Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch and the largest "working" royal palace remaining in the world. The expression "Buckingham Palace" or simply "The Palace" has become a common way of referring to the source of press statements coming from parts of the British Royal Family. In addition to being the London home of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace is a setting for state occasions, royal entertaining and base for all officially visiting heads of state, and is a major tourist attraction. It has been a rallying point for the British at times of national rejoicing and crisis.

Security

Royal security is supposedly high, but is better known for a series of high-profile intrusions, both at the Palace and elsewhere. No modern, fully detailed plan of the palace is available as a security measure. The famous armed sentries on guard at the front of the palace are commonly thought to be ceremonial, but they have always had a security role. The palace also contains its own police station, and the Royal Family have their own protection officers at all times. Other security measures are not revealed. The Foot Guards battalion at Wellington Barracks is only 300 yards away. The units at Chelsea Barracks (Foot Guards) and Hyde Park Barracks (Household Cavalry) are both three-quarters of a mile away.

Related Topics:
Sentries - Guard - Police station - Foot Guards - Battalion - Wellington Barracks - Chelsea Barracks - Hyde Park Barracks - Household Cavalry

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In the Second World War a bomb shelter was improvised in a housemaids' room, and more recently a dedicated bunker was reportedly constructed in response to heightened security concerns due to the threat of extremist Islamic terrorism. Rumour maintained that a link existed to the Victoria Line of the London Underground, which passed beneath the Palace, thus allowing the evacaution of the Royal Family in the event of nuclear attack. However this is unsubstantiated and is unlikely to be true.

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The most notorious incident was when Michael Fagan gained access to the Queen's bedroom while she was asleep in 1982. In 2003 a reporter for the Daily Mirror, Ryan Parry, spent two months working as a footman inside Buckingham Palace. One of the references he supplied was fake, and it appears this was not checked properly. The incident coincided with a visit to the UK by George W. Bush, who stayed at the Palace, and photographs of Bush's bedroom, along with the Queen's breakfast table and the Duke of York's room. In themselves the photographs revealed nothing more interesting than that the Queen's two younger sons had a conventional, almost bourgeois, taste in bedroom furnishings, and that the Queen kept her breakfast muesli in a tupperware container. The Palace took the Mirror to court for invasion of privacy, and the newspaper handed over its materials, and paid some of the Queen's costs in an out-of-court settlement in November 2003.

Related Topics:
Michael Fagan - 1982 - 2003 - Daily Mirror - Ryan Parry - Footman - George W. Bush - Duke of York - Tupperware - Out-of-court settlement

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Most lapses of security have been outside the palace: In 1974, Ian Ball attempted to kidnap the Princess Royal at gunpoint in the Mall while she was returning to the palace, wounding several people in the process. In 1981, three German tourists camped in the gardens of the palace, after climbing over the heavily barb-wired wall, purportedly believing the area to be Hyde Park. In 1993, anti-nuclear protestors also scaled the palace walls and held a sit down protest on the palace lawn. Most notably, in 1994, a naked paraglider landed on the roof of the building. In 1995 a student, John Gillard, was able to deliberately ram the gates of the palace, knocking one of the great wrought iron gates weighing 1.5 tonnes off its hinges. In 1997, an absconded mental patient was founded wandering the palace grounds, which ordered another security review. Most recently, in 2004, a protester advocating the legal rights of single fathers, received wide press coverage when he managed to climb onto a ledge near the ceremonial balcony on the east front dressed as Batman. In the same incident, a second protester, dressed as Robin, was apprehended before he managed to climb onto the building; he returned the following November dressed as Father Christmas to chain himself to a lamp on one of the main gateposts.

Related Topics:
1974 - Ian Ball - The Princess Royal - The Mall - 1981 - German - Gardens of the palace - Hyde Park - 1993 - 1994 - Paraglider - 1995 - John Gillard - Wrought iron - 1997 - 2004 - A protester - Single fathers - Batman - Robin - Father Christmas

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Historically, there have been other lapses too numerous to catalogue. Probably the most incredible but true was in 1837, when a 12-year-old boy known to history as The boy Cotton managed to live for a year undetected inside the palace. Hiding in chimneys and blackening the beds he slept in, he was finally apprehended in December 1838, causing questions on royal security to be asked in Parliament. "The Mudlark", a 1949 novel by American writer Theodore Bonnet, was loosely based on his story. In 1950 a romanticised film, starring Irene Dunne, Alec Guinness and Anthony Steel, was made of the novel. Of the eight assassination attempts made on Queen Victoria, at least three occurred in the vicinity of the palace gates. In the early 20th century the front of the palace became a favoured venue for suffragettes, who would chain themselves to the gilded iron railings. Over the years numerous intruders have been apprehended in the palace grounds, including one who wished to propose marriage to Princess Anne, and who was declared insane. However, as the Queen is officially a non-political figure, demonstrations and protests tend to rally at the Palace of Westminster or Trafalgar Square, rather than Buckingham Palace.

Related Topics:
1837 - The boy Cotton - 1838 - 1949 - Theodore Bonnet - 1950 - Assassination - 20th century - Suffragettes - Palace of Westminster - Trafalgar Square

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