June 30, 2023 • 45 mins
Welcome to the London History Podcast, where we delve into the rich tapestry of the city's past, exploring famous landmarks, significant events, and hidden gems. I'm your host, Hazel Baker, a certified London Tour Guide, historian, and avid storyteller with a passion for uncovering the unique narratives that shape this extraordinary city.
In today's episode, we're exploring the history of an iconic symbol of the United Kingdom - Buckingham Palace. While most people are familiar with its imposing façade and the Changing of the Guard, the palace's past is filled with lesser-known stories that span centuries.
Joining us for this exciting exploration is our special guest, Philip Scott. Philip is a seasoned historian and tour guide with a particular interest in the British monarchy.
Together, Philip and Hazel delve into the origins of the palace, its architectural evolution, and its role in royal and national life. From tales of extravagant royal parties to stories of wartime resilience, we'll unravel the lesser-known facts about this royal residence. So, whether you're a London local or an admirer of the city's history from afar, sit back, relax, and join us on this historical journey through the heart of the British monarchy.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome, dear listeners to another fascinating episode
London History Podcast where we dive into the vibrant and
diverse part of this great City.I am your host Hazel Baker a
qualified London tour guide and founder of London guided walks
.co.uk whether you're a born andbred Londoner or a curious
(00:22):
listener. Join us on a journey through
time. As we explore the city together,
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If you enjoy what we do then your love, I'll guide you talks
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(00:43):
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rating to help spread the word to other history lovers.
Joining me in the studio today is Phillips.
Got a city of Westminster tour guide.
(01:05):
Originally from Lancashire, Philip, moved to London and was
teaching politics history, and other Humanities subjects in
East London. And now has transferred those
well-earned skills into becominga tour guide.
Providing walking tours with us including Royal London and
wonders of Whitehall. Hello.
Philip Hello good afternoon. Now we've been meaning to do
(01:28):
this one for a while, on an all-time favorite subject with a
number of our customers and thatindeed is the subject of
Buckingham Palace and its history.
Their great looking forward to it.
In fact, I was outside Buckingham Palace this morning
and the Royal Standard was flying high, but not only was
(01:50):
the Royal Standard flying high on Buckingham Palace, but it was
also flying. I'm high on Karen's house and we
all got very excited. When just as we approach
Clarence House, all of a sudden police officers started blowing
whistles and the queen consort Queen.
Camilla actually click came out of Clarence House in her car.
(02:13):
I don't think I've ever seen thestandard on Buckingham Palace
and parents house at the same time.
Today was the first time that I've ever seen it.
So, it's a new for us as well. It's also exciting though.
Isn't it being tour guides whereno constantly seeing new things
on a well-trodden room? Absolutely.
(02:33):
So, we'll get to the history of Buckingham Palace, really.
So, I suppose, let's start at the very beginning.
And that would be, who was buying and Palace built for and
by and also, why? Okay, Buckingham Palace was
originally called Buckingham house and it was built by Duke
(02:54):
of Buckingham as a townhouse, itwasn't actually built as a royal
Powers. It was completed in 1703 the
location of Buckingham house wasabsolutely superb in that it
overlooks. The Royal Park of st.
James's Park but also it was about a quarter of a mile away
(03:17):
from st. James's Palace and when
Buckingham House was built st. James's Palace was as the Royal
Palace now in 1761 King. George the third decided that he
would rather like the Duke of Buckingham his house for his new
(03:37):
wife, Queen Charlotte. So he told the Duke of
Buckingham that he would give him twenty one thousand pounds
for his house. I guess the Duke didn't feel
comfortable refusing, the offer.So the ownership of the Mm,
house passed from the Duke of Buckingham to King George.
(03:57):
The third within a very short space of time.
King George. The third had removed his new
wife, the queen consort Queen Charlotte into Buckingham
Palace, it became her home and it was where she gave birth to
14 of their 15 children. And in fact, Buckingham house it
(04:19):
actually acquired a nickname theQueen's house during this this
period of time. And when you're saying that
Georgia, third, parted with 21,000 Pounds for the Duke of
Buckingham house, we are talkingMega Money, aren't we?
Yeah, at the time the average wage was around about 25 pounds
(04:42):
a year. So the cost of 21,000 Pounds, it
was about 850 times, the averageannual wage.
And in fact, I've worked out that it was actually 1150 times
that of an agricultural labor. So even though it's a relatively
(05:03):
small amount of money today, it really was a huge amount of
money in 1761, and you said, perfectly placed and of course,
being so close to st. James's Palace had advantages if
you wanted to have the ear of the king, a less than 10 minute
walk away. would have worked, I guess, maybe or possibly, Horse
(05:32):
and carriage would have taken him or possibly a sedan chair
because they were actually quitefashionable modes of Transport
at the time. And why did the Queen's house or
Buckingham house? Become a Royal Palace?
What was so appealing about it? For Georgia, thud to purchase it
for Queen Charlotte. Clearly, it was a very large
(05:56):
house and it could easily accommodate the queen.
And as I mentioned earlier, King, George the third and Queen
Charlotte. They had 15 children in total.
14 of them were actually born atBuckingham house.
Now, George the third, he died in 1820 and his eldest son,
(06:20):
George. The fourth became the king.
And in fact, George, the fourth decided the Bucking and the
house should become the officialRoyal Palace and he set about
extending it. He got the leading architect of
the day, John Nash to come up with a whole series of plans, to
(06:41):
extend the powers the extension started, but they were not
completed until after King George.
The fourth, that died. That was in. 30.
Now, in 1830, King William, the fourth he became king but he
didn't actually want to move into the new Palace.
(07:05):
It hadn't the extensions hadn't been completed, but also King,
William, the fourth, he was quite happy living at the town
house that he had built for himself and his wife parents
house. And in fact, he wasn't until
1837 And Queen Victoria became the Monarch that she decided
(07:27):
that Buckingham Palace should bethe official Royal Palace.
In fact, King William, the fourth he really disliked, the
whole thought of the new Buckingham Palace.
And in fact, when the Palace of Westminster burnt down in 1834,
the Palace of Westminster is, ofcourse, whether United Kingdom
(07:50):
Parliament, it's King William actually offered.
At Buckingham house for the location of the parliament.
Once it happened is awful was politely declined and a new
Palace of Westminster was built.The old Palace of Westminster,
it burnt down in its entirety, apart from Westminster Hall,
(08:13):
Westminster Hall was saved. And in fact, last year,
Westminster Hall was the focus of international attention
because it's where the late Queen.
In state for four days. Yeah, and you mentioned John
Nash working on Buckingham houseand that's a name that we know
that other works in London as well.
(08:34):
Isn't it John Nash? He designed a very significant
number of large houses in central London.
Some of them are still with us today.
If you go down the mouth, if youleave Buckingham Palace and you
walk down the mail towards Trafalgar Square, where as you
(08:54):
get close to Trafalgar Square, there are a number of Nash
buildings there. The other side, the east side of
Trafalgar Square on the Strand. There are some Nash buildings
and there are quite a number still remaining in the vicinity
of Regents Park. They've all been heavily
(09:15):
restored, but that's quite a significant number of Nashville.
Dings still around. Probably the most famous
Nashville. Thing was the Brighton Pavilion
which George the fourth commissioned when he was the
prince Regent in 1811, his father.
(09:36):
George the third was incapacitated because of a
mental illness, George the third, he didn't abdicate, he
didn't resign, but his eldest son basically took over the
day-to-day running of the monarchy as the prince Regent.
And so, we were talking about the expansion of Buckingham
(09:57):
Palace over the years, but we'vegot up to William the fourth,
but the front of Buckingham Palace that we see, now isn't
what he would have seen. So what's changed?
What happened was Queen Victoriadecided that a front of facade
(10:18):
should be placed on to Buckingham Palace.
So, Who around circuit 1850? Front of facade was actually
placed on to Buckingham Palace. In fact, Queen Victoria stood on
the balcony of this new facade to waive.
Troops off to the Crimean War. At the beginning of the 20th
(10:43):
century, it was designed to remodel the facade and in 1913 a
new facade was unveiled. Old.
And also, at the same time, the statue of Queen Victoria at the
front of Buckingham Palace was also unveiled.
(11:03):
Now to create the front, they had to move an archway at the
entrance to Buckingham Palace. There was an arch and it was
actually moved to the part of London that we now call Marble
Arch after the arch that was See, front of Buckingham Palace.
(11:25):
Now, the arch, it was actually taken down Stone by Stone by the
master builder. Thomas qubit Thomas, Cuba
actually built a large number ofhouses in central London.
Especially in the Belgravia areaand we were talking about Queen
(11:46):
Camilla. The queen consort earlier,
almost Cuba is actually an ancestor.
What of Queen Camilla? I never, I'm afraid to say that
the Marble Arch today. It stands in what I consider to
be a very ugly traffic Island. There is perhaps one more thing
(12:10):
to add and that is that in 1962.A gallery was created to the
left hand side of Buckingham Palace, as you're facing it and
this Gallery came to be known asthe Queen's Gallery even though
the queen has passed away. The gallery is still known as
(12:30):
the Queen's gallery and every year they stage two exhibitions
in They showcase gems from the Royal collection.
The Royal Family actually own a very extensive art collection,
some of it dating back hundreds and hundreds of years.
(12:52):
Have you been to the latest exhibition of dressing?
The Georgians? I'm going next week.
I won't spoil it though, but I had a wonderful time soon, Evan
D. So Many Items of clothing up
close as Well as yeah, wonderfulsuit, which I think you could
actually pull off Bill and then these wonderful shoes.
(13:14):
Oh, my goodness. And then so many painting some
that have been very familiar with, but it didn't really
understand the relation between the clothes and the artwork, but
also some others that I haven't seen at all.
And I really liked that mix. So I must admit, I bought the
book, great. In fact, one of the nice things
about the Queen's Gallery is theones who have been to an egg.
(13:37):
Batian. You get a ticket which you can
then use for the next year. Yeah, I've got that one sign.
And it's on - all notice board, all these top tips.
So if we're thinking of Buckingham Palace their fill and
it seemed quite a bit in its day, no more.
So than during the second world war and you want to share a
(14:00):
little bit about about the king and queen living there during
the second world war and it's a close.
Shaves sure, yeah. In 1939, when war broke out,
September 1939, it was suggestedthat the royal family moved to
Canada for safety reasons, and they were having none of it.
(14:23):
So it was then suggested that the Royal Family Leave London.
Again, they were having none of it.
The queen consort Queen Elizabeth, the grandmother of
King Charles, the Third sheet, Famously said when she was asked
about leaving London, she famously said the children won't
(14:44):
go without me. I won't leave without the king
and the King will never leave. He stayed at Buckingham Palace
throughout World War Two. We believe that the two
princesses Elizabeth and Margaret quite often went to the
relative safety of Windsor Castle, but the king and queen
(15:04):
were quite determined to stay inLondon.
I stay in Buckingham Palace, it was bombed, 16 times and on nine
of those 16 occasions damage wascaused.
The first bomb was a 50 kg bomb.It was dropped on the 8th of
September 1942, the start of theglitz.
(15:28):
It didn't explode but on the 11th of September, a bomb was
dropped that did explode it cause damage it.
Injured four people on one of those persons.
One of those people later died from their injuries, and also in
that attack, the Victoria Memorial in front of the palace
(15:49):
was damaged after the bomb had been dropped on the 11th of
September that caused damage. Queen, Elizabeth actually said
that she was glad that the palace had been bombed.
She said that it makes me feel All that I can look the East End
in the face and in fact, East London was very badly.
(16:13):
Bombed. In fact, many parts of London
were very badly, bombed, and King, George the 6th and Queen
Elizabeth on many occasions. They went to parts of London
that had been bombed. Buckingham Palace and the royal
family. They were a prime target of
Hitler's royal family. And in particular, the king and
(16:36):
the queen, they gained a lot of Kudos from the fact that they'd
actually stayed in Buckingham Palace in spite of the bombings.
Most of the bombings of Buckingham Palace were in The
Blitz that lasted from September1942, May 1941, however, the 15
(16:58):
Informed destroyed a summer house, in the garden.
In June 1944. Interestingly Eleanor Roosevelt,
the first lady of the United States FDR's wife, she stayed at
Buckingham Palace in 1942 duringthe second world war, she used
(17:19):
it as a base to visit American troops.
It was starting to arrive in theUK and she also visited cities.
Has that had suffered from intensive bombing in her diary
she did have a little moan abouthow cold it was in the palace.
And she didn't over care for thefood but it was wartime and food
(17:43):
was rationed and that applied tothe Royal household as it did
every other household. And I said, I think she would
appreciate maybe the forthcomingwinter because I read today that
Buckingham Paris have turned their thermostats down,
apparently including in the swimming pool.
Yes. Okay.
(18:06):
So how can we get to see Buckingham Palace?
Then from the outside? You can see Buckingham Palace
24/7 from the inside a number ofways you can visit the Queen's
Gallery. We were talking about the
Queen's Gallery earlier Queen's Gallery is open all year round.
(18:29):
You can book tickets for the summer opening in fact the
palace is actually preparing forthis.
Summer's opening the palace has been opened for almost 30 years.
Is now from July to September for about eight weeks.
Now, if you're lucky, you might get invited to a garden party.
(18:52):
There are usually three every year and approximately 27,000
guests. Get to go to one of the garden
parties at Buckingham Palace. Now, if you're really lucky, you
might receive a Kong such as an Obe or an end.
The a Dame hood or a Knighthood.There are lots of investitures
(19:19):
Buckingham Palace all year round.
I'm still waiting for my invite and my gong, I think I might be
waiting for some while, althoughmaybe this podcast will enable
both to happen, it might be worth fell explaining to
listeners. What exactly is a Gong.
Okay? Gong is colloquial English.
(19:42):
For an award. So if you have done something
that's worthy, you may well get an award yesterday.
There was an investiture. Grayson Perry the Potter.
He was knighted, and he was knighted for his services to the
(20:03):
Arts. Kate garraway the broadcaster.
She received an MBE yesterday. That was for services to
broadcasting but it was also forservices to charity different
people, get different awards fordifferent things, the wards and
(20:26):
these awards, they're not without controversy, the awards
system as we know it today, it was created in 1917 by George
the Fifth. And at that time, the British
Empire was at its height. Right?
And Obe actually stands for order of the British Empire and
(20:51):
MB e stands for member of the British Empire.
And there are some people who refuse to accept Awards because
they feel it too much linked to Empire.
It's too much linked to the daysof colonialism, and there has
been some talk. Recently of maybe renaming some
(21:15):
of the awards so that Obe might stand for order of British
Excellence, instead of order of the British Empire, the poet,
Benjamin Zephaniah, it was proposed to him that he received
an Obe and he turned it down because the E stands for Empire
(21:40):
and he just didn't feel. It was appropriate.
It for him as a person of Caribbean descent to receive
that particular award. Now that we need to look at
these kind of things as well, there might be an a moment in
their time but now things have moved on as well.
But that's not to say that each person's individuals
accomplishment shouldn't be celebrated.
(22:01):
It's just the names narrow, justa little bit down today.
I don't know, I suspect in the fullness of time, the ward
system will undergo change. I think it has to do in order to
reflect where we are now and then and that people as well.
Yes. I remember Roald Dahl also
decline the honor. Yeah.
(22:23):
Some people decline honors because they don't feel that
they should be elevated in theirstatus above.
Anyone else, David Bowie. When Tony Blair was Prime
Minister, David Bowie was put forward for a Knighthood and he
refused on the grounds that he didn't consider himself to be
(22:45):
any better than anyone else. So we got to visiting for the
summer and of course, as with that to visit to Buckingham
Palace, not only did he go inside, but you exit via the
beautiful gardens. Yeah.
The largest private Gardens in London, are they?
They are. Yes, they are the largest
(23:08):
private Gardens in central London.
Second are the gardens in Winfield house, which is the
official residence of the The ambassador to the United Kingdom
from the United States, of course, officially the title of
(23:30):
all ambassador's to the United Kingdom, is there still known as
the ambassador to the court of st.
James's, or if it's a commonwealth country,
commonwealth countries, have high Commissioners, they are
high Commissioners to the court of st.
James's interestingly, even though, st.
James's Palace. Has not been Z official Royal
(23:52):
Palace, since 1837 all ambassadors and high
Commissioners, they are still known as yeah, the ambassador to
the court of st. James is so the American
ambassador to the court of st. James has, she has the second
biggest garden in central London.
And I believe the third largest garden in central London belongs
(24:17):
to the Goring hotel, which is actually very Close to
Buckingham Palace it's quite near Victoria Station.
Is it going well? Catherine Middleton stage
before. The is yes, and her family.
Yes. Yeah.
Have you seen the Diplomat on Netflix with Keri Russell and
the gorgeous Rufus say? Well, I'm afraid I haven't
(24:40):
knife. Is she plays the Diplomat, the
American Diplomat, and it's app is a thriller.
I think it's absolutely Exquisite, but she needs to in
order to be an official Ambassador.
Go to the court of st. James with these papers and of
course, nothing Gary really goesto plan.
So we got a few free nights. I can certainly recommend that
right? Okay.
(25:03):
So we were talking about Palace and we've seen the insides and
the staff are really wonderful in there.
And I'll show you that the secret doors and that kind of
thing. Talk about the garden, but there
is a top tip about that ticket Phil to get your money's worth,
very similar to what we were talking about with the Queen's
Gallery. I've got a bit of strategy when
I go around Buckingham Palace and that is that I buy a ticket
(25:27):
at the end of the season, and once you get it, stamped in the
garden, You're leaving, you can then revisit within 12 months,
so that gives me all of the nextsummer to choose when I'm going
to visit next time, clever thinking.
Alright, thank you very much. Now in 1982 Phil, there was an
(25:51):
Infamous breaking which is also shown in the Netflix series.
The Crown where a man by the name of Michael Fagan ended up
in the lake. Queen's bedroom.
Please do tell us more. There were two break-ins during
the summer of 1982. This Man Called Michael fagin.
(26:13):
He initially broke into Buckingham Palace in early July
1982. He climbed up a drainpipe and he
actually entered through an unlocked window and for 30
minutes, he wandered around the palace.
Looking at Royal portraits and he Himself to Wine cheese and
(26:35):
crackers before leaving. He enjoyed his visit so much
that he came back again. And on the 9th of July, he
entered the palace by scaling up, a 14 foot, high perimeter
wall with spikes and with barbedwire.
An alarm was triggered. But would you believe that the
(26:59):
place just adopted the view? It was faulty.
T and they ignored it and he gotinto the building.
He wandered around the corridors, he somehow managed to
break an ashtray and he actuallycut himself and he ended up in
the lake Queen's bedroom. Would you believe that the armed
(27:19):
officer on duty had actually gone off shift and haven't been
replaced. This was a huge news story.
The Home Secretary, Time was a man called William, Whitelaw
lily-white or he offered mrs. Thatcher his resignation, but it
(27:41):
was refused. This story was on the front page
of all the newspapers and they said that Michael Fagan had sat
on the end of the Queen's bed and that the queen had engaged
in a conversation with him now, fagin has actually said that
this did not happen. Ian Fagan has said that the
(28:04):
queen actually left the room immediately to seek help.
Although non came for a little while.
Now it's very clear that MichaelFagan.
Then the late Queen, no harm. In fact in some ways, the
incident perhaps did the queen of favor because it exposed some
(28:29):
very major security lapses. And the powers that be were able
to rectify, those security lapses.
Now, Michael fake in, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital
for treatment. And he stayed there for three
months, he's now in his 70s and the Press tracked him down just
(28:52):
after the late Queen passed away.
And he told them that he lit a candle in a local church to
honor the queen on. Her passing.
There's the thought isn't it? That anything could have
potentially happened. And also when this happened like
1982, this is only the year. After the 1981, New Zealand
(29:15):
shooting incident and the 17 year old Christopher, John Lewis
fired a shot at the queen as shestepped out of her vehicle then.
So this is if you think about amuse termed, it's one.
After the other one year is nothing, is it had to be had ill
intent. He could have easily taken the
Is life. So it is in many ways.
(29:36):
I guess you could argue that it was a good thing that these
major lapses in security were exposed to talking earlier about
the, the Royal Standard flag. Being on top of Buckingham
Palace and parents house at the same time for the first time
seeing this morning. So what is the standard flag and
why? And when does it fly on top of
(29:57):
said buildings? And also, why is there sometimes
a Union Flag there and I said yeah sure the Royal Standard is
the monarchs own flag and the Royal Standard reflects three of
the four countries that form theUnited Kingdom.
(30:19):
Scotland is represented on the Royal Standard with a single
lion island is represented on the Royal Standard by a harp
England is represented on the Old standard, two of the four
rectangles contain Three Lions. Now, in Scotland, the Royal
(30:40):
Standard has on it to single Lions into of the rectangles and
just one rectangle with three Lions on it.
Wales is actually not represented on the Royal
Standard nor is Wales represented on the Union flag.
(31:02):
The Ian flag is three flags in one, the flag of England, the
flag of Scotland under traditional flag of Ireland when
the Royal Standard was created and when the Union flag was
created, the whole of Ireland was in the United Kingdom.
Now only the northeast of Ireland.
(31:23):
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom.
Sometimes the Union flag flies on Buckingham Palace.
The Union flag flies on the palace when the Monarch is not
in Residence. Now at one time when the Royal
Standard wasn't flying on Buckingham Palace no flag flew
(31:49):
the week that Diana died. The queen was in Scotland at
Balmoral Castle there was no flag flying on Buckingham Palace
and there was an outcry that There was no flag flying at
half-mast on Buckingham Palace. I don't think people have fully
(32:09):
realized that the only flag thathad ever flown on Buckingham
Palace was the Royal Standard. The Union flag didn't fly on
Buckingham Palace when the Monarch was not in Residence.
So, the week after Diana died, it was decided for the first
time to fly the Union flag. Buckingham Palace and at
(32:34):
half-mast now, the week that Diana died, the queen came back
from Scotland with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince,
Philip and the sons of Diana William and Harry, they came
back on the Friday to BuckinghamPalace.
And at that point, the Union flag, which was flying at half.
(32:58):
Mast came down and the Royal Standard went up, but the Royal
Standard It went up at full mastbecause the Royal Standard is
never lowered to half-mast the fact that it remains at full
mast denotes the continuity of the monarchy.
It's one of those things isn't it?
When Buckingham Palace seems to be a place that when something
(33:21):
big happens in the country, people gravitate to it.
It's interesting that we are recording this shortly after the
trooping, the colour ceremony. And after trooping, the colour,
the king, and the queen consort appeared on the balcony of
(33:44):
Buckingham Palace. The Standard was flying high,
but it was a really large Royal Standard.
It was very much bigger than theRoyal Standard that was flying
on the palace. When I was in front of it
earlier today. I wonder how many different
sizes there are, think there arejust two a regular size and a
(34:07):
sort of a super-sized Royal Standard.
Now Phil I know you're the perfect person to ask about
this. So can you share any interesting
or little known facts about the history of Buckingham Palace?
I could give you a few Fab facts.
For example, Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms 78 bathrooms and
(34:38):
apparently 40,000 light bulbs. Another tab fact is it's
actually 16 times larger than the White House.
I was watching the BBC News. When President Trump arrived for
his State. Visit, he arrived in a
helicopter in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and the person
(35:03):
who is doing the commentary. I actually asked the question
about whether or not president from realized that Buckingham
Palace was 16 times the size of the White House.
The late Queen was such a good Diplomat.
I think it's extremely unlikely that she would have told the
president that the palace was 16times the size of the White
(35:27):
House, but I can't help. But think that if the White
House had been 16 times the sizeof buck, In Impalas, maybe
President Trump might have mentioned it to Queen Elizabeth.
I'm sure he would have, would you like more do?
I haven't had my fill fill. I mentioned earlier that Queen
(35:49):
Victoria had moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837 when
she moved in the drains were faulty.
They were very smelly and sometimes sewage actually seeped
into the kitchens and Prince Albert, the Queen's husband.
(36:09):
He actually To develop a new drainage system.
The late Queen, She hosted a very large number of State
visits. A state visit is when a foreign
head of state visits the United Kingdom more often than not,
they stay at Buckingham Palace and the late Queen actually
(36:32):
hosted 152 State visits. What King, Charles the Third so
far has just hosted. And one state visit, and that
was at the end of last year and that was for the president of
South Africa, time for one more Fab fact.
Oh, go on. Then you convinced me on the
18th of September last year, 2022, it was the day before the
(37:00):
late Queen's funeral and the newking and his Queen consort, they
hosted 500 foreign dignitaries. Buckingham Palace and this was
the largest ever Gathering of foreign dignitaries at
Buckingham Palace 168 sovereign states.
(37:23):
Sent a representative to the lake Queen's funeral and this
actually included 18, monarchs and fifty five presidents as
well as 25 prime minister's. Now the Late Queen, she wasn't
just the head of state, the United Kingdom, but when she
(37:46):
died the late Queen was the headof state in 14.
Other countries, these are knownas the Commonwealth Realms King
Charles. The Third he is not just the
king of the United Kingdom, but he's also the king of 14, other
countries countries such as Australia, Jamaica belly.
(38:11):
Please Canada, New Zealand. Now, this is a, this is
something that dates back to thedays of Empire when countries
got their independence, most countries decided that they
wanted to be a part of the Commonwealth, but they decided
(38:33):
most of them that they wanted tobecome Republics I suspect that
as time goes by more countries will decide that they want to
become Republic's Jamaica. For example, has already
indicated that by 2025. They want a Jamaican head of
state. They don't want King, Charles
(38:54):
the Third as they had it State. They got no problems with King.
Charles, the Third they want to stay in the Commonwealth but
they feel that it's not appropriate for a modern
democratic. Aquatic country like Jamaica to
have a head of state. Who was the head of state in
(39:15):
colonial times. There's only one other Head of
State in the world. Who's actually The Head of State
in more than one country? Would you like me to give you a
piece of extreme trivia? Go on?
I'm sure it will be useful in a pub quiz.
Somewhat, this is real extreme trivia.
(39:37):
President macron of France is also the joint head of state of
Andorra. The bishop of guell and
president macron, other joint, heads of state of Andorra enough
trivia may be worth visiting. The balcony, the Buckingham
Palace balcony that we have. So, let's cemented in our
(40:00):
memories of the final public viewing of the late Queen.
And also the first kiss of Catherine Middleton, And
William. It's a big deal that being on
the balcony, isn't it huge? I mentioned earlier that the
balcony, dates to the mid 19th century when Queen Victoria
(40:20):
arranged for a its facade to go on to Buckingham Palace.
I also mentioned earlier that the balcony that we know today,
it was unveiled for the first time in 1913 and ever since then
there have been Numerous balcony, appearances, when will
(40:42):
one ended the King? George the Fifth and Queen Mary,
they appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and there were
hundreds of thousands of people in front of the palace cheering.
Probably the most famous ever. Balcony, appearance was on the
(41:04):
day that the Second World War. Ended in Europe.
The idee the 8th of May 1945, King George, the sixth, and
Queen Elizabeth appeared on the balcony with the two princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret. They appeared nine times on the
balcony, hundreds of thousands of people were in front of the
(41:29):
palace and in the mouth. And on one of those occasions.
The wartime prime minister Winston Churchill appeared on
the balcony. Now, after the last appearance,
the two princesses with chaperones famously joined the
crowds and partied the night away, along with the rest of
(41:51):
London. Apparently, they ended up at the
Ritz hotel in the early hours ofthe morning.
Doing the conga film was made quite some while ago about the
night that the two princesses joined a Ze night party.
Interestingly on the 50th anniversary of VE day which was
(42:11):
in 1995 Queen. Elizabeth the second her mother
Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother and her sister Princess
Margaret. They actually peer they actually
appeared again together on the balcony.
I seem to remember that Dame Vera Lynn was actually in the
forecourt of the palace singing as they were on the balcony.
(42:35):
The last balcony. It was just a few days ago after
trooping, the colour for the late Queen her last ever
appearance in public, was on thebalcony of Buckingham Palace and
this was on the occasion of the Platinum.
Jubilee to celebrate the Queen's70 years on the throne.
(42:58):
So lots of memories there and associated with the balcony is
the fly past. Yeah, we've had some impressive
ones over the years, but it might be worth having a look or
you explaining the history of these flight paths at Buckingham
Palace and their significance. Yet frequently, an appearance on
(43:20):
the balcony at Buckingham Palaceis also accompanied with a
flypast and a flypast is when military helicopters military
airplanes, fly between On the feet and 1400 100 feet above the
(43:41):
ground. After the recent trooping, the
colour that was a flypast at thevery end of the fly past the Red
Arrows, spectacularly appeared, Trials of red white and blue.
There was a flypast after the coronation on the 6th of May
(44:01):
this year, but it was very much,a truncated fly past the weather
was Is not particularly good on that day and the fly past had to
be really scaled back when it was the Platinum Jubilee
celebrations. There was a major fly past and
in fact some of the airplanes actually made the formation of a
(44:25):
Saturn and also a zero, the first ever fly past was in 1913.
The first ever Royal fly past itwas Isn't at Buckingham Palace.
It was actually at Aldershot andthe Royal flying Corps, military
Wing, staged a flypast for King George.
(44:48):
The Fifth, the Royal Air Force wasn't actually created until
1918. I'm going to enjoy my trip to
Buckingham Palace in a couple ofweeks.
We had that extra bit of knowledge, their superb.
I hope all that's been useful. It has indeed.
Yes, thank you. And for the listeners, I'll
(45:08):
include some links to related blog posts about Garden parties
and Buckingham Palace during World War 2, Etc, in there.
And also the important links to book tickets, not only for
Buckingham Palace but of course o to attend one of Phil's very
Interesting. Royal London Hawks Thank you,
(45:28):
Phil. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Thank you. and that's all for
now, until next time, and that'sall for now, until next time,
Welcome, dear listeners to another fascinating episode
London History Podcast where we dive into the vibrant and
diverse part of this great City.I am your host Hazel Baker a
qualified London tour guide and founder of London guided walks
.co.uk whether you're a born andbred Londoner or a curious
(00:22):
listener. Join us on a journey through
time. As we explore the city together,
each episode is supported. Goodbye, show notes transcripts
photos and further reading all to be found on our website.
If you enjoy what we do then your love, I'll guide you talks
and private tours that we offer throughout the year or bookable
(00:43):
online. And London, guided walks, .co.uk
subscribe now to never miss an episode.
And if you enjoy the show, please leave us a review and
rating to help spread the word to other history lovers.
Joining me in the studio today is Phillips.
Got a city of Westminster tour guide.
(01:05):
Originally from Lancashire, Philip, moved to London and was
teaching politics history, and other Humanities subjects in
East London. And now has transferred those
well-earned skills into becominga tour guide.
Providing walking tours with us including Royal London and
wonders of Whitehall. Hello.
Philip Hello good afternoon. Now we've been meaning to do
(01:28):
this one for a while, on an all-time favorite subject with a
number of our customers and thatindeed is the subject of
Buckingham Palace and its history.
Their great looking forward to it.
In fact, I was outside Buckingham Palace this morning
and the Royal Standard was flying high, but not only was
(01:50):
the Royal Standard flying high on Buckingham Palace, but it was
also flying. I'm high on Karen's house and we
all got very excited. When just as we approach
Clarence House, all of a sudden police officers started blowing
whistles and the queen consort Queen.
Camilla actually click came out of Clarence House in her car.
(02:13):
I don't think I've ever seen thestandard on Buckingham Palace
and parents house at the same time.
Today was the first time that I've ever seen it.
So, it's a new for us as well. It's also exciting though.
Isn't it being tour guides whereno constantly seeing new things
on a well-trodden room? Absolutely.
(02:33):
So, we'll get to the history of Buckingham Palace, really.
So, I suppose, let's start at the very beginning.
And that would be, who was buying and Palace built for and
by and also, why? Okay, Buckingham Palace was
originally called Buckingham house and it was built by Duke
(02:54):
of Buckingham as a townhouse, itwasn't actually built as a royal
Powers. It was completed in 1703 the
location of Buckingham house wasabsolutely superb in that it
overlooks. The Royal Park of st.
James's Park but also it was about a quarter of a mile away
(03:17):
from st. James's Palace and when
Buckingham House was built st. James's Palace was as the Royal
Palace now in 1761 King. George the third decided that he
would rather like the Duke of Buckingham his house for his new
(03:37):
wife, Queen Charlotte. So he told the Duke of
Buckingham that he would give him twenty one thousand pounds
for his house. I guess the Duke didn't feel
comfortable refusing, the offer.So the ownership of the Mm,
house passed from the Duke of Buckingham to King George.
(03:57):
The third within a very short space of time.
King George. The third had removed his new
wife, the queen consort Queen Charlotte into Buckingham
Palace, it became her home and it was where she gave birth to
14 of their 15 children. And in fact, Buckingham house it
(04:19):
actually acquired a nickname theQueen's house during this this
period of time. And when you're saying that
Georgia, third, parted with 21,000 Pounds for the Duke of
Buckingham house, we are talkingMega Money, aren't we?
Yeah, at the time the average wage was around about 25 pounds
(04:42):
a year. So the cost of 21,000 Pounds, it
was about 850 times, the averageannual wage.
And in fact, I've worked out that it was actually 1150 times
that of an agricultural labor. So even though it's a relatively
(05:03):
small amount of money today, it really was a huge amount of
money in 1761, and you said, perfectly placed and of course,
being so close to st. James's Palace had advantages if
you wanted to have the ear of the king, a less than 10 minute
walk away. would have worked, I guess, maybe or possibly, Horse
(05:32):
and carriage would have taken him or possibly a sedan chair
because they were actually quitefashionable modes of Transport
at the time. And why did the Queen's house or
Buckingham house? Become a Royal Palace?
What was so appealing about it? For Georgia, thud to purchase it
for Queen Charlotte. Clearly, it was a very large
(05:56):
house and it could easily accommodate the queen.
And as I mentioned earlier, King, George the third and Queen
Charlotte. They had 15 children in total.
14 of them were actually born atBuckingham house.
Now, George the third, he died in 1820 and his eldest son,
(06:20):
George. The fourth became the king.
And in fact, George, the fourth decided the Bucking and the
house should become the officialRoyal Palace and he set about
extending it. He got the leading architect of
the day, John Nash to come up with a whole series of plans, to
(06:41):
extend the powers the extension started, but they were not
completed until after King George.
The fourth, that died. That was in. 30.
Now, in 1830, King William, the fourth he became king but he
didn't actually want to move into the new Palace.
(07:05):
It hadn't the extensions hadn't been completed, but also King,
William, the fourth, he was quite happy living at the town
house that he had built for himself and his wife parents
house. And in fact, he wasn't until
1837 And Queen Victoria became the Monarch that she decided
(07:27):
that Buckingham Palace should bethe official Royal Palace.
In fact, King William, the fourth he really disliked, the
whole thought of the new Buckingham Palace.
And in fact, when the Palace of Westminster burnt down in 1834,
the Palace of Westminster is, ofcourse, whether United Kingdom
(07:50):
Parliament, it's King William actually offered.
At Buckingham house for the location of the parliament.
Once it happened is awful was politely declined and a new
Palace of Westminster was built.The old Palace of Westminster,
it burnt down in its entirety, apart from Westminster Hall,
(08:13):
Westminster Hall was saved. And in fact, last year,
Westminster Hall was the focus of international attention
because it's where the late Queen.
In state for four days. Yeah, and you mentioned John
Nash working on Buckingham houseand that's a name that we know
that other works in London as well.
(08:34):
Isn't it John Nash? He designed a very significant
number of large houses in central London.
Some of them are still with us today.
If you go down the mouth, if youleave Buckingham Palace and you
walk down the mail towards Trafalgar Square, where as you
(08:54):
get close to Trafalgar Square, there are a number of Nash
buildings there. The other side, the east side of
Trafalgar Square on the Strand. There are some Nash buildings
and there are quite a number still remaining in the vicinity
of Regents Park. They've all been heavily
(09:15):
restored, but that's quite a significant number of Nashville.
Dings still around. Probably the most famous
Nashville. Thing was the Brighton Pavilion
which George the fourth commissioned when he was the
prince Regent in 1811, his father.
(09:36):
George the third was incapacitated because of a
mental illness, George the third, he didn't abdicate, he
didn't resign, but his eldest son basically took over the
day-to-day running of the monarchy as the prince Regent.
And so, we were talking about the expansion of Buckingham
(09:57):
Palace over the years, but we'vegot up to William the fourth,
but the front of Buckingham Palace that we see, now isn't
what he would have seen. So what's changed?
What happened was Queen Victoriadecided that a front of facade
(10:18):
should be placed on to Buckingham Palace.
So, Who around circuit 1850? Front of facade was actually
placed on to Buckingham Palace. In fact, Queen Victoria stood on
the balcony of this new facade to waive.
Troops off to the Crimean War. At the beginning of the 20th
(10:43):
century, it was designed to remodel the facade and in 1913 a
new facade was unveiled. Old.
And also, at the same time, the statue of Queen Victoria at the
front of Buckingham Palace was also unveiled.
(11:03):
Now to create the front, they had to move an archway at the
entrance to Buckingham Palace. There was an arch and it was
actually moved to the part of London that we now call Marble
Arch after the arch that was See, front of Buckingham Palace.
(11:25):
Now, the arch, it was actually taken down Stone by Stone by the
master builder. Thomas qubit Thomas, Cuba
actually built a large number ofhouses in central London.
Especially in the Belgravia areaand we were talking about Queen
(11:46):
Camilla. The queen consort earlier,
almost Cuba is actually an ancestor.
What of Queen Camilla? I never, I'm afraid to say that
the Marble Arch today. It stands in what I consider to
be a very ugly traffic Island. There is perhaps one more thing
(12:10):
to add and that is that in 1962.A gallery was created to the
left hand side of Buckingham Palace, as you're facing it and
this Gallery came to be known asthe Queen's Gallery even though
the queen has passed away. The gallery is still known as
(12:30):
the Queen's gallery and every year they stage two exhibitions
in They showcase gems from the Royal collection.
The Royal Family actually own a very extensive art collection,
some of it dating back hundreds and hundreds of years.
(12:52):
Have you been to the latest exhibition of dressing?
The Georgians? I'm going next week.
I won't spoil it though, but I had a wonderful time soon, Evan
D. So Many Items of clothing up
close as Well as yeah, wonderfulsuit, which I think you could
actually pull off Bill and then these wonderful shoes.
(13:14):
Oh, my goodness. And then so many painting some
that have been very familiar with, but it didn't really
understand the relation between the clothes and the artwork, but
also some others that I haven't seen at all.
And I really liked that mix. So I must admit, I bought the
book, great. In fact, one of the nice things
about the Queen's Gallery is theones who have been to an egg.
(13:37):
Batian. You get a ticket which you can
then use for the next year. Yeah, I've got that one sign.
And it's on - all notice board, all these top tips.
So if we're thinking of Buckingham Palace their fill and
it seemed quite a bit in its day, no more.
So than during the second world war and you want to share a
(14:00):
little bit about about the king and queen living there during
the second world war and it's a close.
Shaves sure, yeah. In 1939, when war broke out,
September 1939, it was suggestedthat the royal family moved to
Canada for safety reasons, and they were having none of it.
(14:23):
So it was then suggested that the Royal Family Leave London.
Again, they were having none of it.
The queen consort Queen Elizabeth, the grandmother of
King Charles, the Third sheet, Famously said when she was asked
about leaving London, she famously said the children won't
(14:44):
go without me. I won't leave without the king
and the King will never leave. He stayed at Buckingham Palace
throughout World War Two. We believe that the two
princesses Elizabeth and Margaret quite often went to the
relative safety of Windsor Castle, but the king and queen
(15:04):
were quite determined to stay inLondon.
I stay in Buckingham Palace, it was bombed, 16 times and on nine
of those 16 occasions damage wascaused.
The first bomb was a 50 kg bomb.It was dropped on the 8th of
September 1942, the start of theglitz.
(15:28):
It didn't explode but on the 11th of September, a bomb was
dropped that did explode it cause damage it.
Injured four people on one of those persons.
One of those people later died from their injuries, and also in
that attack, the Victoria Memorial in front of the palace
(15:49):
was damaged after the bomb had been dropped on the 11th of
September that caused damage. Queen, Elizabeth actually said
that she was glad that the palace had been bombed.
She said that it makes me feel All that I can look the East End
in the face and in fact, East London was very badly.
(16:13):
Bombed. In fact, many parts of London
were very badly, bombed, and King, George the 6th and Queen
Elizabeth on many occasions. They went to parts of London
that had been bombed. Buckingham Palace and the royal
family. They were a prime target of
Hitler's royal family. And in particular, the king and
(16:36):
the queen, they gained a lot of Kudos from the fact that they'd
actually stayed in Buckingham Palace in spite of the bombings.
Most of the bombings of Buckingham Palace were in The
Blitz that lasted from September1942, May 1941, however, the 15
(16:58):
Informed destroyed a summer house, in the garden.
In June 1944. Interestingly Eleanor Roosevelt,
the first lady of the United States FDR's wife, she stayed at
Buckingham Palace in 1942 duringthe second world war, she used
(17:19):
it as a base to visit American troops.
It was starting to arrive in theUK and she also visited cities.
Has that had suffered from intensive bombing in her diary
she did have a little moan abouthow cold it was in the palace.
And she didn't over care for thefood but it was wartime and food
(17:43):
was rationed and that applied tothe Royal household as it did
every other household. And I said, I think she would
appreciate maybe the forthcomingwinter because I read today that
Buckingham Paris have turned their thermostats down,
apparently including in the swimming pool.
Yes. Okay.
(18:06):
So how can we get to see Buckingham Palace?
Then from the outside? You can see Buckingham Palace
24/7 from the inside a number ofways you can visit the Queen's
Gallery. We were talking about the
Queen's Gallery earlier Queen's Gallery is open all year round.
(18:29):
You can book tickets for the summer opening in fact the
palace is actually preparing forthis.
Summer's opening the palace has been opened for almost 30 years.
Is now from July to September for about eight weeks.
Now, if you're lucky, you might get invited to a garden party.
(18:52):
There are usually three every year and approximately 27,000
guests. Get to go to one of the garden
parties at Buckingham Palace. Now, if you're really lucky, you
might receive a Kong such as an Obe or an end.
The a Dame hood or a Knighthood.There are lots of investitures
(19:19):
Buckingham Palace all year round.
I'm still waiting for my invite and my gong, I think I might be
waiting for some while, althoughmaybe this podcast will enable
both to happen, it might be worth fell explaining to
listeners. What exactly is a Gong.
Okay? Gong is colloquial English.
(19:42):
For an award. So if you have done something
that's worthy, you may well get an award yesterday.
There was an investiture. Grayson Perry the Potter.
He was knighted, and he was knighted for his services to the
(20:03):
Arts. Kate garraway the broadcaster.
She received an MBE yesterday. That was for services to
broadcasting but it was also forservices to charity different
people, get different awards fordifferent things, the wards and
(20:26):
these awards, they're not without controversy, the awards
system as we know it today, it was created in 1917 by George
the Fifth. And at that time, the British
Empire was at its height. Right?
And Obe actually stands for order of the British Empire and
(20:51):
MB e stands for member of the British Empire.
And there are some people who refuse to accept Awards because
they feel it too much linked to Empire.
It's too much linked to the daysof colonialism, and there has
been some talk. Recently of maybe renaming some
(21:15):
of the awards so that Obe might stand for order of British
Excellence, instead of order of the British Empire, the poet,
Benjamin Zephaniah, it was proposed to him that he received
an Obe and he turned it down because the E stands for Empire
(21:40):
and he just didn't feel. It was appropriate.
It for him as a person of Caribbean descent to receive
that particular award. Now that we need to look at
these kind of things as well, there might be an a moment in
their time but now things have moved on as well.
But that's not to say that each person's individuals
accomplishment shouldn't be celebrated.
(22:01):
It's just the names narrow, justa little bit down today.
I don't know, I suspect in the fullness of time, the ward
system will undergo change. I think it has to do in order to
reflect where we are now and then and that people as well.
Yes. I remember Roald Dahl also
decline the honor. Yeah.
(22:23):
Some people decline honors because they don't feel that
they should be elevated in theirstatus above.
Anyone else, David Bowie. When Tony Blair was Prime
Minister, David Bowie was put forward for a Knighthood and he
refused on the grounds that he didn't consider himself to be
(22:45):
any better than anyone else. So we got to visiting for the
summer and of course, as with that to visit to Buckingham
Palace, not only did he go inside, but you exit via the
beautiful gardens. Yeah.
The largest private Gardens in London, are they?
They are. Yes, they are the largest
(23:08):
private Gardens in central London.
Second are the gardens in Winfield house, which is the
official residence of the The ambassador to the United Kingdom
from the United States, of course, officially the title of
(23:30):
all ambassador's to the United Kingdom, is there still known as
the ambassador to the court of st.
James's, or if it's a commonwealth country,
commonwealth countries, have high Commissioners, they are
high Commissioners to the court of st.
James's interestingly, even though, st.
James's Palace. Has not been Z official Royal
(23:52):
Palace, since 1837 all ambassadors and high
Commissioners, they are still known as yeah, the ambassador to
the court of st. James is so the American
ambassador to the court of st. James has, she has the second
biggest garden in central London.
And I believe the third largest garden in central London belongs
(24:17):
to the Goring hotel, which is actually very Close to
Buckingham Palace it's quite near Victoria Station.
Is it going well? Catherine Middleton stage
before. The is yes, and her family.
Yes. Yeah.
Have you seen the Diplomat on Netflix with Keri Russell and
the gorgeous Rufus say? Well, I'm afraid I haven't
(24:40):
knife. Is she plays the Diplomat, the
American Diplomat, and it's app is a thriller.
I think it's absolutely Exquisite, but she needs to in
order to be an official Ambassador.
Go to the court of st. James with these papers and of
course, nothing Gary really goesto plan.
So we got a few free nights. I can certainly recommend that
right? Okay.
(25:03):
So we were talking about Palace and we've seen the insides and
the staff are really wonderful in there.
And I'll show you that the secret doors and that kind of
thing. Talk about the garden, but there
is a top tip about that ticket Phil to get your money's worth,
very similar to what we were talking about with the Queen's
Gallery. I've got a bit of strategy when
I go around Buckingham Palace and that is that I buy a ticket
(25:27):
at the end of the season, and once you get it, stamped in the
garden, You're leaving, you can then revisit within 12 months,
so that gives me all of the nextsummer to choose when I'm going
to visit next time, clever thinking.
Alright, thank you very much. Now in 1982 Phil, there was an
(25:51):
Infamous breaking which is also shown in the Netflix series.
The Crown where a man by the name of Michael Fagan ended up
in the lake. Queen's bedroom.
Please do tell us more. There were two break-ins during
the summer of 1982. This Man Called Michael fagin.
(26:13):
He initially broke into Buckingham Palace in early July
1982. He climbed up a drainpipe and he
actually entered through an unlocked window and for 30
minutes, he wandered around the palace.
Looking at Royal portraits and he Himself to Wine cheese and
(26:35):
crackers before leaving. He enjoyed his visit so much
that he came back again. And on the 9th of July, he
entered the palace by scaling up, a 14 foot, high perimeter
wall with spikes and with barbedwire.
An alarm was triggered. But would you believe that the
(26:59):
place just adopted the view? It was faulty.
T and they ignored it and he gotinto the building.
He wandered around the corridors, he somehow managed to
break an ashtray and he actuallycut himself and he ended up in
the lake Queen's bedroom. Would you believe that the armed
(27:19):
officer on duty had actually gone off shift and haven't been
replaced. This was a huge news story.
The Home Secretary, Time was a man called William, Whitelaw
lily-white or he offered mrs. Thatcher his resignation, but it
(27:41):
was refused. This story was on the front page
of all the newspapers and they said that Michael Fagan had sat
on the end of the Queen's bed and that the queen had engaged
in a conversation with him now, fagin has actually said that
this did not happen. Ian Fagan has said that the
(28:04):
queen actually left the room immediately to seek help.
Although non came for a little while.
Now it's very clear that MichaelFagan.
Then the late Queen, no harm. In fact in some ways, the
incident perhaps did the queen of favor because it exposed some
(28:29):
very major security lapses. And the powers that be were able
to rectify, those security lapses.
Now, Michael fake in, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital
for treatment. And he stayed there for three
months, he's now in his 70s and the Press tracked him down just
(28:52):
after the late Queen passed away.
And he told them that he lit a candle in a local church to
honor the queen on. Her passing.
There's the thought isn't it? That anything could have
potentially happened. And also when this happened like
1982, this is only the year. After the 1981, New Zealand
(29:15):
shooting incident and the 17 year old Christopher, John Lewis
fired a shot at the queen as shestepped out of her vehicle then.
So this is if you think about amuse termed, it's one.
After the other one year is nothing, is it had to be had ill
intent. He could have easily taken the
Is life. So it is in many ways.
(29:36):
I guess you could argue that it was a good thing that these
major lapses in security were exposed to talking earlier about
the, the Royal Standard flag. Being on top of Buckingham
Palace and parents house at the same time for the first time
seeing this morning. So what is the standard flag and
why? And when does it fly on top of
(29:57):
said buildings? And also, why is there sometimes
a Union Flag there and I said yeah sure the Royal Standard is
the monarchs own flag and the Royal Standard reflects three of
the four countries that form theUnited Kingdom.
(30:19):
Scotland is represented on the Royal Standard with a single
lion island is represented on the Royal Standard by a harp
England is represented on the Old standard, two of the four
rectangles contain Three Lions. Now, in Scotland, the Royal
(30:40):
Standard has on it to single Lions into of the rectangles and
just one rectangle with three Lions on it.
Wales is actually not represented on the Royal
Standard nor is Wales represented on the Union flag.
(31:02):
The Ian flag is three flags in one, the flag of England, the
flag of Scotland under traditional flag of Ireland when
the Royal Standard was created and when the Union flag was
created, the whole of Ireland was in the United Kingdom.
Now only the northeast of Ireland.
(31:23):
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom.
Sometimes the Union flag flies on Buckingham Palace.
The Union flag flies on the palace when the Monarch is not
in Residence. Now at one time when the Royal
Standard wasn't flying on Buckingham Palace no flag flew
(31:49):
the week that Diana died. The queen was in Scotland at
Balmoral Castle there was no flag flying on Buckingham Palace
and there was an outcry that There was no flag flying at
half-mast on Buckingham Palace. I don't think people have fully
(32:09):
realized that the only flag thathad ever flown on Buckingham
Palace was the Royal Standard. The Union flag didn't fly on
Buckingham Palace when the Monarch was not in Residence.
So, the week after Diana died, it was decided for the first
time to fly the Union flag. Buckingham Palace and at
(32:34):
half-mast now, the week that Diana died, the queen came back
from Scotland with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince,
Philip and the sons of Diana William and Harry, they came
back on the Friday to BuckinghamPalace.
And at that point, the Union flag, which was flying at half.
(32:58):
Mast came down and the Royal Standard went up, but the Royal
Standard It went up at full mastbecause the Royal Standard is
never lowered to half-mast the fact that it remains at full
mast denotes the continuity of the monarchy.
It's one of those things isn't it?
When Buckingham Palace seems to be a place that when something
(33:21):
big happens in the country, people gravitate to it.
It's interesting that we are recording this shortly after the
trooping, the colour ceremony. And after trooping, the colour,
the king, and the queen consort appeared on the balcony of
(33:44):
Buckingham Palace. The Standard was flying high,
but it was a really large Royal Standard.
It was very much bigger than theRoyal Standard that was flying
on the palace. When I was in front of it
earlier today. I wonder how many different
sizes there are, think there arejust two a regular size and a
(34:07):
sort of a super-sized Royal Standard.
Now Phil I know you're the perfect person to ask about
this. So can you share any interesting
or little known facts about the history of Buckingham Palace?
I could give you a few Fab facts.
For example, Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms 78 bathrooms and
(34:38):
apparently 40,000 light bulbs. Another tab fact is it's
actually 16 times larger than the White House.
I was watching the BBC News. When President Trump arrived for
his State. Visit, he arrived in a
helicopter in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and the person
(35:03):
who is doing the commentary. I actually asked the question
about whether or not president from realized that Buckingham
Palace was 16 times the size of the White House.
The late Queen was such a good Diplomat.
I think it's extremely unlikely that she would have told the
president that the palace was 16times the size of the White
(35:27):
House, but I can't help. But think that if the White
House had been 16 times the sizeof buck, In Impalas, maybe
President Trump might have mentioned it to Queen Elizabeth.
I'm sure he would have, would you like more do?
I haven't had my fill fill. I mentioned earlier that Queen
(35:49):
Victoria had moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837 when
she moved in the drains were faulty.
They were very smelly and sometimes sewage actually seeped
into the kitchens and Prince Albert, the Queen's husband.
(36:09):
He actually To develop a new drainage system.
The late Queen, She hosted a very large number of State
visits. A state visit is when a foreign
head of state visits the United Kingdom more often than not,
they stay at Buckingham Palace and the late Queen actually
(36:32):
hosted 152 State visits. What King, Charles the Third so
far has just hosted. And one state visit, and that
was at the end of last year and that was for the president of
South Africa, time for one more Fab fact.
Oh, go on. Then you convinced me on the
18th of September last year, 2022, it was the day before the
(37:00):
late Queen's funeral and the newking and his Queen consort, they
hosted 500 foreign dignitaries. Buckingham Palace and this was
the largest ever Gathering of foreign dignitaries at
Buckingham Palace 168 sovereign states.
(37:23):
Sent a representative to the lake Queen's funeral and this
actually included 18, monarchs and fifty five presidents as
well as 25 prime minister's. Now the Late Queen, she wasn't
just the head of state, the United Kingdom, but when she
(37:46):
died the late Queen was the headof state in 14.
Other countries, these are knownas the Commonwealth Realms King
Charles. The Third he is not just the
king of the United Kingdom, but he's also the king of 14, other
countries countries such as Australia, Jamaica belly.
(38:11):
Please Canada, New Zealand. Now, this is a, this is
something that dates back to thedays of Empire when countries
got their independence, most countries decided that they
wanted to be a part of the Commonwealth, but they decided
(38:33):
most of them that they wanted tobecome Republics I suspect that
as time goes by more countries will decide that they want to
become Republic's Jamaica. For example, has already
indicated that by 2025. They want a Jamaican head of
state. They don't want King, Charles
(38:54):
the Third as they had it State. They got no problems with King.
Charles, the Third they want to stay in the Commonwealth but
they feel that it's not appropriate for a modern
democratic. Aquatic country like Jamaica to
have a head of state. Who was the head of state in
(39:15):
colonial times. There's only one other Head of
State in the world. Who's actually The Head of State
in more than one country? Would you like me to give you a
piece of extreme trivia? Go on?
I'm sure it will be useful in a pub quiz.
Somewhat, this is real extreme trivia.
(39:37):
President macron of France is also the joint head of state of
Andorra. The bishop of guell and
president macron, other joint, heads of state of Andorra enough
trivia may be worth visiting. The balcony, the Buckingham
Palace balcony that we have. So, let's cemented in our
(40:00):
memories of the final public viewing of the late Queen.
And also the first kiss of Catherine Middleton, And
William. It's a big deal that being on
the balcony, isn't it huge? I mentioned earlier that the
balcony, dates to the mid 19th century when Queen Victoria
(40:20):
arranged for a its facade to go on to Buckingham Palace.
I also mentioned earlier that the balcony that we know today,
it was unveiled for the first time in 1913 and ever since then
there have been Numerous balcony, appearances, when will
(40:42):
one ended the King? George the Fifth and Queen Mary,
they appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and there were
hundreds of thousands of people in front of the palace cheering.
Probably the most famous ever. Balcony, appearance was on the
(41:04):
day that the Second World War. Ended in Europe.
The idee the 8th of May 1945, King George, the sixth, and
Queen Elizabeth appeared on the balcony with the two princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret. They appeared nine times on the
balcony, hundreds of thousands of people were in front of the
(41:29):
palace and in the mouth. And on one of those occasions.
The wartime prime minister Winston Churchill appeared on
the balcony. Now, after the last appearance,
the two princesses with chaperones famously joined the
crowds and partied the night away, along with the rest of
(41:51):
London. Apparently, they ended up at the
Ritz hotel in the early hours ofthe morning.
Doing the conga film was made quite some while ago about the
night that the two princesses joined a Ze night party.
Interestingly on the 50th anniversary of VE day which was
(42:11):
in 1995 Queen. Elizabeth the second her mother
Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother and her sister Princess
Margaret. They actually peer they actually
appeared again together on the balcony.
I seem to remember that Dame Vera Lynn was actually in the
forecourt of the palace singing as they were on the balcony.
(42:35):
The last balcony. It was just a few days ago after
trooping, the colour for the late Queen her last ever
appearance in public, was on thebalcony of Buckingham Palace and
this was on the occasion of the Platinum.
Jubilee to celebrate the Queen's70 years on the throne.
(42:58):
So lots of memories there and associated with the balcony is
the fly past. Yeah, we've had some impressive
ones over the years, but it might be worth having a look or
you explaining the history of these flight paths at Buckingham
Palace and their significance. Yet frequently, an appearance on
(43:20):
the balcony at Buckingham Palaceis also accompanied with a
flypast and a flypast is when military helicopters military
airplanes, fly between On the feet and 1400 100 feet above the
(43:41):
ground. After the recent trooping, the
colour that was a flypast at thevery end of the fly past the Red
Arrows, spectacularly appeared, Trials of red white and blue.
There was a flypast after the coronation on the 6th of May
(44:01):
this year, but it was very much,a truncated fly past the weather
was Is not particularly good on that day and the fly past had to
be really scaled back when it was the Platinum Jubilee
celebrations. There was a major fly past and
in fact some of the airplanes actually made the formation of a
(44:25):
Saturn and also a zero, the first ever fly past was in 1913.
The first ever Royal fly past itwas Isn't at Buckingham Palace.
It was actually at Aldershot andthe Royal flying Corps, military
Wing, staged a flypast for King George.
(44:48):
The Fifth, the Royal Air Force wasn't actually created until
1918. I'm going to enjoy my trip to
Buckingham Palace in a couple ofweeks.
We had that extra bit of knowledge, their superb.
I hope all that's been useful. It has indeed.
Yes, thank you. And for the listeners, I'll
(45:08):
include some links to related blog posts about Garden parties
and Buckingham Palace during World War 2, Etc, in there.
And also the important links to book tickets, not only for
Buckingham Palace but of course o to attend one of Phil's very
Interesting. Royal London Hawks Thank you,
(45:28):
Phil. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Thank you. and that's all for
now, until next time, and that'sall for now, until next time,
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