# Buckingham Palace In WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365 "2011-12-16T02:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/1 "2011-12-16T02:05:15Z")
Were The King and his castle spared from the bombs, and if so, why? Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/2 "2011-12-16T02:21:18Z")
> **[Buckingham Palace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace#Modern_history)** > > Buckingham Palace (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}UK: /ˈbʌkɪŋəm/) is a royal residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom.\[a\] Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British O... > [@](#): > > The palace fared worse during World War II; it was bombed no less than seven times, the most serious and publicised of which resulted in the destruction of the palace chapel in 1940. ..and plenty more. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/3 "2011-12-16T02:27:20Z")
No, they weren’t. A bomb dropped into the big quadrangle behind the east facade and nearly killed the king, George VI, and the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in 1940. In total, it was bombed seven times. The royal family, including children, remained in residence in solidarity with the common people and their suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/4 "2011-12-16T02:31:17Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No, they weren’t. A bomb dropped into the big quadrangle behind the east facade and nearly killed the king, George VI, and the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in 1940. In total, it was bombed seven times. > > The royal family, including children, remained in residence in solidarity with the common people and their suffering. After one of the bombings the Queen Mother famously said “I’m glad we have been bombed. Now I can look the East End in the face” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/5 "2011-12-16T03:07:12Z")
She was once asked if she planned to send the children away from London to keep them safe. Her reply: “The children will not leave without me.” “I will not leave without the King.” “The King will never leave.” And that was that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/6 "2011-12-16T03:13:08Z")
if you google-image for “buckingham palace bombed ww2” you’ll get plenty of hits, including shots of the King and the Queen touring the damage with Churchill. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/7 "2011-12-16T03:16:08Z")
But the children didn’t live in London. They lived at Windsor Castle. The Queen’s comments were with respect to leaving BRITAIN, entirely. They weren’t crazy enough to keep the crown princess and her sister in London. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/8 "2011-12-16T03:28:00Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The royal family, including children, remained in residence in solidarity with the common people and their suffering. Officially. In fact the Queen and the Princesses spent almost every night at Windsor Castle, which was felt to be safer, and the King spent most nights there. But this was not talked about. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/9 "2011-12-16T03:38:15Z")
Sure, and everyone in London sought a safe place to sleep at night whenever they could, including sleeping in subway tunnels. It’s a fact that on at least one bombing occasion the king and queen were in residence at Buckingham Palace. Just because weren’t there 24/7 doesn’t mean there was no risk for them. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/10 "2011-12-16T04:13:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Sure, and everyone in London sought a safe place to sleep at night whenever they could, including sleeping in subway tunnels. It’s a fact that on at least one bombing occasion the king and queen were in residence at Buckingham Palace. Just because weren’t there 24/7 doesn’t mean there was no risk for them. I’m not saying that there was no risk for them. I’m saying that for propaganda purposes a myth was created that they sat out the blitz in Buckingham Palace, when this was largely untrue. Buckingham Palace remained the “office” and the King and Queen spent most days there. But they slept most nights at Windsor Castle, and the Princesses spent a fair amount of the days there too. I wouldn’t criticise the King for that; quite the opposite. But what we remember today is the propaganda myth rather than the more balanced reality. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/11 "2011-12-16T04:19:34Z")
All the films on “The Military Channel”, “The History Channel”. etc., never mention that, or have I been missing it? Anyway, thanks as always for setting me straight! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/12 "2011-12-16T15:26:35Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > All the films on “The Military Channel”, “The History Channel”. etc., never mention that, or have I been missing it? > > Anyway, thanks as always for setting me straight! > > Quasi :clears throat: We must be seeing different shows, then. 🙂 I have seen it mentioned in documentaries on those channels that cover “The Blitz”/“The Battle of Britain”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/13 "2011-12-16T15:35:28Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > All the films on “The Military Channel”, “The History Channel”. etc., never mention that, or have I been missing it? Were you watching the one about Nazi plans for London? It’s a lot of nonsense. It also said they avoided bombing Parliament, but there was at least one bomb dropped on the House of Commons. The only London building Nazi bombers are known to have avoided is the Tower, because it was used to house German POWs- including Rudolf Hess, albeit briefly. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/14 "2011-12-16T20:05:57Z")
I’ve always felt there was another side to the steadfast refusal to leave London/Britain during WWII. If they had buggered off somewhere safe – Canada say – then win or lose would the country have wanted them back? Whether or not the throne would have survived without the raft of popularity they won (and deserved) by their conduct during the Blitz I think it very likely they would have been worried that it would not. They had the result examples of cousins Wilhelm and Nicholas to show that a throne could be swiftly lost after all. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/15 "2011-12-16T20:35:17Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But the children didn’t live in London. They lived at Windsor Castle. > > The Queen’s comments were with respect to leaving BRITAIN, entirely. They weren’t crazy enough to keep the crown princess and her sister in London. Windsor is on the outskirts of London (it’s only 20 miles from Charing Cross) and is one of the Royal Family’s main homes anyway - they usually spend more time there than at Buck House. And Elizabeth and Margaret weren’t children; they were young women, and worked in the women’s auxiliary services during the war - Liz was a mechanic. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/16 "2011-12-16T20:55:08Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > if you google-image for “buckingham palace bombed ww2” you’ll get plenty of hits, including shots of the King and the Queen touring the damage with Churchill. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! We’re trapped in a circular universe. I did that very search. One of the hits that appeared was > [@](#): > > Buckingham Palace In WWII? - Straight Dope Message Board > if you google-image for “buckingham palace bombed ww2” you’ll get plenty of > hits, including shots of the King and the Queen touring the damage with Churchill > . … ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/17 "2011-12-16T21:17:24Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! We’re trapped in a circular universe. I did that very search. One of the hits that appeared was It turned up as an image? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/18 "2011-12-16T22:28:19Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > I’ve always felt there was another side to the steadfast refusal to leave London/Britain during WWII. If they had buggered off somewhere safe – Canada say – then win or lose would the country have wanted them back? > > Whether or not the throne would have survived without the raft of popularity they won (and deserved) by their conduct during the Blitz I think it very likely they would have been worried that it would not. They had the result examples of cousins Wilhelm and Nicholas to show that a throne could be swiftly lost after all. Britain was in a life and death fight against another nation that meant to annihilate it, all of the U.K.s European allies had surrendered, the country honestly didn’t know if it would win the war, and expected to be invaded in the near future, and you honestly think that the main thing on the Royals minds were would they get their old job back IF we won ! I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/19 "2011-12-16T22:51:27Z")
Guess I need to pay closer **TEN-HUT!!!** from now on, huh? Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365/20 "2011-12-16T23:19:54Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > And Elizabeth and Margaret weren’t children; they were young women, and worked in the women’s auxiliary services during the war - Liz was a mechanic. They were only 13 and 9 when the war started, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace-in-wwii/606365.md?page=2)