freehold under King George III.)

   The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents; Henry Bennet, 1st Earl
   of Arlington obtained and was occupying the mansion, now known as
   Goring House, when it burnt down in 1674. Arlington House rose on the
   site — the southern wing of today's palace — the next year, and its
   freehold was sold on in 1702.

   The house which forms the architectural core of the present palace was
   built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 to the
   design of William Winde. The style chosen was of a large, three-floored
   central block with two smaller flanking service wings.

   Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham's descendant, Sir
   Charles Sheffield, in 1762 to King George III for £21,000. (Like his
   grandfather, George II, George III refused to sell the mulberry garden
   interest, so that Sheffield had been unable to purchase the full
   freehold of the site.) The house was originally intended as a private
   retreat for the royal family, and in particular for Queen Charlotte,
   and was known as The Queen's House. St. James's Palace remained the
   official and ceremonial royal residence; indeed, the tradition
   continues to date of foreign ambassadors being formally accredited to
   "the Court of St. James's", even though it is at Buckingham Palace that
   they present their credentials and staff to the Queen upon their
   appointment.

House to palace

   George IV transformed Buckingham House into a palace
   Enlarge
   George IV transformed Buckingham House into a palace

   Queen Charlotte died in 1818 and George III in 1820. The spendthrift
   King George IV decided to enlarge Buckingham House to use in
   conjunction with St James's Palace as had his father, but by 1826 he
   had decided to convert the house to a fully equipped royal palace. He
   commissioned John Nash to realise his vision. The palace that arose
   formed three sides of an open cour d'honneur, with the former
   Buckingham House as the corps de logis. The new work was faced in Bath
   stone, with exquisite detailing in the French neoclassical style. This
   is the palace much as it is today, but without the great east front
   (facing The Mall) which now encloses the quadrangle. On the future site
   of the present east front, between the two projecting wings, was a
   colossal triumphal arch of Racaccione marble, modelled on the Arch of
   Constantine in Rome. This arch, which had cost £34,450 to build, served
   as the state entrance. George IV had intended it to be crowned by a
   bronze equestrian statue of himself, but he died before its completion,
   and when Parliament reluctantly paid the bill for it, they decided to
   put it in Hyde Park, where it remains today. The interiors of the
   palace were to be of unparalleled splendour. George IV was advised on
   the interior design by Sir Charles Long, who advocated the widespread
   use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, with
   sculptured plaster panels set in the ceilings. George IV died in 1830,
   and the colourful and heavily gilded present state and semi-state rooms
   were not completed until the reign of King William IV.
   King William IV's practicality informed the completion of the palace.
   While his monogram and that of Queen Adelaide decorates many rooms,
   they never lived there
   Enlarge
   King William IV's practicality informed the completion of the palace.
   While his monogram and that of Queen Adelaide decorates many rooms,
   they never lived there

   By the time of George IV's death, the escalating cost of the still
   unfinished palace was causing concern in both parliament and the press.
   William IV dismissed Nash as architect and employed Edward Blore, who
   suited admirably the more restrained tastes of the new king. A less
   idealistic but more businesslike architect than Nash, Blore retained
   Nash's contributions and completed the palace in a similar, if more
   solid and less picturesque, vein. The final cost to the nation of
   rebuilding Buckingham Palace was more than £719,000.

   Though William IV and Queen Adelaide held receptions and courts in the
   state rooms, they never lived in the palace, preferring to remain at
   Clarence House, the more modest London mansion they had commissioned to
   be built before their succession. Moreover, when the Houses of
   Parliament burned down in 1834, the King offered the incomplete palace
   to the nation as a replacement seat of government. (The offer was
   declined and the old Palace of Westminster rebuilt.)

   Many of the smaller reception rooms were furnished during William IV's
   reign — as they remain today — in the Chinese Regency style, utilising
   many of the fireplaces, decorations, and furniture brought from George
   IV's palaces, the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House,
   following his death.

Garden and precincts

   At the backof the palace is the large park-like garden, the largest
   private garden in London. The landscape design was by Capability Brown
   but the garden was redesigned at the time of the palace rebuilding by
   William Townsend Aiton of Kew Gardens and John Nash. The great manmade
   lake was completed in 1828 and is supplied with water by the Serpentine
   Lake in Hyde Park.
   A garden party at Buckingham Palace in 1868.
   Enlarge
   A garden party at Buckingham Palace in 1868.

   Like the palace, the Buckingham Palace Gardens are rich in works of
   art. One of the most notable is the Waterloo Vase, the great urn
   commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his expected victories, which
   in 1815 was presented unfinished to the Prince Regent by Ferdinand,
   Grand Duke of Tuscany. The king had the vase completed by the sculptor
   Richard Westmacott, intending it to be the focal point of the new
   Waterloo chamber at Windsor Castle. But at 15ft high and weighing 15
   tons, no floor could bear the weight, and it was presented to the
   National Gallery. The gallery finally returned the white elephant to
   the sovereign in 1906. Edward VII then solved the problem by placing
   the vase outside in the garden where it now remains. Also in the
   gardens is a small summerhouse attributed to William Kent, circa 1740.

   In June 2002 the Queen invited the public into her garden for
   entertainment for the first time during her reign. As part of her
   Golden Jubilee Weekend thousands of Britons were invited to apply for
   tickets to Party at the Palace where the guitarist Brian May of the
   band Queen performed his God Save The Queen guitar solo on top of
   Buckingham Palace. This concert was preceded the previous evening by a
   Prom at the Palace. During the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations in
   2006 the garden was the scene of Children's Party at the Palace for an
   audience of 2,000 children.

   The garden is the setting for the many garden parties held by the Queen
   each summer. However, guests, while numerous and from all stations in
   life, are usually those who hold a public position, or are in some way
   of national interest.

   Next to the palace is the Royal Mews, also designed by Nash, where the
   royal carriages, including the Gold State Coach, are housed. This
   rococo gilt coach, designed by Sir William Chambers in 1760, has
   painted panels by G. B. Cipriani. It was first used for the State
   Opening of Parliament by George III in 1762 and is used by the monarch
   only for coronations or jubilee celebrations. Also housed in the mews
   are the carriage horses used in the royal ceremonial processions which
   take place in London.

Home of the monarch

   The Palace c.1837, depicting the Marble Arch, which served as the
   ceremonial entrance to the palace precincts. It was moved to make way
   for the east wing, built in 1847, which enclosed the quadrangle.
   Enlarge
   The Palace c.1837, depicting the Marble Arch, which served as the
   ceremonial entrance to the palace precincts. It was moved to make way
   for the east wing, built in 1847, which enclosed the quadrangle.

   Buckingham Palace finally became the principal Royal residence in 1837
   on the accession of Queen Victoria. While the State Rooms were a riot
   of gilt and colour, the necessities of the new palace were somewhat
   less luxurious. It was reported the chimneys smoked so much that the
   fires had to be allowed to die, and consequently the court shivered in
   icy magnificence. Ventilation was so bad that the interior smelled, and
   when a decision was taken to install gas lamps there was a serious
   worry about the build up of gas on the lower floors. It was also said
   that the staff were lax and lazy and the palace was dirty. Following
   the Queen's marriage in 1840, her husband, Prince Albert, concerned
   himself with a reorganization of the household offices and staff, and
   with the design faults of the palace. The problems were rectified, the
   builders finally leaving the palace in 1840.

   By 1847, the couple had found the palace too small for Court life and
   their growing family, and consequently the new wing, designed by Edward
   Blore, was built, enclosing the central quadrangle. This large east
   wing, facing The Mall is today the 'public face' of Buckingham Palace
   and contains the balcony from which the Royal Family acknowledge the
   crowds on momentous occasions and annually following Trooping the
   Colour. The ballroom wing and a further suite of state rooms were also
   built in this period, designed by Nash's student Sir James Pennethorne.

   Before Prince Albert's demise, Queen Victoria was known to love music
   and dancing, and the greatest contemporary musicians entertained at
   Buckingham Palace. Felix Mendelssohn is known to have played there on
   three occasions. Johann Strauss II and his orchestra played there when
   in England. Strauss' 'Alice Polka' was first performed at the palace in
   1849 in honour of the Queen's daughter, Princess Alice. Under Victoria,
   Buckingham Palace was frequently the scene of lavish costume balls, in
   addition to the routine royal ceremonies, investitures and
   presentations.

   When widowed in 1861, the griefstricken Queen withdrew from public life
   and left Buckingham Palace to live at Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle,
   and Osborne House. For many years the palace was seldom used, and even
   neglected. Eventually public opinion forced her to return to London,
   though even then she preferred to live elsewhere whenever possible.
   Court functions were still held at Windsor Castle rather than at the
   palace, presided over by the sombre Queen habitually dressed in
   mourning black.

Interior

   Piano nobile of Buckingham Palace. A: State Dining Room; B:Blue Drawing
   Room; C:Music Room; D:White Drawing Room; E:Royal Closet; F:Throne
   Room; G:Green drawing Room; H:Cross Gallery; J:Ball Room; K:East
   Gallery; L:Yellow Drawing Room; M:Centre/Balcony Room; N:Chinese
   Luncheon Room; O:Principal Corridor; P:Private Apartments; Q:Service
   Areas; W:The Grand staircase. On the ground floor: R:Ambassador's
   Entrance; T: Grand Entrance. The areas defined by shaded walls
   represent lower minor wings. Note: This is an unscaled sketch plan for
   reference only. Proportions of some rooms may slightly differ in
   reality.
   Enlarge
   Piano nobile of Buckingham Palace. A: State Dining Room; B:Blue Drawing
   Room; C:Music Room; D:White Drawing Room; E:Royal Closet; F:Throne
   Room; G:Green drawing Room; H:Cross Gallery; J:Ball Room; K:East
   Gallery; L:Yellow Drawing Room; M:Centre/Balcony Room; N:Chinese
   Luncheon Room; O:Principal Corridor; P:Private Apartments; Q:Service
   Areas; W:The Grand staircase. On the ground floor: R:Ambassador's
   Entrance; T: Grand Entrance. The areas defined by shaded walls
   represent lower minor wings. Note: This is an unscaled sketch plan for
   reference only. Proportions of some rooms may slightly differ in
   reality.

   The principal rooms of the Palace are contained on the piano nobile
   behind the west-facing garden facade at the rear of the Palace. The
   centre of this ornate suite of State Rooms is the Music Room, its large
   bow the dominant feature of the facade. Flanking the Music Room are the
   Blue and the White Drawing rooms. At the centre of the suite, serving
   as a corridor to link the state rooms, is the Picture Gallery, which is
   top lit and 55 yards (50 m) long. The Gallery is hung with works by
   Rembrandt, van Dyck, Rubens, and Vermeer, among many others. Other
   rooms leading from the Picture Gallery are the Throne Room and the
   Green Drawing Room. The Green Drawing room serves as a huge anteroom to
   the Throne Room, and is part of the ceremonial route to the Throne from
   the Guard Room at the top of the Grand Staircase. The Guard Room
   contains a white marble statue of Prince Albert, in Roman costume set
   in a tribune lined with tapestries. These very formal rooms are used
   only for ceremonial and official entertaining.

   Directly underneath the State Apartments is a suite of slightly less
   grand rooms known as the semi-state apartments. Opening from the marble
   hall, these rooms are used for less-formal entertaining, such as
   luncheon parties and private audiences. Some of the rooms are named and
   decorated for particular visitors, such as the '1844 Room', which was
   decorated in that year for the State visit of Emperor Nicholas I of
   Russia. At the centre of this suite is the Bow Room, through which
   thousands of guests pass annually to the Queen's Garden Parties in the
   Gardens beyond. The Queen uses privately a smaller suite of rooms in
   the North wing.

   Between 1847 and 1850, when Blore was building the new east wing, the
   Brighton Pavilion was once again plundered of its fittings. As a result
   many of the rooms in the new wing have a distinctly oriental
   atmosphere. The red and blue Chinese Luncheon Room is made up from
   parts of the Brighton banqueting and music rooms, but has a chimney
   piece, also from Brighton, in design more Indian than Chinese. The
   Yellow Drawing Room has 18th century wall paper, which was supplied in
   1817 for the Brighton Saloon, and the chimney piece in this room is a
   European vision of what the Chinese equivalent would look like,
   complete with nodding mandarins in niches and fearsome winged dragons.
   Prince Albert's music room, one of the smaller less formal rooms at the
   palace, in 1887.
   Enlarge
   Prince Albert's music room, one of the smaller less formal rooms at the
   palace, in 1887.

   At the centre of this wing is the famous balcony, with behind its glass
   doors the Centre Room. This is a Chinese-style saloon enhanced by Queen
   Mary in the late 1920s, although the lacquer doors were brought from
   Brighton in 1873. Running the length of the piano nobile of the east
   wing is an immense gallery, modestly known as the Principal Corridor.
   It has mirrored doors, and mirrored cross walls reflecting porcelain
   pagodas and other oriental furniture from Brighton. The Chinese
   Luncheon Room and Yellow Drawing Room are situated at each end of this
   gallery, with the Centre Room obviously placed in the centre.

   Visiting heads of state today, when staying at the palace, occupy a
   suite of rooms known as the Belgian suite, which is on the ground floor
   of the North-facing garden front. These rooms, with corridors enhanced
   by saucer domes, were first decorated for Prince Albert's uncle Léopold
   I, first King of the Belgians. King Edward VIII lived in these rooms
   during his short reign.

Court ceremonies

   The State Ballroom is the largest room at Buckingham Palace. It was
   added by Queen Victoria and is used for ceremonies such as investitures
   and state banquets. This picture dates from 1856. The polychrome colour
   scheme has been replaced by mainly white decoration with gold details
   and red upholstery.
   Enlarge
   The State Ballroom is the largest room at Buckingham Palace. It was
   added by Queen Victoria and is used for ceremonies such as investitures
   and state banquets. This picture dates from 1856. The polychrome colour
   scheme has been replaced by mainly white decoration with gold details
   and red upholstery.

   During the current reign court ceremony has undergone a radical change,
   and entry to the palace is no longer the prerogative of just the upper
   class.

   There has been a progressive relaxation of the dress code governing
   formal court uniform and dress. In previous reigns, men not wearing
   military uniform wore knee breeches of an 18th-century design. Women's
   evening dress included obligatory trains and tiaras and/or feathers in
   their hair. After World War I, when Queen Mary wished to follow fashion
   by raising her skirts a few inches from the ground, she requested a
   Lady-in-Waiting to shorten her own skirt first to gauge the King's
   reaction. King George V was horrified and Queen Mary's hemline remained
   unfashionably low. Subsequently, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
   allowed daytime skirts to rise.

   In 1924 Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald was the first man to be
   received by a monarch inside the palace wearing a lounge suit; however,
   this was a one-off concession. Prescribed evening court dress remained
   obligatory until World War II.

   Today there is no official dress code. Most men invited to Buckingham
   Palace in the daytime choose to wear service uniform or morning coats,
   and in the evening, depending on the formality of the occasion, black
   tie or white tie. If the occasion is 'white tie' then women, if they
   possess one, wear a tiara.

   One of the first major changes was in 1958 when the Queen abolished the
   presentation parties for debutantes. These court presentations of
   aristocratic girls to the monarch took place in the Throne Room.
   Debutantes wore full court dress, with three tall ostrich feathers in
   their hair. They entered, curtsied, performed a choreographed backwards
   walk and a further curtsey, while manoeuvring a dress train of
   prescribed length. The ceremony corresponded to the " court drawing
   rooms" of earlier reigns, and Queen Elizabeth II replaced the
   presentations with large and frequent palace garden parties for an
   invited cross-section of British society. The late Princess Margaret is
   reputed to have remarked of the debutante presentations: "We had to put
   a stop to it, every tart in London was getting in" . Today, the Throne
   Room is used for the reception of formal addresses such as those given
   to the Queen on her Jubilees. It is here on the throne dais that royal
   wedding portraits and family photographs are taken.

   Investitures, which include the conferring of knighthoods by dubbing
   with a sword, and other awards take place in the palace's Victorian
   Ballroom, built in 1854. At 123 ft by 60 ft (37 m by 20 m), this is the
   largest room in the palace. It has replaced the Throne Room in
   importance and use. During investitures the Queen stands on the throne
   dais beneath a giant, domed velvet canopy, known as a shamiana or a
   baldachin, used at the coronation Durbar in Delhi in 1911. A military
   band plays in the musicians' gallery, as the recipients of awards
   approach the Queen and receive their honours, watched by their families
   and friends. The Beatles were among the first non-establishment artists
   to be awarded honours at the palace.
   This 1870 drawing shows guests ascending the Grand Staircase.
   Enlarge
   This 1870 drawing shows guests ascending the Grand Staircase.

   State banquets also take place in the Ballroom. These formal dinners
   take place on the first evening of a state visit by a visiting Head of
   State. On these occasions, often over 150 guests in formal "white tie
   and decorations" including tiaras for women, dine off gold plate. The
   largest and most formal reception at Buckingham Palace takes place
   every November, when the Queen entertains members of the foreign
   diplomatic corps resident in London. On this occasion all the state
   rooms are in use, as the entire Royal Family proceed through them,
   beginning their procession through the great north doors of the Picture
   Gallery. As Nash had envisaged, all the large, double-mirrored doors
   stand open, reflecting the numerous crystal chandeliers and sconces,
   causing a deliberate optical illusion of space and light.

   Smaller ceremonies such as the reception of new ambassadors take place
   in the '1844 Room'. Here too the Queen holds small lunch parties, and
   often meetings of the Privy Council. Larger lunch parties often take
   place in the curved and domed Music Room, or the State Dining Room. On
   all formal occasions the ceremonies are attended by the Yeomen of the
   Guard in their anachronistic uniforms, and other officers of the court
   such as the Lord Chamberlain.

   Since the bombing of the palace chapel in World War II, royal
   christenings have sometimes taken place in the Music Room. The Queen's
   first three children were all baptised here, in a special gold font.
   Prince William was christened in the Music Room; however, his brother,
   Prince Harry, was christened at St George's Chapel, Windsor.

   The largest functions of the year are the garden parties for up to
   8,000 invitees, taking tea and sandwiches outdoors in a series of
   marquees. The guests first assemble, then as a military band plays the
   National Anthem, the Queen emerges from the Bow Room, and slowly walks
   through the guests, greeting those previously selected for the honour,
   to her own more private tea tent. If the guests at these functions do
   not actually have the opportunity to meet the Queen, they at least have
   the consolation of being able to admire the gardens.

Modern history

   Buckingham Palace panorama, 1909
   Enlarge
   Buckingham Palace panorama, 1909
   The east front of Buckingham Palace was completed in 1850. Seen here in
   1910, it was remodelled to its present form in 1913
   Enlarge
   The east front of Buckingham Palace was completed in 1850. Seen here in
   1910, it was remodelled to its present form in 1913

   In 1901 the accession of Edward VII saw new life breathed into the
   palace. The new King and his wife Queen Alexandra had always been at
   the forefront of London high society, and their friends, known as "the
   Marlborough House Set", were considered to be the most eminent and
   fashionable of the age. Buckingham Palace—the Ballroom, Grand Entrance,
   Marble Hall, Grand Staircase, vestibules and galleries redecorated in
   the Belle epoque cream and gold colour scheme they retain today—once
   again became the focal point of the British Empire and a setting for
   entertaining on a majestic scale. Many people feel King Edward's heavy
   redecoration of the palace does not complement Nash's original work.
   However, it has been allowed to remain for one hundred years.

   The last major building work took place during the reign of King George
   V when, in 1913, Sir Aston Webb redesigned Blore's 1850 East Front to
   resemble in part Giacomo Leoni's Lyme Park in Cheshire. This new,
   refaced principal facade (of Portland stone) was designed to be the
   backdrop to the Victoria Memorial, a large memorial statue of Queen
   Victoria, placed outside the main gates. George V, who had succeeded
   Edward VII in 1910, had a more serious personality than his father;
   greater emphasis was now placed on official entertaining and royal
   duties than on lavish parties. George V's wife Queen Mary was a
   connoisseur of the arts, and took a keen interest in the Royal
   collection of furniture and art, both restoring and adding to it. Queen
   Mary also had many new fixtures and fittings installed, such as the
   pair of marble Empire-style chimneypieces by Benjamin Vulliamy, dating
   from 1810, which the Queen had installed in the ground floor Bow Room,
   the huge low room at the centre of the garden facade. Queen Mary was
   also responsible for the decoration of the Blue Drawing Room. This
   room, 69 feet (21 m) long, previously known as the South Drawing Room,
   has one of Nash's finest ceilings, coffered with huge gilt console
   brackets, and is referred to by the author and historian Olwen Hedley
   in her book Buckingham Palace as the most beautiful in the palace,
   grander and more lavish than either the Throne Room or the Ballroom,
   which was built to take over the Blue Drawing Room's original function.
   Victoria Memorial was created by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock in 1911
   and erected in front of the main gates at Buckingham Palace on a
   surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb.
   Enlarge
   Victoria Memorial was created by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock in 1911
   and erected in front of the main gates at Buckingham Palace on a
   surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb.

   The last major extension to the palace was in 1850. In 1999 it was
   stated that the palace contained 19 state rooms, 52 principal bedrooms,
   188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms. While this may seem
   large, it is small compared with the Tsar's palaces in St. Petersburg
   and at Tsarskoe Selo, the Papal Palace in Rome, the Royal Palace of
   Madrid, or indeed the former Palace of Whitehall, and tiny compared to
   the Forbidden City and Potala Palace. The relative smallness of the
   palace may be best appreciated from within, looking out over the inner
   quadrangle. A minor extension was made in 1938, in which the north-west
   pavilion, designed by Nash, was converted into a swimming pool.

   During World War I the Palace, then the home of King George V and Queen
   Mary, escaped unscathed. Its more valuable contents were evacuated to
   Windsor but the Royal family remained in situ. The largest change to
   court life at this time was that the Government persuaded the King to
   ostentatiously and publicly lock the wine cellars and refrain from
   alcohol for the duration of the war, to set a good example to the
   supposedly inebriated lower classes. The lower classes continued to
   imbibe and the King was left reputedly furious at his enforced
   abstinence. Edward VIII later told a biographer that his father had a
   furtive glass of port each evening, while the Queen secretly laced her
   fruit cup with champagne. The King's children were photographed at this
   time serving tea to wounded officers in the adjacent Royal Mews.

   During World War II the Palace fared worse: it was bombed no less than
   seven times, and was a deliberate target, as it was thought by the
   Nazis that the destruction of Buckingham Palace would demoralise the
   nation. One bomb fell in the palace quadrangle while King George VI and
   Queen Elizabeth were in residence, but while many windows were blown
   in, no serious damage was reported. However, war time coverage of such
   incidents was severely restricted. The most serious and publicised
   bombing was the destruction of the Palace chapel in 1940: coverage of
   this event was played in cinemas all over England to show the common
   suffering of rich and poor. The King and Queen were filmed inspecting
   their bombed home, the smiling Queen immaculate in a hat and matching
   coat. It was at this time the Queen famously declared: "I'm glad we
   have been bombed. Now I can look the East End in the face". The Royal
   family were seen as sharing their subjects' hardship, as The Sunday
   Graphic reported:-

                By the Editor: The King and Queen have endured the ordeal
                which has come to their subjects. For the second time a
                German bomber has tried to bring death and destruction to
                the home of Their Majesties……..When this war is over the
                common danger which King George and Queen Elizabeth have
                shared with their people will be a cherished memory and an
                inspiration through the years".

   On September 15, 1940 an RAF pilot, Ray Holmes, rammed a German plane
   attempting to bomb the palace. Holmes had run out of ammunition and
   made the quick choice to ram it. Both planes crashed and their pilots
   survived. This incident was captured on film. The plane's engine was
   later exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London. Following the war
   the British pilot became a King's Messenger. He died at the age of 90
   in 2005.

   On VE Day ( May 8, 1945), the Palace was the centre of British
   celebrations, with the King, Queen and the Princess Elizabeth, the
   future Queen, and Princess Margaret appearing on the balcony, with the
   palace's blacked-out windows behind them, to the cheers from a vast
   crowd in the Mall.

Security

   Today though Royal security is high, it is better known for a series of
   high-profile intrusions, both at the Palace and elsewhere. The famous
   armed sentries on guard at the front of the palace are commonly thought
   to be ceremonial, but they have always had a security role. The palace
   also contains its own police station, and the Royal Family have their
   own protection officers at all times. The Foot Guards battalion at
   Wellington Barracks is only 300 yards (275 m) away. The units at
   Chelsea Barracks ( Foot Guards) and Hyde Park Barracks ( Household
   Cavalry) are both three-quarters of a mile away (1.2 km).
   Guards march out of Buckingham Palace at the end of the daily Changing
   of the Guard ceremony.
   Enlarge
   Guards march out of Buckingham Palace at the end of the daily Changing
   of the Guard ceremony.
   A new ceremonial approach to Buckingham Palace, was designed by Sir
   Aston Webb and completed in 1911 as part of a grand memorial to Queen
   Victoria. Beginning at Admiralty Arch progressing along The Mall it
   culminated in a vast statue of Victoria sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock in
   front of Webb's newly refaced Buckingham Palace.
   Enlarge
   A new ceremonial approach to Buckingham Palace, was designed by Sir
   Aston Webb and completed in 1911 as part of a grand memorial to Queen
   Victoria. Beginning at Admiralty Arch progressing along The Mall it
   culminated in a vast statue of Victoria sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock in
   front of Webb's newly refaced Buckingham Palace.

   A notorious incident occurred in 1982, when Michael Fagan gained access
   to the Queen's bedroom while she was asleep. In 2003 a reporter for the
   Daily Mirror, Ryan Parry, spent two months working as a footman inside
   Buckingham Palace. One of the references he supplied was fake, and it
   appears this was not checked properly. The incident coincided with a
   visit to the UK by George W. Bush, who stayed at the Palace, and the
   Mirror published clandestine photographs of Bush's bedroom, along with
   the Queen's breakfast table and the Duke of York's room. The Palace
   took the Mirror to court for invasion of privacy, and the newspaper
   handed over its materials, and paid some of the Queen's costs in an
   out-of-court settlement in November 2003.

   Most lapses of security have been outside the palace: In 1974, Ian Ball
   attempted to kidnap the Princess Royal at gunpoint in the Mall while
   she was returning to the palace, wounding several people in the
   process. In 1981, three German tourists camped in the gardens of the
   palace, after climbing over the heavily barbwired wall, purportedly
   believing the area to be Hyde Park. In 1993, anti-nuclear protestors
   also scaled the palace walls and held a sit down protest on the palace
   lawn. Most notably, in 1994, a naked paraglider landed on the roof of
   the building. In 1995 a student, John Gillard, was able to deliberately
   ram the gates of the palace, knocking one of the great wrought iron
   gates weighing 3,300 pounds (1.5 tonnes) off its hinges. In 1997, an
   absconded mentally ill patient was found wandering the palace grounds,
   which ordered another security review.

   Most recently, in 2004, a protester advocating the legal rights of
   single fathers, received wide press coverage when he climbed onto a
   ledge near the ceremonial balcony on the east front dressed as Batman.
   In the same incident, a second protester, dressed as Robin, was
   apprehended before he managed to climb onto the building; he returned
   the following November dressed as Father Christmas to chain himself to
   a lamp on one of the main gateposts.

   Historically, there have been many other lapses. Probably the most
   incredible was in 1837, when a 12-year-old boy known to history as The
   boy Cotton managed to live for a year undetected inside the palace.
   Hiding in chimneys and blackening the beds he slept in, he was finally
   apprehended in December 1838, causing questions on royal security to be
   asked in Parliament. Of the eight assassination attempts made on Queen
   Victoria, at least three occurred in the vicinity of the palace gates.
   In the early 20th century the front of the palace became a favoured
   venue for suffragettes, who would chain themselves to the gilded iron
   railings. Over the years numerous intruders have been apprehended in
   the palace grounds, including one who wished to propose marriage to
   Princess Anne, and who was declared insane.

The Palace in the 21st century

   The Royal Family on the balcony
   Enlarge
   The Royal Family on the balcony

   Today, Buckingham Palace is not only the home of the Queen and Prince
   Philip but also the London residence of the Duke of York and the Earl
   and Countess of Wessex. The palace also houses the office of the
   monarchy and its associated functions.

   In addition to being the weekday home of the Queen and the Duke of
   Edinburgh, the palace is the workplace of 450 people. Every year some
   50,000 people are entertained at garden parties, receptions, audiences,
   and banquets. The forecourt of Buckingham Palace is used for Changing
   of the Guard, a major ceremony and tourist attraction (daily during the
   summer months; every other day during the winter).

   The palace is not the private property of the Queen; Windsor Castle and
   Buckingham Palace and their art collections belong to the nation. The
   priceless furnishings, paintings, fittings and other artefacts, many by
   Fabergé, from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are known
   collectively as the Royal Collection; owned by the nation, they can be
   viewed by the public when the palace and castle are open to the public
   at various times of the year. The Queen's Gallery near the Royal Mews
   is open all year and displays a changing selection of items from the
   collection. The rooms containing the Queen's Gallery are on the site of
   the former chapel, which was damaged by one of the seven bombs to fall
   on the Palace during World War II.
   Buckingham Palace with the Union Flag projected onto it for Christmas
   Eve 2003
   Enlarge
   Buckingham Palace with the Union Flag projected onto it for Christmas
   Eve 2003

   The Mall, the ceremonial approach road to the palace, extends from
   Admiralty Arch, up the Mall, around the Victoria Memorial to the Palace
   forecourt. The tarmac's reddish colour recalls the red carpets of
   former times. Devised as a memorial to Queen Victoria, this route is
   used by the cavalcades and motorcades of all visiting heads of state,
   and by the Royal Family on state occasions such as the annual State
   Opening of Parliament. The processions pass through Admiralty Arch and
   into the Mall, which is always closed for the occasion.

   The Summer Opening of the Palace State Rooms to the public was a huge
   change to tradition in the 1990s. The money raised in entry fees was
   originally put towards the rebuilding of Windsor Castle following the
   fire that destroyed many of its State Rooms. Each Summer, during August
   and September, the West Wing of the Palace is opened to the public. A
   staff of about 200, mainly students, is employed to run the Opening in
   such areas as 'Queue', 'Visitor Entrance', 'Security', 'Baggage',
   'State Rooms', 'Access' and 'Garden'. The visitor route for 2006
   onwards is currently being updated for reasons of presentation and
   security.

Big Royal Dig graphic reconstructions of Buckingham Palace history

   As part of the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations, the Big Royal Dig
   carried out by the Time Team of archaeologists (see Buckingham Palace
   Gardens for full findings) from 25th-28th August 2006 produced some
   spectacular graphic reconstructions of Buckingham Palace history.

   Graphic Reconstruction 1 shows the familiar East Front of Buckingham
   Palace removed (in the background of the picture). The processional
   arch designed by architect John Nash, which was resited at Marble Arch
   in London, has been digitally replaced in its original site. (There is
   no truth in the frequently heard claim that it was removed as being too
   small for Queen Victoria's carriage: the Gold State Coach can pass
   through the arch, as was seen in the coronation procession of Queen
   Elizabeth II in 1953.)

   Graphic Reconstruction 2 combines architect John Nash's Palace building
   with the original Buckingham House wing. (The more familiar East Front
   of the Palace is out of frame on the right of shot.)

   Unfortunately, the Big Royal Dig did not succeed in unearthing traces
   of three prior residences erected on the Palace site, namely Buckingham
   House (1703), Arlington House (1674) and Goring House (1633).
   Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial.
   Enlarge
   Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
