Emily's Things: Inside Buckingham Palace

I'd like to start off by saying that if you ever get the opportunity to take a tour like this, do. Just do. Wow.

As we lined up for our timed entry to Buckingham Palace, we were informed that unfortunately we would not be able to take photos whilst inside the building. This was both a blessing and a curse - it meant that we could not take our own photos as memories of the experience, but it also meant that we wouldn't be distracted by having to take them, or by others taking their own. It allowed us to fully immerse in the experience without a screen in the way; a rather unusual thing in this day and age. It has also made writing this post a bit more difficult, as I am relying completely on memory and pictures from the Official Website of the British Monarchy (which will be included throughout for your viewing pleasure and so that you can understand my awe - I hope they don't mind me using them!).

Before entering the building, we underwent the same type of security checks that are in place in airports (metal detectors, bag x-ray machines, etc), and collected an audio tour device the same as the one we received in the Mews tour. The rooms inside are opened up so that you can see right through the areas; however, they are all roped off so that you must walk through them in a specific way, guiding you along while you listen to the appropriate talks/videos.

There are 19 state rooms, each with it's own purpose, design, decoration, and feel. I can't possibly describe them all to you, the experience was quite overwhelming, but I will do my best with what I remember.

We entered through the Grand Entrance, which is located in the Quadrangle, a four-sided courtyard that was closed off by Queen Victoria by requesting the addition of the section we see today from the street. At the entrance to the building the Australian State Coach is parked, on display here rather than in the Mews. Our audio tour describes the difficult job the stewards have in stopping the coaches at exactly the right spot to allow the passengers to walk from the coach steps right onto the carpet leading them inside.

Immediately upon entering the Grand Entrance, I was awed by the, well, grandeur of it all. Every single part of the room is carefully thought out, designed and decorated to suit the purpose and theme. This room had a lowered floor with additional stairs added, purely for the purpose of making it look more grand. To the left of this room is the Grand Staircase. It was enough to transport my right back to being a little girl who wishes she is a princess wearing a gorgeous ball gown, descending the stairs for some grand party. The image below, from the official website of the British Monarchy, shows the view from the first landing of the stairs back into the Grand Entrance, and up to the next floor. The statue you can see at the top centre of the stairs is Perseus, triumphantly holding the head of a recently-decapitated Medusa.

The Grand Staircase, photographer: Derry Moore

From here, the rest of the tour is a bit of a blur of awe-inspiring rooms. I don't remember the order we went through them, but I will describe them as I remember them.

The Green Drawing Room was less green than expected, but no less impressive. This room leads into the Throne Room, as you can see in the picture below. The chandeliers are made from hand-cut glass and can be lowered from the ceiling (either electronically or by winch, depending which room you're in). To keep them sparkling, every single glass piece is cleaned by high-pressure water - a job that can take days per chandelier.

The Green Drawing Room, photographer: Derry Moore

The throne room was absolutely luscious, but smaller than I was expecting. The ceiling was my favourite part, with the incredible detailing making it into a work of art in its own right. We were roped off from the thrones themselves, and along the side of the room were displayed the various badges of honour one can receive. The design of the room is such that everything directs your attention to the thrones, not that you could miss them. This is the room where we will receive our OBE's at some point in the future (definitely going to happen, don't doubt it... just need to contribute enough to society to deserve one).

The Throne Room, photographer: Derry Moore

Two of my favourite rooms were the White Drawing Room and Blue Drawing Room. These are used primarily as reception rooms and spaces to gather before luncheons and State/Diplomatic functions, and as settings for official photographs,. I felt quite at home, in a very posh sort of way, in these rooms, and completely fell in love with their décor. The White Drawing Room is exactly my kind of room - white and gold décor, beautiful views of the gardens, a large fireplace, gorgeous armchairs, and even a secret entrance behind the large mirror to the left of portrait of Queen Alexandra. If I could I would spend an entire day (week, year) in that room.

White Drawing Room, photographer: Derry Moore

The Blue Drawing Room, photographer: Peter Smith

At this point I'd like to direct you to another website where you can view virtual tours of the Grand Staircase, Throne Room, and Blue and White Drawing Rooms here.

The State Dining Room was re-purposed for the tour, with the table removed and replaced with a number of benches on which to sit and rest your weary legs while admiring the portraits and state gifts displayed here. We were privileged to see the sorts of gifts given to the Monarchy by other countries during visits, such as fine china, clocks, and statues. The portraits along the wall here were commissioned and set to be in pairs, with each member of each pair at opposite ends of the room. Looking at the picture below, of the room set properly for it's function, I feel I would be overwhelmed eating here, let alone in the ballroom described below. Can you imagine accidentally dropping something, or knocking over a glass onto that carpet?

The State Dining Room, photographer: Peter Smith

We wandered through two galleries, the Nash Gallery and Pennethorn Gallery, where we viewed pieces of art from the Royal Collection. Some of these pieces were accompanied by audio descriptions from members of the household, and provided a unique insight into the history of the palace and monarchy. It was nice to be able to focus on individual pieces and take a bit of a rest from the never-ending details of the other rooms (even though these rooms too were incredibly detailed, but thankfully the detailing was designed to direct your focus to the art, rather than add to it). The talent of the artists who created these pieces was absolutely mind boggling. Looking at portraits was like looking at high-definition photographs, but somehow with more detail. Pearls look luminous, skin looks dewy or dry depending on the subject, eyes look hauntingly like they are about to blink. Even landscapes look like you are viewing them through a window, and animals could jump right out of the frame. I have never seen work like it, and sadly will probably never own any like it for myself.

The Music Room was another favourite. Here some of the royal family were Christened, and on display were some of the dresses the Queen has worn to recent Garden Parties (another thing I will definitely attend at some point, right?). The room itself was quite simple, with much less decoration than the other rooms, and as such it seemed quite peaceful.

On the way into the Ballroom there was displays set up describing various parts of palace procedures. For example, one of the displays contained swatches of fabric and the associated tools used by the Queen's seamstress and hat maker, who create all of her official outfits, and a small section held (most likely replicas of) extravagant jewellery pieces. Another showcased cutlery and crockery pieces from various points in history. Yet another described the enormous palace cellars, which hold over 25,000 bottles of wine.

From here we entered the Ballroom, and I must admit it brought tears to my eyes. The room was set for a State Banquet, and the level of detail is excruciating. It takes six days to prepare the room, including three dedicated to setting the table. Rulers are used to measure out the space for each guest (46cm) and to ensure each piece of crockery, cutlery and glass is set at an exact distance from the edge of the table and the next setting. The organ at the end of the room was very impressive. Standing behind the Queen's setting, I was both sad and happy that I probably won't ever have the privilege of attending a state banquet. The amount of stress guests must feel when attending such an event would be hard to deal with while still appearing graceful, but it would truly be a magical experience.

You can see in this article here a short video of staff setting the table, and it describes some of the things I've mentioned here along with a few more pictures.

The conclusion of the tour saw us exiting the building past the 1844 Room, where the Queen signs documents and meets ambassadors (here there was a picture of the Queen with Angelina Jolie), and out into the gardens. A cafe was set up just outside the doors, and the gardens themselves were roped off for anyone who wasn't part of the garden tour. The lawn immediately outside the doors was the size of a sports oval, and I couldn't help but imagine the royal children mucking around down there when the weather was nice.

We walked along a path that wound through the side of the gardens, adjacent to the spike-and-barbed-wire-topped wall that blocked out the outside world. Through gaps in the trees we caught glimpses of ponds, benches and clearings, all of which seemed incredibly inviting. Eventually we exited the palace grounds, and were confronted by the normality of a busy city street. Turning to look back at the old and slightly dirty wall, it was hard to believe that such magnificence was hidden within. And what magnificence it is. A truly different world.

Incredible.

Emily's Things

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Friday, August 28, 2015

Inside Buckingham Palace - The State Rooms

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