The official London residence of the British monarch since 1837, Buckingham Palace is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world.
This magnificent architectural masterpiece has witnessed centuries of history, and undergone several transformations to become the iconic building we see today.
Beyond its familiar façade, its splendid state rooms and galleries are fascinating not just for their lavish interiors, but for the compelling stories and secrets behind them, that provide an insight into the lives of their former royal residents.
Join us as we explore the world's best known palace. Click or scroll on to find out more…
While King Charles waved to the crowds from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the day of his coronation in May 2023, he decided not to make the residence his home when he ascended the throne.
Extensive renovations are being carried out across the palace, which prevented the royal couple from moving in. The King is said to prefer Clarence House as a permanent home in any case, and is unlikely to make the move now due to his battle with cancer.
He is the first monarch since Queen Victoria took up residence here in 1837 not to use the palace as his main residence. So let's go back and retrace its history...
The story of Buckingham Palace starts hundreds of years ago and spans generations of British rulers.
It was built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 as a neo-classical townhouse, before it was acquired by King George III in 1762. It was lavishly enlarged in the 18th century, with Queen Victoria being the first monarch to take up residence here in 1837.
It has 775 rooms, stretching across an area of 39 acres (15.8ha) – and if the monarch's royal standard is billowing high above the roof, you know he’s in. When the Union Jack is flown instead – as seen here – he is elsewhere.
The palace wasn't always so vast. Queen Victoria initially complained about the lack of space just eight years after moving in. She already had four children and was pregnant with her fifth, so it was agreed that Edward Blore would draw up plans for a fourth wing which was completed in 1847.
Despite its lavish interiors, the palace had serious shortcomings. The chimneys smoked so badly that the fires couldn’t be lit, so the palace was freezing, and the exterior blackened and deteriorated in London's polluted air because it had been made of soft Caen stone. This photograph was taken during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Another result of Queen Victoria’s desire to enlarge the palace was that Marble Arch had to be moved. It stood as a formal gateway to Buckingham Palace for 17 years but was overshadowed by Blore’s Buckingham Palace design.
In 1850 Marble Arch was dismantled and moved beside Hyde Park’s Cumberland Gate. The plan was to make the arch a grand point of entry to the royal park, in time for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The stone-by-stone removal and reconstruction of the Arch was overseen by architect Thomas Cubitt who completed the entire process in just three months. Here it is In January 1904.
Due to the ongoing problems with the masonry, in 1913, the decision was taken to reface the façade.
Sir Aston Webb, who had previously worked on the Victoria and Albert Museum, used Portland stone and was inspired by Giacomo Leoni's Lyme Park in Cheshire for the palace’s new look. In his obituary in The Times, it said he "replaced the 'dingy meanness' of the previous frontage with exceptional speed and aplomb."
You might be surprised to learn that the sovereign doesn't own the palace. Buckingham Palace is part of the Crown Estate, and belongs to the reigning monarch 'in right of The Crown' for the duration of their reign.
While the late Queen Elizabeth ll lived in the private quarters of Buckingham Palace for much of her 70-year reign, she always thought of it more as her office than her home.
Nonetheless, the palace has been the epicentre of many of the most prestigious royal events of our time…
The late Queen Elizabeth’s move into Buckingham Palace with her family took place when her father was crowned King George VI on 12 May 1937, following King Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936.
As her nanny Marion Crawford observed, life in the palace brought down “a glass curtain between you and the outer world,” and the Princess spent hours gazing out of the window, wondering about the lives of the “real people”.
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret were evacuated to Windsor Castle while her parents remained at the palace to show solidarity with their subjects.
The palace was bombed on seven occasions during the war. The King and Queen are seen here inspecting the damage following a German bombing raid on 11th September 1940, which destroyed the chapel.
The Queen said at the time: “I'm glad we have been bombed. Now I can look the East End in the face."
During the war, Buckingham Palace was in fact used as a communications centre. As it has its own Court Post Office, this was set up to aid wartime correspondence.
Here you can see post office workers work at typewriters whilst the counter clerk deals with an enquiry in 1941.
Fast forward to modern times and it’s also been revealed that Buckingham Palace now has its own cash machine and doctor’s office too, according to Channel 5 series Secrets of the Royal Palaces.
The palace supported war veterans and soldiers with charity events like the one pictured here.
This photo, taken on 17th December 1942 is of The Not Forgotten Association holding a Christmas party at Buckingham Palace, with large tables set up for everyone to enjoy food and of course, Christmas cheer during a difficult time.
The palace was again the backdrop when peace came to Europe on 8th May 1945.
Huge crowds converged on Buckingham Palace for the VE Day celebrations, when the King and Queen and Winston Churchill waved to them from the balcony.
That night Princess Elizabeth, dressed in her army uniform, slipped unobserved into the crowds with her sister, to enjoy the festivities. “I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life,” she later recalled.
We are given a glimpse of just how cosy Buckingham Palace can be in this intimate photograph of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in their private apartments to mark their 25th wedding anniversary in 1948. Marble pillars may flank the ornate fireplace, but furniture upholstered in vibrant textiles and rugs ensure a warm environment.
According to reports, the couple had to return nine times when they made their appearance on the palace balcony on their big day, such was the enthusiasm of the crowds. When the King complained, his wife is said to have replied: “One day they might not want us.”
Happy times were here again, and it was just two years later, on 9th July 1947, that 21-year-old Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten announced their engagement at a photocall in the White Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace, alongside her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and her father, King George VI.
Prince Philip had proposed the previous year, but the couple had agreed to wait another year before making the announcement.
Wearing a Norman Hartnell gown in duchesse satin, Elizabeth and Philip married at Westminster Abbey on 20th November 1947, before a wedding breakfast and official photographs at the palace.
The newlyweds are seen here waving to the crowds from the iconic balcony – but you won’t find any shots of them kissing, since it was not royal tradition to do so back then.
Princess Elizabeth was reluctant to move back into Buckingham Palace after she was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on 2nd June 1953.
She and Prince Philip and their two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne (seen here on the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey), had been enjoying a relatively normal family life at Clarence House and in Malta, where the Prince was stationed with the Navy.
On 25th December 1957 Buckingham Palace Queen Elizabeth II delivered her first Christmas Day television speech to the nation, from her private rooms seen here.
Up until her permanent move to Windsor Castle, the Queen resided during the week in the nine-room private apartment but according to royal author Penny Junor's book The Firm, the Queen wanted to remain in nearby Clarence House. She was persuaded to move into Buckingham Palace by Sir Winston Churchill.
With so many rooms and endless corridors, Buckingham Palace must have been like a glorious playground to Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne during their childhood.
This charming image of the brother and sister in the Picture Gallery was taken to mark the prince’s eighth birthday on 14 November 1956. They may have managed to sit still reading a book while the photograph was being taken, but we bet they were racing down the John Nash-designed room afterwards. Careful of the paintings!
The palace has seen numerous visits from important people, including President John F Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who are seen here ahead of a dinner given by the Queen in their honour at the palace in June 1961.
There were fourteen US Presidents during the late Queen's reign, and with the exception of President Johnson, she met each one.
Apart from Princess Anne, who was born at Clarence House, all the Queen’s children were born at Buckingham Palace, King Charles in the nursery and Princes Andrew and Edward in the Belgian Suite, now guest rooms.
The family are seen here in one of the private living rooms at the palace in 1972, on the occasion of the Queen and Prince Philip’s silver wedding anniversary. From left to right: Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Edward and Prince Charles.
King Charles III spent a great deal of his early childhood at Buckingham Palace.
He stayed here when he was on leave from serving in the armed forces between 1971 and 1977, and Princess Diana lived at the world-famous royal address while preparations were underway for what was set to be one of the biggest royal weddings in history.
Prince Charles, as he was known back then, and the late Princess Diana started a new royal tradition when they kissed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on 29th July 1981.
According to The Daily Mirror, the Prince forgot to kiss his bride after saying his vows at St Paul's Cathedral, so decided to make up for it on the balcony afterwards.
The fairytale wedding was watched by a global audience of around 750 million people, while more than half a million people lined the streets of London to catch sight of the princess in her glorious gown.
Continuing in his father’s footsteps, Prince William kissed his new wife Catherine on the iconic balcony on 29th April 2011.
Despite having never lived at Buckingham Palace, it has been a constant throughout his life, from his regular appearances on the balcony as a child to its starring role in his wedding.
As well as a formal lunch for 600 guests at the palace, hosted by his grandmother the Queen, there was a dinner for 300, hosted by his father, the then Prince Charles.
Not long after Charles and Diana’s wedding, the worst security breach in Buckingham Palace history took place on 9 July 1982, when unemployed decorator Michael Fagan shimmied up a drainpipe and gained access to the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth II, undetected by cameras or staff.
He is seen here in 1985 in front of the Tower of London. Buckingham Palace wasn’t open to the public at this time, which is possibly what drove so many people’s desires to see inside, but it wasn’t long before that would all change…
The palace was opened to the public in 1993 and quickly became one of London’s most popular tourist destinations. There are 775 rooms in total, which include 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms, along with architect John Nash’s Grand Staircase, seen here.
There are a staggering 760 windows and 1,514 doors at Buckingham Palace, plus, as mentioned, it has its own post office, cinema and ATM machine, installed by royal bank of choice, Coutts.
Let’s explore some of the most iconic rooms and some surprising features...
The State Rooms are open to visitors from July to October every year and highlights include the Throne Room, seen here, which was designed by John Nash.
Central to the room is a pair of throne chairs known as Chairs of Estate, which were used for the Queen’s Coronation ceremony in 1953, and in keeping with his views on sustainability, reused for the coronation of King Charles in 2023.
King George IV, who extended the palace in the 19th century at significant expense, was big on bling. The White Drawing Room, seen here, is perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms, with lavish gilded furniture that could put Trump Tower to shame.
When not open to the public, it serves as a royal reception room for the King and members of the royal family to gather before official occasions.
It has a secret door too, disguised as a mirror cabinet, which the late Queen used to use to enter the room from her private apartments. You can see it in action here, courtesy of Good Morning Britain.
The Picture Gallery displays some of the greatest paintings in the Royal Collection including works by Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck.
One of the main state rooms, the gallery normally forms the backdrop to state visits and receptions and hosted US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump there in 2019.
Also open to the public and used as a reception room by the royal family, the Green Drawing Room owes its name to the green and gold silk wall coverings that were installed in 1834 at the behest of Queen Adelaide, who was moved by the plight of the impoverished silk workers in Ireland who produced them.
Originally, the flooring, ornaments and curtains were a similar shade of green, but a ruby red rug has since been laid to break up the block colour.
While there is a piano in the Music Room, it is more usually used as a space where guests can be presented to the King before dinner.
It is also a popular spot for royal christenings, including that of the late Queen’s three eldest children, who were all baptised here in water brought from the River Jordan.
Originally known as the Bow Drawing Room, the Music Room at Buckingham Palace was completed in 1831 and has not been altered since.
The Yellow Drawing Room opened to the public for the first time in July 2024. Five years into a huge renovation project, which is expected to be completed in 2027, it was also the first time the previously private east wing of the palace was made accessible to the public in guided groups, reported the BBC.
The stunning room was redecorated and hung in richly figured yellow silk for the State visit of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie in 1855. This was later replaced by Chinese wallpaper discovered by Queen Mary after the First World War.
Perhaps even more fascinating for visitors is the Centre Room, through which the Royal family access the famous balcony where they wave to the public.
It’s a unique opportunity to see the view from the royal perspective. Visitors are not allowed to step on to the balcony itself, but looking at how low the railing is, maybe that is just as well.
It’s the first time this room has been opened to the public and its Chinese-style décor with its central lamp fitting in the shape of a lily, as well as walls covered in Chinese-themed art is well worth a visit.
As you would expect, the gardens are as spectacular as the interiors of the palace.
Described as ‘a walled oasis in the middle of London’, it is the largest private garden in the capital boasting 325 wild-plant species, 30 species of breeding birds, and over 1,000 trees, including 98 plane trees and 85 different species of oak.
It also has a lake at its centre, created in the 19th century and originally fed from the overflow from the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Visitors can tour the gardens and even picnic on the sweeping lawns.
In fact, the grounds of Buckingham Palace are so large, helicopters can land in them. A helicopter was first landed in the garden just before the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, not on an official helipad, but in a helicopter landing area, which continued to be used for many years.
In 2000, the royal family built an official helipad to save the lawns being destroyed. A concrete helipad was considered unsightly, so the Royal helipad is created from a layer of matting underneath grass according to the Londonist.
Pictured is Marine One, the United States Marine Corps Helicopter, carrying US President Donald Trump and Melania Trump ahead of their ceremonial welcome in June 2019.
In other modes of royal transport, the King and Queen travelled back to Buckingham Palace after being crowned in the Gold State coach in 2023.
The historic coaches and carriages used by the Royal Family are kept at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, which celebrated its 200th anniversary in May 2025.
As well as having a crucial role in every royal wedding and coronation since it was built, the Royal Mews once housed a school for the children of palace staff during the reign of Queen Victoria and hosted a tea party for wounded soldiers during the First World War.
In June 2022, crowds gathered at the palace gates to cheer the late Queen during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, as she appeared on the balcony alongside the then Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles, now King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, along with Prince George, Prince William, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and the Duchess of Cambridge, who is now known as the Princess of Wales.
The celebrations lasted from 2nd to 5th June 2022, marking the 70th anniversary of the Queen's reign. The Platinum Party also took place at the palace, which featured Alicia Keys, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Diana Ross, and culminated in an epic light show featuring 400 drones.
When Queen Elizabeth ll passed away on 8 September 2022, tributes poured in from across the globe.
While the late monarch had made Windsor Castle her permanent official residence during the pandemic, Buckingham Palace remained the focus of attention following her death. Multitudes of her admirers descended on the iconic landmark in the days leading up to her state funeral to pay their respects.
Following the death of the Queen, her son, King Charles III ascended the throne. However, unlike his late mother, Charles did not make Buckingham Palace his home, preferring to remain at nearby Clarence House while the palace is undergoing an extensive renovation.
The project is expected to last until at least 2027 and the cost is said to be a staggering £369 million ($497m). The building's infrastructure is in urgent need of a complete overhaul to prevent long-term damage to the building and its contents. The palace's electrical cabling, plumbing and heating have not been updated since the 1950s so it has been a huge undertaking.
The East Wing was the first section of the palace to undergo renovations, which meant removing and conserving everything inside its 200 rooms. That's 200 paintings, 40 chandeliers, 1,100 items of ceramics and glass, 100 mirrors, 30 clocks, 200 books, 300 items of fine furniture, 560 items of everyday furniture and 40 historic textiles.
In this image, a member of Royal Collection Trust staff tends to the Kylin Clock in the Yellow Drawing Room before the East Wing is opened to the public in 2024.
There are over 1,600 clocks in the Royal Collection and horological conservators are required to adjust the timepieces across the monarch’s official residences according to the time of the year.
Beyond the renovations, according to some reports, the new King has ambitious plans to make Buckingham Palace more 'inclusive' to a modern nation. The King and Queen are keen to open up the palace more to the nation, hosting more receptions and public events.
One of their rumoured plans is to open the doors of the ballroom, where State Banquets are held, to the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, according to reports. The royal couple, who are big fans of the programme, may even have a dance together according to the Daily Mail.
As the central London estate becomes more accessible to the public, security will be uppermost in the minds of the people who run Buckingham Palace.
It was reported in 2023, that confidential documents revealing its inner workings had been released online. Unredacted files and photographs detailing the palace's layout and security features were among material uploaded to Westminster City Council's planning portal, and even included possible locations of the King and Queen’s private quarters. While most of the documents were removed immediately, the incident was deemed a 'massive blunder.'
Among the details in the leak was the location of the royal family's swimming pool, which is considered one of the palace's closest guarded secrets.
According to reports, the pool was installed in 1938 in one of architect John Nash’s conservatories on the north side of the palace, after King George VI ascended throne, so that the late Queen and her sister could learn to swim.
King Charles is said to have enjoyed sailing his model boats in the pool with school friends, and later on Princess Diana is known to enjoyed a morning swim here as well as splashing about with Princes William and Harry when they were little.
With the renovation project well underway, and the King’s plans to make the palace more accessible to the public, we can rest assured that Buckingham Palace will remain an iconic royal landmark into the future.
King Charles has made it clear that he wants to ensure that the palace, and all the crown estates, remain cost effective and fit for purpose for many years to come.
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