# Buckingham Palace? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256 "2010-07-02T01:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/21 "2010-07-02T10:56:02Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Perhaps your views are affected by the fact that Buckingham Palace started life as a non-royal residence, Buckingham House, built for the Duke of Buckingham. [QUOTE=silenus] It helps to remember that a) it was built as a private home, and converted into a palace later, b) built by someone who wasn’t royalty, and c) it’s English. [/QUOTE] While it is true that Nash incorporated parts of Buckingham House into the central section of the west wing and that this had some influence on the footprint of that bit of the building, none of this is visible above ground. More importantly, the east front, the bit everyone sees, is a later addition and its dimensions are more influenced by what Nash had built than by what Nash had been replacing. [QUOTE=Jinx] Did the architect have absolutely no imagination? [/QUOTE] On the contrary, the present east facade is actually a rather sophisticated solution by Sir Aston Webb to what was a very difficult brief. Blore’s [mid-nineteenth century east front](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1910_Buckingham_Palace.gif) really had been atrocious, but Webb was only allowed to apply a new facade. All the doors, windows and archways had to be retained. Remarkably, Webb still managed to come up with a design which is restrained, monumental and well-proportioned. I have always thought it Webb’s best building, admittedly against not very strong competition. It’s a better piece of architecture than most of the Nash interiors, which tend to be as uninspired as they are overblown. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/22 "2010-07-02T11:28:52Z")
I’ll be honest, I don’t think any of the castles/palaces in London are that impressive by British standards. In fact, they’re pretty boring, to be honest. Buckingham Palace looks a lot less regal than [Blenheim Palace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace). The Tower of London is a joke of a castle by British standards; compare with [Alnwick Castle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alnwick_Castle) or [Bamburgh Castle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamburgh_Castle) (incidentally, they’re both very near each other). > [@Tengu](#): > > That’s a castle, which is a different thing from a palace. > > A palace is a grand residence. A castle is a fortification. > > Compare Buckingham to Versailles. I hate it when that thing is referred to as a castle. It was built in the 19th century, never designed to withstand any sort of bombardment. To me, unless it’s designed as a fortification for controlling an area, designed to hold out against cannon fire or the like, it isn’t a castle. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/23 "2010-07-02T13:22:19Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I agree, it looks like a typical government building, something like a “Department of Commerce.” > > But I think some people are confusing palaces with castles. Some countries build their government buildings to look like palaces. Especially those without royalty to occupy actual palaces. The White House, now there’s a palace. Bet it hasn’t even got rising damp like buck house. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/24 "2010-07-02T13:50:38Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > The White House, now there’s a palace. Bet it hasn’t even got rising damp like buck house. I’m sure WETA (the DC public broadcasting station) occasionally runs Rising Damp, so you can’t say the Obamas don’t have it at all. Lord knows American PBS stations are like TVLand for Britcoms. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/25 "2010-07-02T22:48:03Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > Well it sure ain’t no Neuschwanstein. By God, when I am promised a palace I want towers and turrets and long flapping banners. Maybe a damsel in distress. And a moat with a draw bridge. Don’t give me a post office. I’ll even settle for Hampton Court. You can’t trot out Buckingham Palace and pawn it off as a real palace with a real queen and stuff. I’m not buying that one. :dubious: If there are no flogging beams, it’s not a \*real \*palace! Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/26 "2010-07-03T14:22:08Z")
Oh, well, here’s her main Scottish palace… [Holyrood Palace](http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/7081529.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/27 "2010-07-03T14:30:15Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > What I want to know is, do tourists really mess with the palace guards, trying to get a reaction out of them? And if they do, why is it allowed? I heard Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson) relate this on NPR: > [@](#): > > Like many tourists, Cartwright attempted to disturb the notoriously unflappable guards at Buckingham Palace in London. When she blurted, “What’s happening man, I’m Bart Simpson, dude!”, she succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/28 "2010-07-03T14:45:34Z")
Like all architecture, palaces are subject to fashion. For a long time, the fashion in palaces was fairly classical - symmetric, plain. However, palaces are also subject to royal whim: I give you the Royal Pavillion, Brighton: [http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/palace/the\_palace.asp](http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/palace/the_palace.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/29 "2010-07-03T15:05:02Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Oh, well, here’s her main Scottish palace… [Holyrood Palace](http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/7081529.jpg) And here’s Sandringham, her Norfolk country house: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/Sandringham\_House.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/Sandringham_House.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/30 "2010-07-03T18:24:37Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Oh, well, here’s her main Scottish palace… [Holyrood Palace](http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/7081529.jpg) 😕 I thought Balmoral was. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/31 "2010-07-03T22:36:14Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > 😕 I thought Balmoral was. Balmoral and Sandringham are family property, separate from the Crown. If the Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland were proclaimed tomorrow, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Holyrood would belong to the country. But Mr. and Mrs. Mountbatten-Windsor would still have their two homes in Norfolk and the Highlands. Holyrood belongs to the Crown in right of Scotland – it’s the official residents of the Kings and Queens of Scots, which passed to Great Britain in 1707 and to the U.K in 1800. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/32 "2010-07-04T00:18:33Z")
Is there even much native enthusiasiam for Buckingham Palace? As per **APB** ’s post, an argument can be made for Aston Webb’s solution as architecture, but it’s not as if even Londoners pay much attention to the building. Given the various Royal Parks and grounds, it sits in a bit of the city that nobody other than a tourist would have occasion to visit. For instance, I both live in London and frequent the centre, yet I really can’t claim to have seen the Palace in the last five years. Though I was even on Carlton Terrace this week. So near and yet so far. And I suspect this is fairly typical. Why should Londoners particularly care about what it looks like? It’s only the tourists who bother going to see it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256/33 "2010-07-04T00:37:48Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > That’s a castle, which is a different thing from a palace. More to the point, Neuschwanstein is a _fantasy_ castle – what a castle ought to look like. Those ugly, blocky stone things in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ were real Scottish castles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buckingham-palace/545256.md?page=1)