The Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarchs. It serves as both the office of Her Majesty - The Queen - as well as the administrative headquarters of the Royal Household. It is one of the few working royal palaces remaining in the world today.
The Buckingham Palace was built in 1702 by the Duke of Buckingham to be his home in London. The house was later sold to George III in 1761 by the Duke's son. In 1774 it was renamed to "Queen's House" as Queen Charlotte resided there. In 1820 Nash, who was one of the foremost architects at that time, was commissioned by George IV. Nash added new rooms facing into the garden thus the size of the building doubled. However the front of the Palace has remained unchanged from the original design over 300 years ago. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to take up residence in the Buckingham Palace in 1837.
Furthermore the Buckingham Palace consists of more than 600 rooms including 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. However, the balcony is the most well-known room of the Palce since this is the place where the Royal family gathers on celebratory occasions to be seen by the public. The forecourt below witnesses the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard. In their full dress uniform of red tunic, black pants and bearskin hats, the ceremony is definitely a magnet for tourists. Moreover, the Palace's garden is home to thirty different species of birds and more than 350 different wild flowers and some of them are extremely rare.
Opening hours
27 July - 29 September 2010
