Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch Buckingham Palace is one of the world’s most familiar buildings and more than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties. Buckingham Palace became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

Today it is The Queen’s official residence, with 775 rooms. The Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September.

During the summer, the Changing of the Guard takes place at the front of the Palace and is a popular event for visitors to the capital from 1st April to Early July and on alternate days at other times.

These are lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection – paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; The original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which still survive, included widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long.

King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle epoque cream and gold colour scheme. Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House following the death of King George IV.

George III bought Buckingham House in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James’s Palace, where many court functions were held. Buckingham House became known as the Queen’s House, and 14 of George III’s 15 children were born there.

St. James’s Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence; indeed, the tradition continues to the present time of foreign ambassadors being formally accredited to “the Court of St. James’s”, even though it is at Buckingham Palace that they present their credentials and staff to the Queen upon their appointment.

During World War II, the palace fared worse: it was bombed no less than seven times, and was a deliberate target, as it was thought by the Nazis that the destruction of Buckingham Palace would demoralise the nation. The most serious and publicised bombing was the destruction of the palace chapel in 1940:

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