Visit to Buckingham Palace

Although the gorgeously sumptuous state rooms of Buckingham Palace have been open to the public during August and September since 1993, and although I’ve visited most royal palaces in every other European country I’ve visited, I’ve never before made the effort to do the summer opening tour of the Palace’s state rooms right here in my own city of London. Thankfully, this year’s special exhibition on Queen & Commonwealth: The Royal Tour, prompted our President, Teresa Howe, to organise tickets – and the visit did not disappoint!

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the London Declaration of 1949, which recognised the British Sovereign as Head of the Commonwealth, the exhibition featured gifts presented to the Queen, as well as a fantastic display of dresses and gowns worn on various tours – including several worn in Canada. We all delighted at seeing the incredibly beautiful sequined and beaded maple leafs sewn into one of her gowns, and smiled at seeing the gold-plated hockey puck, featuring Canada’s Rocket Richard and presented to the Queen in 1952.

The tour of the Palace takes in all the state rooms, including the Ballroom, the State Dining Room, the Blue and Green and White Drawing Rooms, and more, finishing at the steps into the Palace’s enormous and peaceful garden from the West Front – where a group of us stopped for a cup of tea, a light lunch and a chance to compare notes on what we had seen. A re-energising break before visiting the shop!

Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside the Palace, but you can have a look at what you missed by visiting the Royal Collection’s website.



Many thanks to Teresa for organising such a nice day out!

Submitted by Barbara Richards