THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW
Buckingham Palace is a stunning architectural monument, the biggest tourist attraction in London and one of the most recognisable palaces in Europe and the world. But do you know much else about the Royal Palace? Let me enlighten you. I’m going to tell you 10 things you didn’t know about Buckingham Palace, which are absolutely fascinating. Some of these may shock you!
Facts, stats and trivia
1. The Monarchy
Buckingham Palace is one of the few remaining fully functioning royal palaces in the world, being the home and offices of the Monarch of the UK. Many other countries lost their royal families long ago and the old palaces are now museums, for the most part.
2. Name
It is named after the Duke of Buckingham who built Buckingham House, as it was previously known, when he became Duke in the early 1700’s. Then it was purchased by the royal family in 1761, enlarged and renamed Buckingham Palace.
3. Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria made it the royal residence officially in 1837. But parts of the Palace were a bit shabby. There were problems with ventilation and smells. The staff were lazy and the Palace was less than clean. After extensive renovations, Victoria brought the Palace to life, hosting lavish balls, ceremonies and musical performances by famous artists at the time.
4. Deserted Palace
In the 1860s the Palace was virtually deserted and neglected by the grieving Queen Victoria who left following the death of her beloved Prince Albert. She didn’t want it! But was convinced by the people to return. Her monument sits proudly outside the front gate.
5. Today
Today the Palace is valued at about £2 Billion, however, this figure varies from different sources. It is not owned by the Queen personally, but held in trust for the Sovereign by the State. In other words, the people of London own it. Lucky them? I’m not so sure.
But what happens if the new Sovereign doesn’t want to live there? Speculation has it that Charles won’t want a bar of it, save for official business purposes only. I don’t think he will be forced to live there like his mother was forced by Churchill.
6. Facilities
This regal abode has 775 rooms and more bathrooms than necessary, surely, 78 of them in fact! And guess what? None of them are ensuite bathrooms. Whaaat?
Many of the 800 royal staff reside at the Palace, and you would assume their living quarters would be luxurious, right? Wrong! They are similar to student dormitories and aren’t free.
Interesting trivia: 2 staff are employed full time to keep all 350 clocks in the Palace in working order at all ‘times’ (pardon the pun). What do you think their job title is? Horological Conservators. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it.
7. Renovations
Apart from the fancy State Rooms, much of the Palace is currently in dire need of restorations, with wiring, plumbing and painting still the same for more than 50 years, which actually makes it a fire hazard, amongst other things. Also, it is mouse-infested (a big NO from me) and has asbestos too.
What is the cost of the works taking place, you ask? Wait for it … £370 million. Wow! And furthermore, it will take 10 years to finish. OMG! (Um, I hate to state the obvious, but a certain someone might not live to see its completion … cough, cough.)
The Queen has been asked to open the Palace for tours all year round in order to help fund the exorbitant cost of the restorations, but apparently that’s not feasible, so taxpayers will have the pleasure of footing the bill (since, they own it).
8. Tours
You can only visit the palace when the Queen is away during the summer, in July and August (HRH doesn’t want to be there when the riff-raff are let loose). Tours are available for the State Rooms, Throne Room and Gallery only, and take about 2 to 3 hours. No photography is allowed in the rooms.
Changing of the Guards at the front gates occurs every morning in summer for 45 minutes and is free to watch, if you can get a good spot.
9. Dress code
As you can imagine the Palace has very strict codes of dress for formal visitors. But, when Mahatma Gandhi visited Buckingham Palace in 1931 to see King George, he refused to change from his usual attire of loin cloth (dhoti) and sandals, which represented the poor of India, and he added only a large shawl for warmth. Afterwards, he said that ‘his majesty more than made up for both of us’ (i.e. he was overdressed).
Interesting trivia: The then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill called him ‘a naked fakir’ (I’ll tell you what it means, cos I can read your mind – it’s a religious man with few belongings).
10. Land
The land on which the Palace is built was originally swamp land, where King James planted a mulberry garden to grow silkworms, in order to compete with the high quality french silk.
Tours of Buckingham Palace and London You May Like
Other interesting facts (because I just can’t stop at 10):
- The Palace has an Art Gallery;
- There is an ATM machine;
- A Police Station is on site;
- There is a cinema;
- Some rooms have Chinese decor, furniture and artefacts (I’m not sure why);
- 40,000 light bulbs are fitted in the Palace;
- In WWII the Palace survived 9 bombing attacks, yes 9, and the chapel was completely destroyed;
- Every year 50,000 VIP guests are entertained at the Palace,
and my favourite,
- Secret tunnels exist under the Palace that lead to other places in London. Oooh!
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Interesting place but it never occurred to me to visit when I was in London. It’s a bit of a shame to spend 3 hours visiting the place and take no photos… I would love a secret behind-the-scenes tour, with the tunnels and the Queen’s private apartments… It’s not likely to happen though!
I’d always wondered about #2 (and now I know). And #10 made me laugh out loud! Great list!
What shocks me is…. I haven’t been there! I work 2 miles down the road and lived in London all my life! 😀 And that I know bugger all about it. Like whats the palace named after, the amount of lightbulbs and the fact Queen Vicky didnt want the palace. I learn something new everyday 🙂
Great post! I just learned so much! I lived in London for more than 10 years, but I have never been inside Buckingham Palace (although I’ve taken friends to the gates multiple times when playing tour guide!)
p.s. Horological Conservator is an amazing job title for what must be quite a dull job!
All of these are interesting facts indeed! I think the one that was the most interesting to me was about the staff and how their rooms are like dorms and that they have to pay! Love the name of the employees who make sure the clocks are working. Such a fancy job title 🙂
It sounds like a lot of the issues with Buckingham will resolve themselves. The upgrades should allow for ensuite bathrooms and, if Charles isn’t living there, there will be a lot more public tours. something tells me the interior isn’t as grand as my imagination paints it after reading this list.
While many think of Buckingham Palace as only the residence of the Queen, it is also the administrative headquarters of the Queen. Small correction … Buckingham Palace is owned and operated by Crown Estate and held in trust for the monarchy in the same way 10 Downing Street is owned by the govt and provided to the Prime Minister. The people of London are not the owners … it is all the taxpayers of the country. Did you also know that Buckingham Palace was at the centre of the suffragette campaign in 1914? And in fact two women chained themselves to the gates at the time.
Thank you for your very insightful comments Michael. Very interesting indeed.
I was just in London in April so of course, we didn’t get to tour Buckingham much to my mother’s dismay. But we did get to tour Windsor Castle and as it was Holy Week, she was in residence while we were there. So I can say I’ve been in the same building as HRH…sort of! LOL! Interesting facts. That is an absurd amount of bathrooms and I’m totally not surprised about the secret tunnels. I am surprised about all the repairs it still needs and the asbestos. Not good!
Ooh, Windsor Castle would be great. I’ll look forward to maybe reading about that!? Yes interesting facts I learn sometimes blow me away.