Buckingham Palace State Rooms

Buckingham Palace serves as the official London residence of His Majesty The King, and is one of the few remaining working royal palaces in the world today.

Each summer when the Palace is not being used in its official capacity, visitors can enjoy the 19 magnificent State Rooms that provide the setting for ceremonial occasions and official entertaining by members of the Royal Family. The rooms are furnished with many of the
greatest treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck, sculpture by Canova, exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.

Visitors to the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace will see the White Drawing Room, perhaps the most beautiful of all the State Rooms with its spectacular crystal chandelier, the Music Room, where guests are presented on the occasion of a State Visit, and the Throne Room, which was the setting for the formal photographs following the wedding of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales.

Following a visit, the Palace's Garden Café offers the perfect location to enjoy a selection of light refreshments while taking in panoramic views of the lake across the lawn, before visiting the Garden Shop.

The Royal Mews is one of the finest working stables anywhere in the world and home to the royal collection of historic coaches and carriages, and the Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays, the horses that pull the carriages. To this day, the stables are still responsible for all road travel arrangements for His Majesty The King and other members of the Royal Family.

The Royal Mews has been the location of the sovereign’s road transport since 1760 when George III moved his carriage collection closer to his new home at Buckingham Palace – since then it has been updated by several monarchs in keeping with their changing transport needs.

Among the historic coaches and carriages on display are the spectacular Diamond Jubilee State Coach, and the Australian State Coach, which was given to Queen Elizabeth II as a gift from the Australian people, and even includes central heating!

The most dazzling of all is the Gold State Coach, which has been used at every coronation since that of George IV in 1821, and which played a starring role in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022.

Families visiting the Royal Mews will love posing for a photo while sitting in a replica of Queen Victoria's Semi-State Landau carriage, dressing up as a footman in specially created livery, or even learning how to harness a horse!