Buckingham Palace Visits

Visiting London usually entails much more than a sightseeing and shopping opportunity - most people who visit are also interested in getting to know more about British culture. One central facet of British culture is its government - a unique combination of a theoretical monarchy and a representative Parliament.

An opportunity to learn more about the role of the monarchy is going to visit some of the royal residences, with the foremost being the main residence of the Queen, the famous Buckingham Palace . However, the Palace is much more than a large domicile - it plays an integral role in British government as a busy administrative headquarters of the Monarchy, where much policy and tradition is enacted.

Buckingham Palace is huge with its 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms, totaling a whopping 775 rooms. The size is opulent but functional - it houses the offices of those who conduct the daily activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, while also attending to their immediate family. Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, and other traditional engagements are organised by the members of the Royal Household. Buckingham Palace is home to the huge Royal Collection; furnishings priceless works of art abound as one of the major art collections in the world today, but it is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum. Its State Rooms act as the hub of the working Royal Palace and are used regularly by The Queen and members of the Royal Family for official and State entertaining

The Palace welcomes more than 50,000 guests each year for banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties. Those who receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace are often taken aback by the stunning visage of the Grand Hall and the curving marble stairs of the Grand Staircase. The Throne Room, sometimes used during Queen Victoria's reign for Court gatherings and as a ballroom, is dominated by a proscenium arch supported by a pair of winged cherubs holding garlands above the 'chairs of state'. The Queen, on very special occasions like Jubilees, receives loyal addresses in her Throne Room.

The original Palace commissioned by George IV never hosted a large room in which to entertain, so Queen Victoria added the Ballroom in 1853. At the time of its construction, it was the largest room in London , opened officially in 1856 with a great ball to celebrate the end of the Crimean War

Although very little of Buckingham Palace is open to the public, the State Rooms are open for tourists to visit. Some of the gorgeous things to take in during a tour of the State Rooms are the paintings collected by the Royal Family, featuring pieces by Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova, Sèvres porcelain, and some examples of the most exquisite English and French furniture