August 4, 2008 (Monday)
I have been to Buckingham Palace early of this year, yet it is not open to public to tour inside the palace till now – the summer time every year when The Queen makes her annual visit to Scotland. Today I get a chance to get inside to tour around its 19 state rooms!
Buckingham Palace serves as both the office and London residence of Her Majesty The Queen, as well as the
Buckingham Palace .. standing at the south side of the garden
administrative headquarters of the Royal Household. It is one of the few working royal palaces remaining in the world today. There are totally 429 rooms inside the palace!
Today the State Rooms are used extensively by The Queen and Members of the Royal Family to receive and entertain their guests on State, ceremonial and official occasions. The State Rooms form the heart of the working palace and are lavishly furnished with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection – paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin and Canaletto; sculpture by Canova; exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain; and some of the finest English and French furniture.
At the moment I stepped inside the Palace, I am stunned by the magnificent Grand Staircase. Among the 19 State Rooms, I particularly found the Music room very interesting. Not only it is very huge and nice, overlooking the garden of the Palace, but also it is the room where the Royal family, including Prince William get baptized! Every year the Palace has different key theme for this public tour. This year, for the first time ever, we can experience the spectacle of the Palace’s Ballroom set up for a State Banquet. For centuries magnificent banquets have been an integral part of royal ceremonial and the traditional way to mark significant events. Among the most important of these occasions is the State Banquet, held in honour of a visiting Head of State. This is the occasion when Her Majesty and other members of the Royal Family entertain specially invited guests on the first evening of a State Visit. During the course of her reign The Queen has held 97 State Banquets.
As a (used to be) hotelier, I am fascinated by the details of the display of the banquet settings. The horseshoe-shaped table traditionally used on such occasions will be dressed with a dazzling display of silver-gilt from the magnificent Grand Service, first used to celebrate the birthday of George III in 1811. I am amazed the teamwork of staff to set the lavish buffet arrangements which includes jewelled cups, ivory tankards and chased dishes, sconces, shields and basins … and they are neatly arranged along each side of the room.
One thing I also impressed with the Palace is how they organize the tour. There are lots of people touring everyday and yet, the tour is neatly layout and arranged. Visitors are allowed to get inside the Palace in each 15 minutes intervals. I can enjoy my tour with my audio guide on hand and see each things in details within rushing forward. I can visualized and know more about the banquet, the Palace through the video introduction in some of the rooms.
My last stop is the Garden (south side only) of the Palace. Described as a ‘walled oasis in the middle of London‘, the Palace’s garden is home to thirty different species of bird and more than 350 different wild flowers, some extremely rare. I can see the splendid views of the west front of the Palace and the famous lake!
P.S.: On the way out, I passed by the washroom for visitors. Looking at the sign “Lavatory”, I cannot help thinking about the jokes about Prince William’s ex Girlfriend, Kate Middleton couple years ago. 
More Photos @ Photo Gallery http://community.webshots.com/album/565254610AqNySi
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Reference:
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=30
