Page 48 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - England's South Coast

46  ENGLAND ’ S SOUTH C O AST REGION B Y REGION

1 Buckingham Palace

The Queen’s official London home and office is an extremely popular
attraction. Architect John Nash began converting the 18th-century The Music Room
Buckingham House into a palace for George IV in 1826 but was are presented and royal
is where state guests
dismissed in 1831 for overspending his budget. The first monarch babies are christened.
to live in the palace was Queen Victoria, after she came to the throne
in 1837. The palace tour takes visitors through the State Rooms, Blue Drawing
but not into the Royal Family’s apartments. Room
The Changing Grand Staircase
of the Guard
State Dining
Room

Soldiers taking part in the traditional
Changing of the Guard ceremony
Dressed in brilliant scarlet tunics
and furry hats called bearskins,
the palace guards stand in sentry
boxes outside the palace. Crowds The Queen’s
gather to watch the colourful Gallery features
military ceremony as the guards masterpieces from
march from Wellington Barracks the Queen’s priceless
to Buckingham Palace, parading collection of art.
while the palace keys are handed
by the old guard to the new.

2 The Mall The spacious tree-lined avenue foreign heads of state during
follows the course of an old official visits. The Mall is closed
SW1. Map C4. 1 Charing Cross,
Green Park. path at the edge of St James’s to traffic on Sundays.
Park. The path was laid out in
This impressive broad triumphal the reign of Charles II, when 3 The Queen’s
approach from Trafalgar Square it became London’s most
to Buckingham Palace was fashionable and cosmopolitan Gallery
created by Aston Webb when promenade. The Mall is used Buckingham Palace Rd, SW1. Map C4.
he redesigned the front of the for royal processions on special Tel 0303 123 7300. 1 St James’s Park,
palace and the wonderful occasions. Flagpoles down both Victoria. Open 10am–5:30pm daily
Victoria Monument in 1911. sides fly the national flags of (last adm: 4:15pm). Closed 25 & 26
Dec; check website for details. & 9
7 = ∑ royalcollection.org.uk
The Royal Family possesses one
of the finest and most valuable
art collections in the world, rich
in the works of old masters such
as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Holbein
and Leonardo da Vinci. The
Queen’s Gallery hosts a rotating
programme of exhibitions, and
displays royal portraits by Sir
Thomas Lawrence, Anthony van
The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace, lined with Union Jacks, the national flag of the UK Dyck and Sir Joshua Reynolds.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p174 and pp184–5

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