Buckingham Palace History

Buckingham Palace was never designed to be a royal palace. It began as a grand townhouse, became a private royal retreat, and was only turned into a state building when George IV decided a monarch needed something more impressive than St James’s Palace. That piecemeal evolution explains the unusual layout: the building has been extended, enclosed, and refaced over three centuries without ever being demolished and rebuilt. The result is a palace of 775 rooms that is less a single building than a small, self-contained community, with its own post office, cinema, and doctor’s surgery.

Four architects are mainly responsible for what you see today. William Winde designed the original 1703 house. John Nash created the grand State Rooms and the neoclassical core from 1826, though he was removed over spiralling costs. Edward Blore completed the work and added the East Front in 1847, enclosing Nash’s open courtyard. Aston Webb then refaced Blore’s East Front in Portland stone in 1913, giving the palace its clean neoclassical look. Inside, much of the decoration reflects George IV’s taste for the grandeur of French royal palaces.

Buckingham Palace was bombed nine times during the Second World War. The most serious attack, on 13 September 1940, destroyed the palace chapel while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were in residence. Rather than evacuate, the King and Queen chose to stay in London throughout the war. Queen Elizabeth reportedly said she was glad the palace had been bombed, as it meant she could look the East End in the face. On VE Day in 1945, the royal family appeared on the balcony to greet vast crowds, and the destroyed chapel was later rebuilt as The King’s Gallery.

For most of its history, the palace was entirely closed to the public. The first openings came in 1993, when the State Rooms were opened during the summer to help fund repairs to Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire. The summer opening proved so popular that it became permanent, with admission fees now directed toward Royal Collection conservation. The summer opening is still the only time the general public can walk through the State Rooms.

The famous balcony was first used by Queen Victoria in 1851 to greet crowds celebrating the Great Exhibition. Since then it has become the defining image of royal public ceremony: coronation appearances, royal weddings, Trooping the Colour, and moments of national celebration all feature the balcony. It faces east over The Mall and the Victoria Memorial, and while it is not part of the State Rooms tour, you can see it clearly from The Mall and the memorial steps.

Buckingham Palace has had its own post office branch since the 1960s, with pigeon holes for different members of the household. The palace receives around 100,000 letters and over 50,000 emails addressed to the monarch each year.

George V arranged command performances of jazz at the palace, including the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1919, the first jazz performance for a head of state, followed later by Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong.

In 1982, Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace twice. On the second occasion he reached Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. The incident led to a major overhaul of palace security.

John Nash designed the Marble Arch as the grand ceremonial entrance to the palace in 1827. It was moved to its current spot near Hyde Park in 1851, when Edward Blore’s new East Front made it redundant.

The 39-acre palace gardens contain a lake, a tennis court, a helicopter landing pad, and more than 350 species of wildflower. The gardens host three garden parties each summer, with up to 8,000 guests at each.

In 1864, after Queen Victoria withdrew from public life following Prince Albert’s death, a notice appeared on the palace fence offering the premises to let or sold, in consequence of the late occupant’s declining business.

On 15 September 1940, RAF pilot Ray Holmes rammed a German Dornier bomber believed to be heading for Buckingham Palace. The bomber crashed near Victoria station, and Holmes’ Hurricane engine was later recovered and exhibited at the Imperial War Museum.