Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is a royal <a href="/facts/Official_residence/NWTyqjtr">residence</a> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>, and the administrative headquarters of the <a href="/facts/Monarch_of_the_United_Kingdom/hLC5tHrf">monarch of the United Kingdom</a>. Located in the <a href="/facts/City_of_Westminster/8pvuYHq2">City of Westminster</a>, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the <a href="/facts/British_people/xn7cqlzV">British people</a> at times of national rejoicing and mourning.
Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large <a href="/facts/Townhouse_(Great_Britain)/pnnTy1Cr">townhouse</a> built for the <a href="/facts/John_Sheffield%2c_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham_and_Normanby/1A9kqkG3">Duke of Buckingham and Normanby</a> in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by <a href="/facts/George_III/1RGERms7">George III</a> in 1761 as a private residence for <a href="/facts/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz/88dgqQcy">Queen Charlotte</a> and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged by architects <a href="/facts/John_Nash_(architect)/mTRa1dG6">John Nash</a> and <a href="/facts/Edward_Blore/eLX5PjeR">Edward Blore</a>, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of <a href="/facts/Queen_Victoria/CgxSlQ4g">Queen Victoria</a> in 1837.
The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East Front, which contains the balcony on which the <a href="/facts/British_royal_family/mx49mfWs">royal family</a> traditionally appears to greet crowds. A German bomb destroyed the palace chapel during the <a href="/facts/Second_World_War/2efV5L1U">Second World War</a>; the <a href="/facts/King%2527s_Gallery/rQ544Grm">King's Gallery</a> was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the <a href="/facts/Royal_Collection/HHIugoV1">Royal Collection</a>.
The original early-19th-century interior designs, many of which survive, include widespread use of brightly coloured <a href="/facts/Scagliola/QUVoIDx2">scagliola</a> and blue and pink <a href="/facts/Lapis_lazuli/KKPFyQFN">lapis</a>, on the advice of <a href="/facts/Charles_Long%2c_1st_Baron_Farnborough/DNQzjFEc">Charles Long</a>. King <a href="/facts/Edward_VII/nxCuvHE7">Edward VII</a> oversaw a partial redecoration in a <a href="/facts/Belle_%25C3%2589poque/abSoulMC">Belle Époque</a> cream and gold colour scheme. Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese <a href="/facts/Chinoiserie/7Gfb16CM">regency</a> style with furniture and fittings brought from the <a href="/facts/Royal_Pavilion/wVnVXK9x">Royal Pavilion</a> at <a href="/facts/Brighton/hp1fvPNt">Brighton</a> and from <a href="/facts/Carlton_House/g4z6wrDt">Carlton House</a>. The palace has 775 rooms, and <a href="/facts/Garden_at_Buckingham_Palace/6yolK5M5">the garden</a> is the largest private garden in London. The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring.

Buckingham Palace open-in-new

Buckingham Palace