History and construction of the buckingham palace

Buckingham Palace is located in the City of Westminster and is the residence and office of the British monarch for over four centuries. The place is owned by the British government and is extended for the public and private use of the ruling monarch, which has to be given up when the King or Queen leaves their position. Buckingham Palace, originally known as Buckingham House, has housed generations of British monarch beginning from Queen Victoria and later including prominent rulers such as Edward VII, Queen Elizabeth, and George VI. John Nash and Edward Blore mainly designed the Palace but later structural and other changes were incorporated in the original design to accommodate the changing needs and tastes of the ruling monarch. This paper will attempt to shed light on the history, structure, and use of one of the most important houses in Britain- the Buckingham Palace.

History and Construction

The site that is considered the Buckingham Palace today was, in the beginning, three sites: Buckingham Gardens, Goring House and Arlington House. As the need for more space was required according to the lifestyle of the Dukes and rulers, the surrounding sites were added to the original Buckingham Gardens.

Buckingham Palace began as Buckingham House when John Sheffield, the first Duke of Buckingham built the house in 1702. The Palace as one sees it today was quite different from the one that was originally created. The original house was constructed from red bricks but later Portland Stone replaced the entire façade.

In 1762, George III bought the house for his Queen, Queen Charlotte as her private residence. The house became to be known as the Queen’s House at that time and many court functions took place in the house at that time. George III wanted to remodel the house to suit the needs of the expanding family but did not get the time.

When George IV succeeded George III, the new king decided to make changes in the house. Later, under the sanction of the government, George IV ordered a structural renovation of the house by architect, John Nash. George IV wanted to make the place into a palace to suit his own lifestyle. He wanted to make Buckingham House into a Palace and change his primary residence from Carlton House to the Buckingham Palace. The idea of the renovation was to make the place a theatrical showplace for the victories and accomplishments of the English rulers. This included a marble arch to commemorate the victories of Waterloo and Trafalgar. George IV made an extensive investment in the palace when he bought furniture from France during the French Revolution. George IV was inspired by the French neo-classical design and thus tried to incorporate it in the designs of the palace (Haris, 29).
However, the changes in the design were not completed when George III passed away. The costs of the project had soon exceeded the budget and for this, the successor, William IV dismissed Nash and hired another architect, Edward Blore. The work done by Nash was a failure in many terms since he did nothing to change the structural look of the place. The palace still looked like a large country house when Queen Victoria took over.

In 1837, while the renovation was still taking place Queen Victoria moved her residence to Buckingham Palace and thus the Palace from thereon served the function of the royal residence and office. She later realized that the place was not at par with the royal living standards as the plumbing system in the house was quite poor. The family and guests faced many hardships and thus Blore was commissioned to add another fourth wing to the eastern side of the residence facing the Mall and to make improvements to the original Palace (Rappaport, 83). A Ballroom was also added to the Palace since the Palace, now a royal residence was the central hub of entertainment and frequently was visited by the best musicians of that era. Lavish balls were held in the Ball Room including royal ceremonies and other events. Even now parties are held in the Ball Room where men are required to wear a white dress and tie and the women often have to don tiaras.

The Throne Room was also an important part of the residence as it was the place where initially debutantes’ entrée into society began. The debutantes began their official entrée in the Throne Room by wearing an official dress that contained three tall ostrich feathers in the hair. Later in 1958, Garden parties replaced these parties and the Throne Room was used for the purpose of holding formal addresses of the Queen. The Throne Room was also the setting where official portraits of the Royal family were taken (Healey, 147).
However, the death of Prince Albert in the palace broke the charm of the royal residence and Queen Victoria retired to Windsor Castle, leaving the Palace empty and devoid of its splendor. In 1901, Queen Victoria’s son, Edward VII made a further revision in the design when he hired Sir Aston Webb to change the entire interior of the house and to redo the house facade in Portland stone (Wayne, 183).