6
City & Village Tours: 0208 692 1133
lived in the Belgian Suite for some time in the early
days of her reign, and both Prince Andrew and Prince
Edward were born there.
Streets Paved With Gold
You’ll be pleased to have been put on the north side
of the Palace facing the gardens, it’s away from the
noise of the Guard Change (alternate days until May
when it is every day so long as it doesn’t tip it down).
Also to keep everything spick and span a noisy tipper
truck drags the forecourt gravel every morning at a
quite ungodly hour. In my gloriously misspent youth,
taking a short cut along The Mall to get the Milk
Train from Charing Cross on the way home from an
all-night dancing session, I once managed to persuade
a gullible friend that the Queen’s tipper truck was
sprinkling gold dust and that this is where the idea
that the streets of London are paved with gold comes
from. You can see where our famous Liars Tour came
from (by the way look out for a re-launch of that fun
quiz tour coming soon).
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are the longest
ever residents of Buckingham Palace and their private
apartments are also on the quieter north side of the
palace. Other members of the Royal family including
the Wessex’s, Prince Andrew and his daughters
Eugenie and Beatrice and the Prince and Princess
Michael of Kent live on the upper floors. The Prime
Minister gets to visit once a week but he doesn’t
get his own digs, after all he could walk home to
We’ve been taking groups to visit Buckingham
Palace for 22 years now ever since HM The Queen
first gave permission for the doors to be opened
(temporarily!) to the paying public in 1993 to help
pay for the restoration of Windsor Castle following
the fire of November 1992. Once again this summer,
for just eight weeks, visitors can walk through 19
State Rooms in the footsteps of kings, queens, and
presidents while the Queen decamps to Scotland.
Each year a special exhibition forms part of the tour
and for 2015 this will show how the Palace welcomes
guests to Garden Parties and Investitures and how
the magic and magnificence of a State Visit is
created from the food prepared in the Royal kitchen
to the linens and porcelain chosen. So what might
Royal guests expect on a State Visit?
Uncle Leopold’s Room
As a visiting Head of State you will be formally
welcomed to the Court of St James’s but as a guest
of Her Majesty you’ll be unpacking your toothbrush
at Buckingham Palace. Your accommodation will be
ground floor north facing. The rooms given over to
important guests are called The Belgian Suite because
they were first decorated for Prince Albert’s Uncle
Leopold l I, Kings of the Belgians. Queen Victoria
and Prince Albert’s eldest son King Edward VII, the
only sovereign to have been born and to have died at
Buckingham Palace favoured The Belgian Suite as
his private rooms. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh
What To Expect From A Right Royal Welcome
