Buckingham+Palace

Buckingham Palace is a beautiful building with an enormous amount of history. It has an astounding 775 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, and 188 staff bedrooms. The palace is definitely large - 108 meters long, 120 meters wide, and 24 meters high. Not only is it huge, the the history of the palace is astounding.

In its early days, Buckingham House, was a private residence for the Duke of Buckingham. Later it was acquired by King George III as a home for his wife, Queen Charlotte, during this time it was called the Queen's House.

In 1837, when Queen Victoria was on the throne Buckingham Palace became the official principle royal residence. Initially Buckingham Palace was out of use with poor heating, lazy staff, terrible working conditions and an unclean environment. The building was redesigned and added to when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840. Albert took it upon himself to totally reorganize the staffing situation at the palace and saw the emergence of the Buckingham Palace we know today. However, the Palace was somewhat neglected after Queen Victoria was widowed upon the death of Prince Albert. The Queen withdrew from the palace to live in Windsor Castle, Balmorals Castle and Osborne House although Buckingham Palace was still officially the home to the royal family.

Today it is the home of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip.