Buckingham Palace Garden

Buckingham Palace garden party - May 2022

The garden was the setting for the Royal Garden Parties held by Queen Elizabeth II. Although earlier Royal owners had held entertainments in the garden, the tradition of large, formal, garden parties was established by Victoria, for whose Golden and Diamond Jubilees, two particularly lavish parties were held in 1887 and 1897.[14] Three garden parties are held at Buckingham Palace, and one at the Palace of Holyroodhouse (in Scotland) each summer.[5] The Queen also gives permission for additional garden parties to be held; in 2008, parties were held for the Centenary of the Royal Charter to the British Red Cross, the Territorial Army, the Not Forgotten Association and for those attending the Lambeth Conference.[15] Some 30,000 guests attend the parties each year, which recommenced in 2022, after a two-year abeyance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15][16] Nominations for invitations to the garden parties are made by the Lord-lieutenants,[lower-alpha 2] government departments, the armed forces, the Diplomatic corps and a range of charities and societies. The nominations, which are intended to acknowledge public service, are approved by the Lord Chamberlain, who then issues the invitations in the name of the Queen.[17]

Guests take tea and sandwiches in marquees erected in the garden.[lower-alpha 3] Just prior to 4.00 p.m. the Queen and accompanying members of the Royal Family emerge from the Bow Room in the palace,[19] as a band plays the National Anthem. The royal party then process through ranks of assembled guests towards the Royal Tea Tent, greeting those previously selected for the honour.[20] A second private tea tent is reserved for diplomatic guests, while all other attendees make use of the general tent.[lower-alpha 4][21] Two military bands alternate in playing a "continuous supply of festive music".[19]

The garden, the largest in London, covers 17 hectares (42 acres) and contains over 1,000 trees, 325 specimens of wild plants and 35 different species of birds.[5] The largely-flat site forms a rough triangle with Buckingham Palace at the apex. The western (rear) facade opens on to a long terrace, the West Terrace, which overlooks a large lawn, known as the Main Lawn.[22] Beyond the lawn is the lake. The whole is surrounded by a wall and, internally, by a gravel path which runs around the garden's perimeter, with branches diverting around the lawns, lake and island flowerbeds.[23] The dominating species of tree is the London Plane, Platanus × acerifolia.[24] There are a large number of commemorative trees, planted to celebrate royal occasions, which continues a tradition begun by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. 24 trees within the garden are designated as "Champion Trees" on the Tree Register of the British Isles.[25]

The garden has a number of architectural features. Among the most notable is the Waterloo Vase, a great urn commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his expected victories, which in 1815 was presented unfinished to the Prince Regent. After the King had had the base completed by sculptor Richard Westmacott, intending it to be the focal point of the new Waterloo chamber at Windsor Castle, it was adjudged to be too heavy for any floor (at 15 ft (4.6 m) high and weighing 15 tons). The National Gallery, to whom it was presented, finally returned it in 1906 to the sovereign, Edward VII. King Edward then solved the problem by placing the vase outside in the garden where it now remains.[26] A pair of ornamental cranes which stand by the lake were presented to Edward when on a tour of India as Prince of Wales in 1875-6.[27]

A summerhouse stands opposite the Waterloo Vase, which was removed from the old Admiralty garden at the other end of The Mall.[lower-alpha 5][28] The structure is in the form of a small temple, with a pediment supported by four Atlantes.[28] Peter Coats, in his study of 1978, The Gardens of Buckingham Palace, notes stylistic similarities to the work of William Kent.[29] Much of the statuary in the garden, including vases and urns on the West Terrace, was designed by Nash, and constructed in Coade Stone, a form of artificial stone popular in the Regency and Victorian periods.[30]

There is also a lake and a tennis court, the latter dating from 1919. The lake is 400 feet (120 m) long and 150 feet (46 m) across[31] and used to be home to a colony of flamingo until they were killed by foxes.[32] The lake was originally fed from The Serpentine in Hyde Park, but is now sourced from a bore hole in the garden. The water is aerated by a waterfall,[33] installed by Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, to replace a cascade constructed by the Queen's parents, George VI and Queen Elizabeth.[34] The large island in the lake houses four beehives where, since 1983, the Queen has undertaken the production of honey.[35] Helicopters land on the great lawn in front of the West Terrace.[23] The garden contains a number of examples of another type of artificial stonework, Pulhamite, including two bridges to the islands in the lake and a large rockery.[36]

Simon Bradley, in the 2003 revised edition of the Pevsner Buildings of England, London 6: Westminster, describes the garden at Buckingham Palace as "beautiful", noting particularly the "irregular lake and artful Picturesque planting".[28] The design of the garden has also been criticised; suggesting that, after Wise, no major designer was employed, a writer for Country Life concluded that it lacked any of the features of a truly great garden, "originality, surprise, vista, architecture, statuary, planting", although they acknowledged the garden's utility as a "helicopter landing pad".[37]

The Waterloo Vase

The garden is Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.[23] The Waterloo Vase and the Kent Summerhouse are Grade I listed structures.[38][39] Structures on the perimeter of the garden which are also listed at Grade I include the surrounding boundary wall;[40] the garden entrance screen to the front right of the palace,[41] the screen to the Ambassadors' Court to the left[42] and the main entrance to the Ambassadors' Court on Buckingham Palace Road;[43] the wall enclosing the royal riding school,[44] and the riding school itself;[45] the Royal Mews;[46] and two flanking lodges.[47][48] A secondary section of the mews,[49] and four lampposts in front of the riding school are listed at Grade II.[50]

• Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. Pevsner Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09595-1. OCLC 888638928.
• Brown, Jane (2004). The Garden at Buckingham Palace: An Illustrated History. London: Royal Collection Trust. ISBN 978-1-902-16382-6. OCLC 491675088.
• Coats, Peter (1978). The Gardens of Buckingham Palace. London: Michael Joseph. OCLC 463250686.
• Harris, John; Snodin, Michael (1996). Sir William Chambers: Architect to George III. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-06940-2. OCLC 750912646.
• van Lemmen, Hans (2006). Coade Stone. Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, UK: Shire Publications. ISBN 978-0-747-80644-8.
• Masset, Claire (2021). Buckingham Palace: A Royal Garden. London: Royal Collection Trust. ISBN 978-1-909-74169-0. OCLC 1296302894.
• Nash, Roy (1980). Buckingham Palace: The Place and the People. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-354-04529-6.
• Plumptre, George (1981). Royal Gardens. London: William Collins, Sons. ISBN 978-0-002-11871-2. OCLC 833434627.
• Robinson, John Martin (1982). Royal Residences. London: MacDonald & Co. OCLC 469780876.
• Titchmarsh, Alan (2014). The Queen's House: Royal Britain at Home. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-849-90217-5.