London Adventures: Study Abroad 2013: Beseeching the Bobbies at Buckingham Palace

Just so you know, all the clever titles are for you all!

Unfortunately for you, we were not permitted to take photos inside Buckingham Palace, so I'll have to try my best at a verbal illustration.

I should start out by saying, for all of you Sherlock fans out there, that I did consider wearing my very best sheet to the Palace, but it wasn't quite warm enough outside. Moving on ....

And for this post's incredibly valuable fun fact: there are around 275 bedrooms in Buckingham Palace. We didn't see any of those, just the first two floors of State Rooms, Halls, Galleries, etc.

The Front Gate of with Royal Crest
(I finally got into a picture!)

Do not take this the wrong way: Buckingham wasn't as fancy as I thought. To rephrase: it was more tasteful and beautiful than the over-the-top lavishness you will most likely find at Versailles. Each room in Buckingham Palace is architecturally designed to fit the purpose of the room. This is not to say that there is a strictly form-meets-function plan .... no, it is masterfully done, and we can thank architect John Nash for that! The long hall of paintings, for example, has a high glass ceiling so that the paintings are displayed in natural light. Obviously there are lots of gold-covered things (balustrades, light fixtures, ceiling accents) and other signs of wealth, but it is not a display of wealth .... rather a display of imperial power. Hopefully that made sense to you. Another great example is the royal hall of statues: it has a low ceiling so that the eye is directed towards the statues and other relics rather than towards the ceiling, which is simply decorated with large textured circles and squares (no embellishments). All the State Rooms in Buckingham ("public" entertainment rooms - for guests to the Palace) have high ceilings with tall windows that look out onto the 39 acres of Buckingham grounds! Also, each room has a designated color scheme - one accent color like red, yellow, blue, or green, and a bunch of complimentary colors (usually variations of white/beige, with gold or silver embellishments) - which is how the rooms are so cleverly named.

Because England is a big deal this year .... the Olympics (yes, we know they were really last year) .... Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne - second longest to Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837-1901) .... there was a special exhibit all about Her Majesty's Coronation in 1953. The exhibit included things like the her coronation dress, jewels, cape, shoes, bouquet, etc., as well as what other royal and official people were wearing. In other words, some really fancy stuff.

Unfortunately, we did not stay long enough to see the Changing of the Guard - it was rainy. Nevertheless, I did get some good pictures of the exterior and the guards.

Front of Buckingham Palace

[Pictured] Notice that the Guard gets his own little hut to stand in! It's super cute.
Also, this front section of the Palace was added later and creates a courtyard. Notice it is a different color from the backside of the Palace.