BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Buckingham Palace, the London residence of the monarch, is the most
familiar of all the royal palaces to the general British public, in
so far as everyone, sooner or later, migrates to London. Unfortunately
the spectator sees only a somewhat depressing and stereotyped
building, lacking the majestic proportions of Windsor and the stately
beauty of Hampton Court, representing, indeed, the very lowest ebb of
English architecture. Yet, in spite of its uninspiring exterior, it
is full of interest, for present-day life throbs within its walls, the
nation's history is bound up with it, and it pulsates with memories
of the Queen who won the hearts of her people as a young girl and
kept them all through her long and honoured life. As a palace, its
life-story is just beginning; three sovereigns only, excluding our
present King, have lived within it.
[Illustration: Buckingham Palace, from the Lake in St. James's Park.]
In the days of James I. the site of the palace was occupied by a
plantation of mulberry-trees, a royal investment, the King believing
that the cultivation of silkworms would be lucrative both for himself
and the nation. In this he was disappointed, but the Mulberry Gardens
remained as a place of amusement for the public until 1675. Both
Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn mention visiting the gardens, to which
the fashion of the Restoration resorted to eat mulberry tarts.
When the Mulberry Gardens were first instituted, a keeper had been
appointed by the King, and the office continued long after the work
had become a sinecure. The keeper's official residence became known as
Goring House, when Lord Goring purchased it in 1632. On the death of
Lord Goring, Henry Bennet, Lord Arlington, bought the mansion, and
later on succeeded in adding to his property the famous gardens,
when they were closed to the public. According to John Evelyn, Lord
Arlington filled his house with the most rich and handsome furniture,
all of which perished in a disastrous fire which broke out in 1674.
The house was rebuilt, receiving the new name of Arlington House, and
was afterwards sold to John Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire.
Not content with the building of the former owner, the Duke pulled
down Arlington House and erected the immediate predecessor of the
present palace, calling it after himself--Buckingham House. It was
apparently a dignified-looking mansion, much admired in its time,
having a flat roof adorned with statues, and large gilded letters
making _Rus in Urbe_.
Soon after he came to the Throne, George III. bought Buckingham House
from the Duke of Buckinghamshire's successor, and some years later
altered it to suit his convenience, at the same time spoiling the
general outline of the building. But King George and Queen Charlotte
liked the house where most of their children were born, and carried
on there the same placid domestic life that they led at Windsor and
at Kew. The children were brought up most severely, the Queen even
carrying out the whipping herself, but the success of the system was
not obvious, considering the later life of the young Princes. Though
King George's simplicity is much laughed at, the nation owes something
to his foresight and intelligence, in collecting a large library in
his London house. For many years he spent £2,000 a year upon books,
until he amassed the splendid collection now known as the King's
library in the British Museum, George IV. having presented it to
the nation. It was in this library that Dr. Johnson had his famous
interview with the King, whom he described as the finest gentleman
he had ever seen. Dr. Johnson was a friend of the royal librarian who
informed the King of the presence of the great lexicographer, whom
King George wished to see. The conversation, as related by Boswell,
seems to have been about books and libraries, and Johnson's own
literary work, upon which the King complimented him.
George IV. never lived in the palace, for on his accession he ordered
the old house to be razed and a new palace built. But as he was at
the same time rebuilding Windsor Castle, he did not venture to ask
Parliament for more money than necessary repairs, and told Nash, his
architect, to build upon the old lines. This Nash proceeded to do
without any models or drawings, with the result that he himself was
surprised with the effect when the building was finished. So great
was the universal scorn for the outspreading wings of the palace, that
they were taken down at once. A cynical verse expressed the public's
opinion of the architect:
"Augustus at Rome was for building renown'd,
For of marble he left what of brick he had found;
But is not our Nash, too, a very great master?
He finds us all brick and he leaves us all plaster."
The gateway to the palace was designed from Constantine's Arch in
Rome, and was intended to carry an equestrian statue of George IV.
upon the top. This gateway, the Marble Arch, now stands at the Oxford
Street entrance to Hyde Park, having been moved there in 1851.
After the builders had left the much-criticized palace, it was left
empty and bare, until Queen Victoria came to the Throne, when the
girl-Queen soon made the lifeless palace full of animation and
happiness. All through her long reign Buckingham Palace is intimately
associated with her, from her Coronation Day, that June morning when
all London welcomed her with enthusiasm, down to the Diamond Jubilee,
when the aged Queen could say, "From my heart I thank my beloved
people." It was from the palace that she set out on a cheerless
February morning to her wedding in Westminster Abbey, and a great part
of her happy married life was spent there, when in company with her
beloved husband she held a brilliant Court. Two fancy dress balls were
held, one where all the noblest and most distinguished in England
came arrayed in the dress of the Plantagenets, and the other where all
appeared in Georgian costumes.
The marriage of the Princess Royal to the Crown Prince of Germany took
place from Buckingham Palace. Though a highly approved love-match, it
caused considerable grief to the royal household, the Queen finding it
extremely difficult to part with her eldest daughter. The Queen wrote
of it as "the second most eventful day" in her life, and after the
young pair had set off for their new home in Germany, she said, "My
tears began to flow afresh frequently, and I could not go near Vicky's
corridor."
The public will not soon forget the momentous events associated with
the palace during the last reign; the serious illness of King Edward,
on the eve of his Coronation, postponing the great ceremony for which
many distinguished visitors had already arrived, and then after a
short but brilliant reign, the sudden death of the popular monarch,
throwing all the country into mourning. Almost before anyone knew
that the King was seriously ill, for he had only just come back from
Biarritz, the bulletin, announcing that "His Majesty breathed his
last" within the palace, was read by the sorrowing crowds.