Buckingham Palace is open to the public during the summer months each year, this year from 14 July to 24 September, and your two-and-a-half-hour tour will be a Royal experience to treasure, especially this year with the added bonus of a special Coronation display!
Your visit starts with a self-guided tour of the magnificent State Rooms of Buckingham Palace, with a complimentary multimedia guide available in nine languages. The State Rooms are the public rooms in the Palace where the monarch and members of the Royal Family receive and entertain their guests on State, ceremonial and official occasions. There are 19 State Rooms, which mainly reflect the taste of George IV, who commissioned the architect John Nash to transform Buckingham House into a grand palace in 1825. They are furnished with many of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Van Dyck and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova, Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.
Many of the State Rooms have particular uses today. The Throne Room is used for court ceremonies and official entertaining, and was the setting for the wedding photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The White Drawing Room, perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms, serves as a royal reception room for the King and members of the Royal Family to gather before official occasions.
The Throne Room’s dramatic arch and canopy over the thrones was the masterpiece of the architect John Nash, and was greatly influenced by his background in theatre set designs.
Central to the room is the pair of throne chairs which are known as Chairs of Estate, and were used for the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. There are also chairs made for the coronation of King George VI, and a single throne chair made for Queen Victoria in 1837.
This story is from the Issue 64 edition of Royal Britain Presents Royal Life.
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This story is from the Issue 64 edition of Royal Britain Presents Royal Life.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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