Sunday, 24 July 2016

The Postcode

By Elizabeth Johnstone


SW1A 1AA. Did you recognise that post code?  It belongs to only one building in Britain, Buckingham Palace. Did you know that it was originally the site of a mulberry garden planted by King James I to rear silkworms?  But I digress.

Photo: Helen Matthews
In August and September, when Her Majesty enjoys the bracing pleasures of Balmoral, it is possible to visit the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. The public rooms of this busy working palace 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 tour comprises some nineteen rooms including the Throne Room, used for investitures, and the Palace Ballroom, used for State banquets.

It is what the shopping channels call a ‘considered purchase’.  My ticket for the State Rooms alone cost about £20.  Pricier options combined the State Rooms with the Queen’s Gallery and the Royal Mews. Guided Tours, including ‘Garden Highlights’, sold out almost immediately despite an even heftier price-tag.  There is a considerable appetite for our royal heritage out there!

Huge numbers of visitors are processed, with timed tickets and full airport-style security. It is enormously popular with tourists: I read that about 300 are admitted per 15-minute slot.  A young, enthusiastic and extremely vigilant staff ensured the smooth running of the operation with minimal security risk.  However, armed police also patrolled outside at regular intervals.
At the beginning of the tour, you are given a multi-media guide i.e. the traditional audio-guide with some extra films.  All very classy and informative.  About two hours is recommended for the tour.  It probably takes just over an hour to walk through the rooms at a moderate pace, listening to most of the audio-guide, but there are benches for those who wish to linger amongst the historical treasures.   Photography inside the State Rooms is expressly prohibited.

Summer 2015 featured a new exhibition ‘A Royal Welcome’, describing the organisation of State banquets.  Exhibits explained the minutiae of catering, service and etiquette on such grand occasions, not forgetting some of Her Majesty’s gowns and jewels.  The Palace Ballroom was set out for a banquet, replicating the visit of the President of Singapore.  It was, by far, my favourite room.  I also enjoyed a description of the garden parties in another room.  I now have a very good idea of the Queen’s height and figure, with more dresses and hats displayed on life-sized mannequins.

Splendour followed splendour, until we reached the hospitality section at the end of the tour.  The Garden Café catered to the inner loyal subject – at a price.  ‘Toilets’ would have been too downmarket.  We were directed to the ‘Lavatories’.  A royal flush, maybe. I did not investigate the Family Room, but this avid Postcrosser picked up a packet of postcards in the amply stocked gift shop.  I saw one small child persuade his mother to buy him a replica bearskin hat.  I’m not too sure how long he wore it in the 25° heat.

The final part of the tour followed a pleasant path skirting the gardens, past a stall selling ice cream made from the milk produced by the Jersey cows on Her Majesty’s Windsor estate.  My husband selflessly – and patriotically - pronounced it delicious.  At the exit, there was a booth where tickets could be stamped for a free extra visit within the year.  You then found yourself rather unceremoniously out in the street, half way along Grosvenor Place, from where it was a ten-minute walk back round to the front of the Palace.

It was the weekend of the Prudential Ride London cycling festival.  Roads were closed off, and marshals had to operate a ‘lollipop’ system for letting us cross the road amongst the never-ending streams of cyclists.  Green Park was full of every sort of cycling-related activity and sales opportunity. The throngs of cyclists mingled with the throngs of tourists.  It was a lively atmosphere but not an experience for those who are nervous of crowds.


An entertaining postscript to our day out was provided by the youthful revellers taking the train to the Eastern Electric Festival at Hatfield House. The genre was ‘underground, house and techno’ and the vibe in the train was pure Ibiza!

First published in VISA 124 (December 2015)

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