The Royal Palaces

The residences associated with today's Royal Family are divided into the Occupied Royal Residences, which are held in trust for future generations, and the Private Estates which have been handed down to The Queen by earlier generations of the Royal Family. The Occupied Royal palaces include Buckingham, Kensington, St James’s palaces in London, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Sandringham in Norfolk, Holyroodhouse and Balmoral in Scotland.

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837. It evolved from a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to take up residence in July 1837, just three weeks after her accession, and in June 1838 she was the first British sovereign to leave from Buckingham Palace for a Coronation. Her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840 soon showed up the Palace's shortcomings. A serious problem for the newly married couple was the absence of any nurseries and too few bedrooms for visitors. The only solution was to move the Marble Arch - it now stands at the north-east corner of Hyde Park - and build a fourth wing, thereby creating a quadrangle. The present forecourt of the Palace, where Changing the Guard takes place, was formed in 1911, as part of the Victoria Memorial scheme. The gates and railings were also completed in 1911; the North-Centre Gate is now the everyday entrance to the Palace, whilst the Central Gate is used for State occasions and the departure of the guard after Changing the Guard. The work was completed just before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Today it is The Queen's official residence. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by the Queen, some areas of Buckingham Palace are open to visitors on a regular basis. The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection - paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. Visits to Buckingham Palace can be combined with visits to The Queen's Gallery, which reopened in May 2002. The nearby Royal Mews is open from 1 March to 31 October 2003.

Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A royal palace and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today. Visitors can walk around the State Apartments, extensive suites of rooms at the heart of the working palace; for part of the year visitors can also see the Semi State rooms, which are some of the most splendid interiors in the castle. They are furnished with treasures from the Royal Collection including paintings by Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck and Lawrence, fine tapestries and porcelain, sculpture and armour. Within the Castle complex there are many additional attractions. In the Drawings Gallery regular exhibitions of treasures from the Royal Library are mounted. Another popular feature is the Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a miniature mansion built to perfection. The fourteenth-century St. George's Chapel is the burial place of ten sovereigns, home of the Order of the Garter, and setting for many royal weddings. In 1992 the castle was badly damaged by fire but by now fully restored. In celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen, a new landscape garden has been created by the designer and Chelsea Gold Medallist Tom Stuart-Smith. The garden, the first to be made at the Castle since the 1820s, transforms the visitor entrance and provides a setting for band concerts throughout the year. The informal design takes its inspiration from Windsor's historic parkland landscape and the picturesque character of the Castle.

Founded as a monastery in 1128, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is The Queen's official residence in Scotland. Situated at the end of the Royal Mile, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is closely associated with Scotland's turbulent past, including Mary, Queen of Scots, who lived here between 1561 and 1567. It was at Holyroodhouse at the end of March 1603 that Mary’s son, James VI of Scotland, heard that Elisabeth I had died and he had succeeded to the English throne. After that he returned to Holyroodhouse only once, in 1617. Successive kings and queens have made the Palace of Holyroodhouse the premier royal residence in Scotland. Today, the Palace is the setting for State ceremonies and official entertaining.

Balmoral Castle on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is the private holiday residence of The Queen. Balmoral Castle and the original estate were purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852. The original Balmoral Castle was built in the fifteenth century but it was considered too small. A new castle was constructed on the site about 90 metres (100 yards) north from the old building. Prince Albert planned the grounds and helped with the design of the castle itself, which was completed in 1856. Beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday period in August and September. The Castle is located on the large Balmoral Estate, a working estate, which aims to protect the environment while contributing to the local economy. The Estate grounds, gardens and the Castle Ballroom are open to visitors from mid-April to the end of July each year, under the management of the Balmoral Estate Office.

Sandringham House was bought in 1862 for The Prince of Wales (later Edward VII). The house was originally a Georgian structure. By 1870 it was rebuilt and, despite a serious fire in 1891, subsequently expanded to accommodate The Prince of Wales' growing family. Since then Sandringham has been a popular holiday retreat for successive members of the Royal Family.

The Queen has maintained this association. It was at Sandringham that The Queen's father, King George VI, died on 6 February 1952. Since then it has been The Queen's custom to spend the anniversary of her father's death and her own Accession privately at Sandringham.

St James's Palace was built between 1532 and 1540 by Henry VIII on the site of the Hospital of St James, Westminster, London. For over 300 years it was a residence of kings and queens of England. Queen Anne brought the court to St James's in 1702 after the disastrous fire, which destroyed the Palace of Whitehall in 1698. It has remained the official residence of the Sovereign, although since the death of William IV in 1837 the Sovereign has lived at Buckingham Palace. Foreign Ambassadors and High Commissioners are still formally accredited to the Court of St. James's for this reason. Alterations to the building were carried out in 1836 with the addition of the side galleries and a new ceiling.The panelling dates from this time, and the pews were installed in 1876. The Chapel Royal has always been considered to be the cradle of English church music, and among its many noted organists and composers were Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell - the latter lived in a suite of apartments in St James's Palace. The poet Dryden, who was frequently in debt, used to take refuge with Purcell in his apartments in order to avoid the clutches of persistent creditors. One of the Chapel's most notable organists and composers was George Frederick Handel, who was appointed by George II on 25 February 1723 as 'Composer of Musick of His Majesty's Chappel Royal'. Handel composed the great anthem 'Zadok the Priest' for the coronation of George II in 1727 and it has been used at every coronation since. It is also sung each year at the Royal Maundy service in which the Queen distributes Maundy money.