Buckingham Palace
Introduction
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain 's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. The Palace is now a working building and the centrepiece of Britain 's constitutional monarchy. The offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family are housed there. The Palace is also the venue for many different great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures. There are 775 rooms in the palace. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. (Wikipedia, 2012)
Changing the Guard
I visited Buckingham Palace two weeks ago and I found the Changing the Guard ceremony there interested me most. Changing the Guard or Guard Mounting is the process involving a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard.
Music
The handover is accompanied by a Guards band. It’s wonderful to see the Guard band playing a ‘live show’. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from films and musicals and even familiar pop songs. I have seen CD of these songs in a souvenir shop.
The Guards
Description
The Guard which mounts at Buckingham Palace is called The Queen’s Guard. The guard is made up of a company of soldiers from a single regiment, which is split in two, providing a detachment for Buckingham Palace and a detachment for St James 's Palace. These guard duties are normally provided by a battalion of the Household Division and occasionally by other infantry battalions or other units.
I found this very interesting and did some researches on web. When Guardsmen are on duty, the soldiers are drawn from one of the five regiments of Foot Guards in the British Army: the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the Welsh Guards, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards. The Queen’s Guard is commanded by a Captain, and each Detachment is
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain 's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. The Palace is now a working building and the centrepiece of Britain 's constitutional monarchy. The offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family are housed there. The Palace is also the venue for many different great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures. There are 775 rooms in the palace. These include 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. (Wikipedia, 2012)
Changing the Guard
I visited Buckingham Palace two weeks ago and I found the Changing the Guard ceremony there interested me most. Changing the Guard or Guard Mounting is the process involving a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard.
Music
The handover is accompanied by a Guards band. It’s wonderful to see the Guard band playing a ‘live show’. The music played ranges from traditional military marches to songs from films and musicals and even familiar pop songs. I have seen CD of these songs in a souvenir shop.
The Guards
Description
The Guard which mounts at Buckingham Palace is called The Queen’s Guard. The guard is made up of a company of soldiers from a single regiment, which is split in two, providing a detachment for Buckingham Palace and a detachment for St James 's Palace. These guard duties are normally provided by a battalion of the Household Division and occasionally by other infantry battalions or other units.
I found this very interesting and did some researches on web. When Guardsmen are on duty, the soldiers are drawn from one of the five regiments of Foot Guards in the British Army: the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the Welsh Guards, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards. The Queen’s Guard is commanded by a Captain, and each Detachment is
References: British Royal Guard: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ Changing of Guard: http://www.changing-the-guard.com/ The British Monarchy: http://www.royal.gov.uk/RoyalEventsandCeremonies/ChangingtheGuard/ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace