Buckingham Palace, London
Nihan Uğurlu · Keyfi Yazılarım ·
Travel memories from 2015. Hours and prices may change; check official links before visiting.
Personal travel notes, discoveries along the way and photographs from the original story.
Travel notes
Green Park
The place in the photograph is Green Park. We walk through it on our way to Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in Westminster, is the royal family's residence. It takes its name from the house built for the Dukes of Buckingham in the early 18th century. George III bought it for his wife in 1761, and it became known as the Queen's House. Although used for many official events and receptions held by the Queen at the time of this visit, its State Rooms also opened to visitors each year. The palace has 775 rooms, including 19 State Rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
The sculpture in the photograph is the Victoria Memorial, with its golden winged figure.
The ceremony
The ceremony
The changing of the soldiers guarding the palace is the famous Changing the Guard ceremony, which attracts lots of tourists. As I keep saying, the British know how to draw visitors and promote their sights. My notes gave the schedule as every other day in winter and daily in summer, between 11:30 am and noon. I didn't think it was essential, but if you want to watch, arrive early: it gets very crowded. We couldn't make much of it when we went. The soldiers and band enter the palace courtyard, where most of it happens, so between the distance and the crowds, it is difficult to see. Still, go and have a look, so you can say you saw where the Queen lived 🙂
The ceremony
The handover ceremony involves soldiers from five infantry regiments: the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards. The park below is St James's, right beside Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful and peaceful.
St James's Park
St James's Park
We walk through this park towards famous Downing Street. My original notes describe the 17th-century building as the home of British prime ministers since George II presented it to the first prime minister, Robert Walpole; the year in the original text was written as '732'. It is so understated that you hardly believe it when you first arrive :) Two police officers were waiting at the entrance. There were lots of interested visitors taking photographs. This is the familiar place where we see British prime ministers step outside to speak on the news.
Downing Street
A little farther on, we find another British symbol: mounted soldiers guarding an entrance. This is Horse Guards Parade. Everyone wants a photograph beside the guards, but there is a warning sign: beware, the horses may bite or kick 🙂
Horse Guards Parade—a horse licking a child 🙂