$Unique_ID{bob00542} $Pretitle{} $Title{United Kingdom Buckingham Palace} $Subtitle{} $Author{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC} $Affiliation{Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC} $Subject{palace room queen king royal george state wing buckingham gallery} $Date{1990} $Log{} Title: United Kingdom Book: Facts about the United Kingdom Author: Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC Affiliation: Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington DC Date: 1990 Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace has been the London residence of British kings and queens since Queen Victoria acceded to the throne in 1837. Its 600 rooms and its grounds occupy the site of Buckingham House, built in 1703 by the Duke of Buckingham. King George III bought the house in 1762 as a town dwelling for Queen Charlotte, and they occupied it as a private, rather than a state, residence. The building of the present palace, started in 1825, was carried out to the designs of the architect John Nash, employed by King George IV. The palace was built in Bath stone (Buckingham House was originally a red brick building),and Nash retained the shell of the earlier house and much of the plan. He designed the building as a three-sided court open on the east, in front of which stood the Marble Arch (later removed to its present site at the north-east corner of Hyde Park). In 1847 the east (front) wing of the palace, the part most familiar to the public, was built, enclosing the courtyard. The facade of the east wing was refaced in Portland stone in 1913 as part of a scheme that included the erection of the Queen Victoria memorial beyond the forecourt at the front of the palace. The forecourt is nowadays patrolled by sentries of the Household Division in full dress uniform. Every day from April to October and on alternate days during the winter the colourful ceremony of Changing the Guard is performed at 11.30 in the morning, and a Guard's band plays. When the Queen is in residence, the Royal Standard, her personal flag, flies at the palace's masthead. With the exception of the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews (see p 2), Buckingham Palace is not open to the public. The State Apartments The state apartments, in the west wing of the palace, are approached by the Grand Hall and Grand Staircase with its marble stairway and gilt bronze balustrading. The Ballroom, which is the largest of the apartments, was built for Queen Victoria in the 1850s. Lit by six immense chandeliers formed of crystal bowls, the room contains at one end the Throne Dais, and at the other an organ and musicians' gallery. It is here that state balls, state banquets and investitures are held. The Blue Drawing Room, sometimes said to be the most beautiful room in the palace, was the palace ballroom before 1854. In this room is the "Table of the Commanders', made for the Emperor Napoleon I in 1812 and after his defeat presented to King George IV (then Prince Regent) by King Louis XVIII of France. The table is of green and gold S*evres porcelain. The White Drawing Room is a white and gold room, with delicate yellow upholstery and curtains and a magnificent flowered carpet. Its furniture includes many fine examples of English Regency and French craftsmanship. The Throne Room with a marble frieze depicting the Wars of the Roses of fifteenth-century England is lit by seven cut-glass chandeliers. The thrones on the dais were used by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Coronation in 1953. Also in the throne room are the Coronation Chair of Queen Victoria and four large chairs used at the Coronation of King George VI. The ivory and gold Music Room has a domed ceiling and a half-dome over the bow, the elaborately moulded plaster work being richly gilt. The two huge cut-glass chandeliers are the finest in the palace. Queen Victoria and her Consort, Prince Albert, held musical evenings in this room. Adjacent to the Blue and White Drawing Rooms and the Music Room is the Picture Gallery which contains a particularly fine collection of seventeenth century Dutch paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens, Frans Hals and Ruysdael. The Private Apartments The Queen's private apartments are in the north wing. The east wing is mainly used as guest rooms on occasions such as state visits. When the east front was added, King George IV's Oriental Pavilion at Brighton was sold to contribute to the cost of building the new wing and, therefore, much furniture in the Chinese style was available. From there came the four porcelain pagodas which stand at either end of the principal corridor, whose mirror-glass doors reflect portraits, antique furniture, crimson curtains and carpet, forming a gallery for the display of works of art, as do the long corridors on all floors; and the style of the Balcony Room whose walls are hung with six finely embroidered panels of old Chinese silk of imperial yellow. The central window is used by the royal family to step on the balcony on important occasions when crowds gather before the palace. The Gardens, the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews The palace gardens, covering some 45 acres (18 hectares) and extending to Hyde Park Corner, were laid out for King George IV by W.T. Aiton. They comprise a lake, lawns and paths and a large variety of flowers and trees, including one of the mulberry trees planted in the early 1600s in an attempt to encourage the silk industry. In the summer the gardens are the scene of three royal garden parties during which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh meet some 22,000-23,000 guests of many nationalities and from different walks of life. The south wing of the palace contains the Queen's Gallery, open since 1962 for the public display of art treasures from the royal collection. In it a small chapel is screened from public view. In the Royal Mews (or stables) on the south side of the palace grounds, the coach houses, carriage horses and royal cars and carriages can be viewed by the public twice a week. The carriages include the Gold State Coach, built for King George III in 1762 and used at coronations ever since.