palacevirtualtours.com News

Silver Furniture on show at Versailles

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Visitors to the Palace of Versailles often wonder why there is so little furniture. There are really three explanations for this:

Firstly and principally, after the revolution, a large portion of the furniture was sold off to raise funds for the new government. But it was not just the furniture that was removed, visitors will notice fewer carpets, chandeliers and curtains than in Louis XVI's day.
Secondly, the state apartments were used as entertainment rooms and did not contain huge amounts of furniture.
Thirdly, in December 1689 Louis XIV melted down his silver furniture that originally decorated these magnificent state apartments. His aggressive foreign policy had lead to another expensive war and in order to pay for it the furniture had to go. After the war, new furniture was created but was gilded rather than being made of solid silver.

A new exhibition, When Versailles Was Furnished in Silver, which runs until 9 March, gives a visitor a idea of the opulence of Versailles in the reign of Louis XIV. Made up of silver furniture from the great palaces of Europe including Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, the state apartments are arranged in a way that would have been familiar to Louis XIV. The Hall of Mirrors is even decorated with a replica throne and dais.

For more details see: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a6gJgh7Blh1o&refer=muse.

You can see some of the magnificent silver furniture at Windsor Castle by purchasing the Windsor Castle Virtual Tour.

PM lost in Windsor Castle

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you often get lost in large buildings spare a thought for Gordon Brown the British Prime Minister. Apparently he managed to get lost in Windsor Castle on the way to a state banquet! His absence was noticed by several guests including Her Majesty the Queen, who was heard to comment “Has the Prime Minister got lost?”. The story goes that he got lost in a corridor whilst trying to find a route to the table in St Georges Hall. This doesn't seem a partially likely story as Windsor Castle as least on the principal floor is very well organised and relatively easy to follow, much of the back rooms having been redesigned after the fire of 1992. However, if he had got lost in Buckingham Palace and was never seen from again, no one would be surprised, as the palace is a miss mash of various rooms built on top of each other since the Duke of Buckingham's time 300 years ago. There is a rumor that even Queen Mary managed to get lost in the vast corridors of the palace!

Downing Street denies this story, blaming the Queen's staff “The Prime Minister always does what he is told on these occasions. He did not have any orientation problems.”

Had he actually got lost, he could have wandered down the Grand Corridor and explored the magnificent private apartments of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Should you which to explore these rooms you can.

For more details see: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/39438/One-s-PM-gets-lorst

You can see some of the magnificent silver furniture at Windsor Castle by purchasing the Windsor Castle Virtual Tour.

Queen gets money to fix crumbling palaces

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Last year Buckingham Palace announced that it was struggling to find enough money to fund critical maintenance. See Buckingham Palace crumbling for details.

It appears the government may be at last providing additional help in the form of one million pounds over the next three years. This is clearly ridiculously insufficient in order to stop these buildings from falling apart. £2million is required simply to stop the ceiling of the Victoria and Albert Mausoleum at Windsor from falling in! Let alone the leaking roof in the picture gallery, the east side of the quadrangle falling apart (£3million alone), the roofs at both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace are also in need of replacement.

This doesn't even consider the need for redecoration of the state apartments which has been postponed indefinitely. The government needs to massively increase the funding for these jobs if it doesn't want to be embarrassed at the 2012 Olympics where no doubt Buckingham Palace will be a key component in showing off London to the world.

The government should already be embarrassed that Lancaster House, managed by the foreign office which was restored to its opulent best in the 1990s is in better condition than the principal palace of the Queen.

For more details see: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=200350&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20.

To view Buckingham Palace for yourself purchase the virtual tour of Buckingham Palace.

Queen to keep her view

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0700

After an outcry from Londoners, plans to build two new skyscrapers close to Buckingham Palace have been scraped, or at least modified. The plan was to build a two 380ft towers just 50yards from the palace. This has been changed to a single tower of 240ft. If the new option is in anyway visible behind the palace from the Mall, it two should be scraped.

Unfortunately London has not learnt from the success of cities like St Petersburg which have not allowed any high rise buildings in the city centre to ensure that the flavour of the city is not altered. The Prince of Wales has been an outspoken critic of London's policy of allowing skyscrapers near historic buildings. In a recent example a building was approved which would appear behind St Paul's Cathedral, potentially ruining that view as well.

Another potential issue with building skyscrapers near Buckingham Palace is the reduction in the Queen's privacy. Over the past 50 years several buildings have been built overlooking the palace gardens and trees have had to be planted in order to give the Queen the ability to walk around unseen. She values her time with her corgis walking around the garden, which she does as often as she can.

Unfortunately it does not look like the building policies are going to change in the near future so London skylines could continue to be ruined for some time to come.

For more details see: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23437053-details/Majestic+views+from+Buckingham+Palace+saved/article.do.

Want to see the gardens of Buckingham Palace for yourself? Purchase the virtual tour of Buckingham Palace.

Silver Furniture on show at Versailles

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Visitors to the Palace of Versailles often wonder why there is so little furniture. There are really three explanations for this:

Firstly and principally, after the revolution, a large portion of the furniture was sold off to raise funds for the new government. But it was not just the furniture that was removed, visitors will notice fewer carpets, chandeliers and curtains than in Louis XVI's day.
Secondly, the state apartments were used as entertainment rooms and did not contain huge amounts of furniture.
Thirdly, in December 1689 Louis XIV melted down his silver furniture that originally decorated these magnificent state apartments. His aggressive foreign policy had lead to another expensive war and in order to pay for it the furniture had to go. After the war, new furniture was created but was gilded rather than being made of solid silver.

For more details see: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a6gJgh7Blh1o&refer=muse.

You can see some of the magnificent silver furniture at Windsor Castle by purchasing the Windsor Castle Virtual Tour.

Buckingham Palace crumbling

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Buckingham Palace is appealing to the Government to cover a massive shortfall in the maintenance funds available to them. Millions of pounds are needed to stop the Royal Palaces from crumbling. Over the past 15 years, the funding provided by the government for the maintenance of the Royal Palaces has decreased dramatically in real terms. This has resulted in the eastern side of the Buckingham Palace quadrangle beginning to crumble, the roof of the Picture Gallery leaking, the State Apartments needing redecoration and the ceiling of the Victoria and Albert Mausoleum falling down, just to name a few problems.

The eastern facade of the quadrangle was created in 1847 by Edward Blore to provide accommodation for Queen Victoria's growing family. Not only was it an architectural disaster, looking more like a train station than a Palace and closing off John Nash's magnificent entrance portico, but it was built from Caen stone. This deteriorated very quickly in the smoggy London air and within a few years had to be painted to stop the facade from crumbling. In 1913, the eastern front was refaced in Portland stone which wears very well in London. The eastern side of the quadrangle was not refaced and the 19 layers of paint are now beginning to crack, resulting in the facade falling to the ground at an ever increasing rate. Last year, a piece of the facade narrowly missed the Princess Royal's car and during a science exhibition at the Palace pieces of the centre arch collapsed. However, this problem will cost £3million to fix and would take five years.

It is not just Buckingham Palace that is collapsing, the Victoria and Albert Mausoleum at Windsor is also starting to crumble with pieces of the highly decorated ceiling starting to fall off. This project has been indefinitely delayed as it will cost around £2million.

Much more attention needs to be paid to the roofs at both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. At Buckingham Palace, the nearly 100 year old glass roof of the picture gallery is starting to leak. Water stains have been seen on the silk of the walls of the picture gallery which means it's not just getting through the roof, but also the glass ceiling of the Picture Gallery. Ironically, the previous ceiling of the Picture Gallery was removed and replaced with the more modern and ugly roof in 1914 because it was leaking! The cost of fixing the roof is estimated at £1.8million.

The rest of the roofing at Buckingham Palace is now over 120 years old and is in need of replacement. At Windsor Castle, the roofs of the Upper Ward need replacement, but are being patched at present. One cannot over emphasise the disaster that would occur if a major leak occurred. At the Picture Gallery in Buckingham Palace in particular are some of the most valuable paintings in the world.

Of more concern to visitors of the Palace, the State Apartments are in desperate need of redecoration and this has also been postponed indefinitely, even though the cost is only £600,000 per year. Walking through the State Apartments in their current condition is slightly depressing with the rooms desperately needing to be regilded in order to return them to the glorious richness of effect originally intended. This effect can be seen clearly at Windsor Castle where the rooms which were destroyed by fire in 1992 are an exceptional tribute to the talent of the workmen involved and the vision of King George IV.

The Palace is requesting an increase in funding of £1million per year, so they can try and clear this major backlog of maintenance which has developed because of very careful management by the Queen's financial team who have tried to live within an impossible budget.

For more information on this story, including a video, please see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6250432.stm

The virtual tour of Buckingham Palace from palacevirtualtours.com allows you to explore the rooms and artwork discussed in this article. You can see the new and the old ceiling of the Picture Gallery and learn more about the quadrangle and its history. An evaluation version of the tour is available for free download.

Women guarding Royal Palaces for the first time

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700

For the first time women soldiers are guarding Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. At Windsor Castle, there are five women soldiers, part of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and at Buckingham Palace Captain Chloe Madden of the Army Air Corps has made history by being the first female to guard the world's most famous palace.

For more information on this story, see Women on guard at Queen's residences .

Windsor Hydro Project is delayed

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0700

The Windsor Hydro Project which is intended to provide 1/3 of the power to Windsor Castle, at the cost of around £1m has been delayed again. The project was expected to be completed by the end of 2006 but work is still not moving forward. This is one of a number of "green" projects the Royal Household are working on to ensure the Queen is as environmentally friendly as possible.

For more information on this story, see Windsor hydro project hits delays

Queen Victoria's Wedding Cake on display at Windsor Castle

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0700

As part of the celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Wedding Jubilee (60 years), the Royal Collection are displaying a number of wedding related memorabilia at Windsor Castle from April. Included in this display is a piece of Queen Victoria's Wedding Cake, now 167 years old! There are also photographs and other items from the weddings of Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II.

The exhibition continues until March 2008 and is situated in the Drawings Gallery at Windsor Castle. This Gallery is at the top of the Entrance Steps to the State Apartments.

Queen's Guard to be reduced?

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0700

The British Army are facing some major financial challenges as the cost of continuing to fight the Iraq war grows. Defence bosses are understood to be considering reducing the 2000 troops that guard the Queen at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace down to 1300. This would allow them to be re-allocated to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The troops at the Palaces are generally ceremonial and stand for hours at a time.

Rare look inside the Queen's Wine Collection

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0700

The Queen has allowed the Telegraph newspaper a rare glimpse inside the wine cellars of the Palace. At least some of the structures of the cellars date back to the Duke of Buckingham, one of the earlier owners of the House. Today the cellars hold over £2million worth of wine.

The newspaper was allowed access in order to promote the Palace's energy saving initiatives. Over the next few months the cellars will be cooled by water taken from below the Palace. The bore used for this cooling was created in 2002 to provide air conditioning for the new Queen's Gallery. The Palace are now expanding the use of this bore to provide cooling for additional areas of the Palace, including the 300 year old wine cellars.

For more information see : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/05/nwine05.xml

New TVs at Buckingham Palace

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Apparently the Queen has ordered 100 new LCD and Plasma Televisions for Buckingham Palace from Samsung. The details of the specific sets ordered have not been made available but Samsung have commented that if they stay in use for 5 years, they would get the right to use the Royal Warrant on their products. According to reports, this is the first time the Royal Family have paid for televisions, with previous sets being donated.

For more details see: http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/15/buckingham-palace-orders-100-samsung-flat-panels-to-watch-uks-t/

Several members of the Royal Family live at Buckingham Palace. It is the principal London home of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The Queen has a suite of private apartments on the north side of the Palace, whilst her children have apartments on the East Front. You can visit the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's Private Apartments as part of the Buckingham Palace Virtual Tour.

Birds change call in Buckingham Palace Garden

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Great Tits, a kind of bird resident in Buckingham Palace Garden have been found to make a distinctly different call in this urban environment than in more rural settings. Buckingham Palace is set in the bustling heart of Central London and noise levels in the garden from the surrounding traffic mean that in order to be heard, the Great Tits have had to adapt their calls.

For more information on this story, see Palace great tits learn to sing louder to cope with the noise of city life.

The Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest private garden in London with a size of around 40 acres, including a 4 acre lake. It is home to a variety of bird and aquatic life, and connected with the surrounding great parks of London, provides a safe haven for animal life in one of the world's busiest cities. For more information on the Palace Garden, including photos, you can purchase the Buckingham Palace Virtual Tour.

Restoration of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0700

The Hall of Mirrors in the early stages of Restoration.

The first complete restoration of the Hall of Mirrors since it was created over 300 years ago has now begun. The project will last three years and will be complete in May 2007. In the meantime the Hall of Mirrors is partially closed to the public. However, you can still view it and learn more about this great room from our Versailles Virtual Tour.

For more information about the restoration please visit:

http://www.vinci.com/sponsorship.nsf/web/index.htm