Celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in Royal London in 2012

Top of the list of royal London landmarks has to be Buckingham Palace, one of the most popular landmarks in London.

Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official residence and main royal London home. It has been the official London residence of Britain's monarchy since 1837, when Queen Victoria became the first monarch to live there. When the Queen is at home, you can see her royal flag flying from the flag pole on top of the Palace. This flag is called the Royal Standard.

Despite its central London location, this 600-room palace is surrounded by a beautiful 40-acre garden.

Buckingham Palace is also the home of Prince Philip, The Queen’s husband, and also the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Earl and Countess of Wessex (Prince Edward and his wife) and their daughter.

Buckingham Palace is also used for administrative work for the monarchy and it’s here in the state apartments that Her Majesty receives and entertains guests invited to the Palace.

Five regiments of Foot Guards guard the Palace. And when they come on duty, there’s a ceremony called the Changing of the Guard which takes place in the forecourt each morning – a sight well worth seeing! The monarch and the royal palaces have been guarded by the Household Troops since 1660.

Other royal London landmarks include St James Palace, Lambeth Palace, Kensington Palace (where Princess Diana used to live), Hampton Court (where Henry VIII used to live) and of course the Royal Parks – Hyde Park, St James’ Park, Regents Park, Green Park, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Greenwich Park and Kensington Gardens.

More pages you might be interested in:

Go back to the London 2012 UIG Home page

Read about what’s happened while Queen Elizabeth II ha been on the throne