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The Royal Collection includes the Royal Palaces, Residences & Art Collections
www.royalcollection.org.uk
The Royal Collection includes the Royal Palaces, Residences & Art Collections. These are The State Rooms,Buckingham Palace The Royal Mews,Buckingham Palace,The Queen's Gallery, London,Windsor Castle,Palace of Holyroodhouse,The Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh, Frogmore House and Clarence House Queens art collection, Monarch's art collection, Royal Art collection in the royal palaces
The State Rooms,Buckingham Palace
Changing the Guard
Changing the Guard takes place at 11:30 daily from May until the end of July and on alternate days for the rest of the year, weather permitting.
Provisional Schedule for 2011 (please note that this schedule is set by the British Army and is subject to change. Please check this site prior to a visit)
May - daily, except 28 May
June - daily, except 4 June
July - daily
The new guards arrive at the forecourt of the Palace at 11:30 from Wellington Barracks. The journey takes about 5 minutes and the soldiers are accompanied by a band. The ceremony is conducted on the Palace forecourt and takes approximately forty minutes to complete.
Buckingham Palace The Royal Mews
The Royal Mews houses the State vehicles, both horse-drawn carriages and motor cars, used for coronations, State Visits, royal weddings, the State Opening of Parliament and official engagements. Visitors can see the Gold State Coach which was last used during The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 to carry Her Majesty and Prince Philip to the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral.
For most of the year the stables are home to the working horses that play an important role in The Queen's official and ceremonial duties. They are mainly Cleveland Bays, the only British breed of carriage horse, and the Windsor greys, which by tradition always draw the carriage in which The Queen is travelling. As they may be on duty, undergoing training or having a well-deserved rest away from London, the horses are not always on view.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle, the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, is one of the official residences of Her Majesty The Queen. The Castle's dramatic site encapsulates 900 years of British history. It covers an area of 26 acres and contains, as well as a royal palace, a magnificent chapel and the homes and workplaces of a large number of people.
The magnificent State Apartments are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto and Gainsborough.
From October to March visitors can also enjoy George IV's private apartments (the Semi-State Rooms), among the most richly decorated interiors in the Castle.
During August and September the East Terrace is open to visitors. Overlooking Home Park and the rose garden created for George IV in the 1820s, it offers views of the East façade of the Castle, not normally visible to the public.
St George's Chapel is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England. It is the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter, the senior order of British Chivalry established in 1348 by Edward III. Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I.
Among the highlights of a visit to Windsor is Queen Mary's Dolls' House, the most famous dolls' house in the world. It took three years to complete and involved 1,500 craftsmen, artists and authors. The house has electric lighting, hot and cold running water, and even flushing lavatories.
Clarence House
Open in 2011 from 4 August to 4 September
Clarence House is the official residence of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and the home of the Princes William and Harry. From 1953 to 2002 it was the home of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Find out more about the history of Clarence House and how it is used today on the British Monarchy Website.
What there is to see
Visitors are guided around the five ground-floor rooms where The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall undertake official engagements and receive guests from around the world.
The arrangement of the rooms and the grouping of their contents remain much as they were in Queen Elizabeth's time, with much of Her Majesty's collection of works of art and furniture in their former positions.
Clarence House displays much of Queen Elizabeth's famous art collection, including outstanding 20th-century paintings such as important works by John Piper, Graham Sutherland, WS Sickert and Augustus John. Superb examples of Fabergé, English porcelain and silver, particularly pieces relating to the Bowes-Lyon family are also on display.
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