Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace has been used as the official London residence of Britain’s kings and queens since 1837 when Queen Victoria was the first monarch to take up residence there.

In 1761, George III bought Buckingham House, a relatively simple town house owned by the Dukes of Buckingham, for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a comfortable family home close to St James's Palace. George IV had John Nash redesign Buckingham House into a Palace in 1826 – substantial North and South wings were created and the triumphal Marble Arch was built (to celebrate the British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo) as the centrepiece of the enlarged courtyard to the East.

Queen Victoria is responsible for the facade of today's Buckingham Palace. This new East wing was completed in 1847 creating a quadrangle and closing off the central courtyard. Marble Arch was moved to make way for the new wing and now sits on the North East corner of Hyde Park. The East wing is fronted with grey Portland stone and can be seen in the photos contrasting with the original orange Bath stone.

The present forecourt of Buckingham Palace, where Changing the Guard takes place, was formed in 1911 as part of the Victoria Memorial scheme.