The Buckingham Palace

History:

The Buckingham Palace was originally built as a countryhouse in 1705. King George bought the house in 1761, and in 1826, the same man asked architect John Nash to expand the house into a palace.

Ever since, it has been the official residence of Britain's Kings and Queens since 1837. It has 775 rooms in all, and as many as 50,000 people a year visit its halls as guests of the monarch. The palace's 19 state rooms are open to tourists for a few months during the summer - when the Queen is not in. The rooms available for sightseeing include the Throne room, the picture gallery, the State Dining Room, Music Room, and Silk Tapestry room. It has opened its doors to the public since 1993, to raise funds to pay for damage after a fire at Windsor Castle in 1992. But it quickly became popular, so the Queen has allowed visitors in every summer. She leaves every summer to go to one of her country houses.

The Buckingham Palace Today:

Every time the Queen is in the palace, a flag is hoisted. The Buckingham Palace does not only hold all of the royal family, but many staff members as well. In addition, the changing of the guard takes place in front of the Buckingham Palace every day. It occurs at 11 'clock in the morning, where the New Guard parades towards Buckingham Palace and replaces the Old Guard.

World War Two:

Buckingham Palace was bombed no less the 7 times during WWII by the Nazis. The most serious destruction was to the palace chapel in 1940, the bomb fell in the palace quadrangle while the King and Queen were still in residence. The damage taken in from the bombing were that many windows were blown in and the chapel completely destroyed.

Questions:

1. How many expansions did the ruling Monarchs make to the Buckingham Palace to make it into the building it is today?

2. Which months during the summer are tourists allowed?

3. Why was the Buckingham House initially chosen as the place of residence for the monarch, and not somewhere else?

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