If you want to see some pictures from St. James - click here! 
St. James is the domain of the royal house with Buckingham Palace in the end of The Mall, the wide avenue from 1660 which makes the headaxis in the royal route on official opportunity like Trooping the colour and the opening of the Parliament. Not far away from Buckingham is the much older part of St. James’s Palace surrounded by aristocratic palaces. The quarter around Pall Mall is dominated by famous "English clubs" ( gentlemens’ clubs ), like the Athenaeum and the Reform Club; the area’s eksclusive atmosphere emphasizes of the expensive shops in Jermyn Street.
If you start your tour around 10 o’ clock, you should be in good time to see the changing of the guards in front of Buckingham Palace. Go south from Trafalger Square to Admiralty Arch, the triumphal arch over queen Victoria from 1910 in the dividing line between the trafficchaos on Trafalger Square and the peaceful the Mall. The sombre windowless building to the left is the Citadel, a bunker from 1940 used by the staff in the Admiralty. St. James palace is a surprising comfortable palace in red wallbricks, built under Henry VIII. St. James was royal Londonresidence until queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837. Clarece House west of St. James, where "the Queenmother" lives, is not open for the public, but you can see the guardsmen on watch in front of the gate.
Queen Victoria lived in Kensington Palace, from the day she was born in 1819 to her accession in 1837. As queen she chose Buckingham Palace to be her and the court’s residence in London, and it has been since. Now it’s also make a stately background for one of the most popular ceremonies in London, when the guards pull up to a changing of the guards in complete uniform, while the audience gaze at it from the other side of the wrought-iron lattice with its five gates decorated with bronzecherubs. An excellent place to see the changing of gaurds is from Queen Victoria Memorial on the refuge in the middle of the place in front of the palace ( it is forbidden to climb up on the monument).
Buckingham Palace is only open in August and September, but you can come and see Queen’s Gallery on the back of the palace the whole year.
The royal stables – the Royal Mews – from 1824-25 is very exciting for children. Besides horses the building also holds the court’s fleet of cars with the magnificent "goldcoach", which is used at special opportunities.
In 1993 the queen informed that Buckingham Palace for the first time in the history would be open for the public, but only six weeks per annum – from the middle of August to the end of September.
The admissionincome should go to renovation of Windsor Castle after the fire. In spite of the high price of admission you may be prepared on long queues of people, who hope to gain an insight into the royal private life.
St. James’ Park is the most beautiful green territory in London, first of all because of the beautiful curves of the park. From the bridges over the lake in the middle of the park there is a freely view towards west to Buckingham Palace’s classical facade. The lake is also characteristic of a quantity of wild ducks and geeses, which can be quite domestic.
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This page was last updated on august 29, 1998 |
