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The Buckingham Palace is the administrative headquarters and the official residence of the monarch. It is located in the Westminster, and also serves as the center of other state functions. The palace has been used as the Monarch's official residence since 1837. The palace is also used for other numerous official events, and the State Rooms are open to the public every summer.聽Buckingham Palace contains a total of 775 rooms, which include 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 52 guest and royal bedrooms, 19 State Rooms, and 78 bathrooms.

Rooms in the Buckingham Palace

The palace measures 354 feet by 390 feet and 29 feet high. It also occupies a floor space of 830,000 square feet. The palace also has a post office, swimming pool, cinema, jeweler鈥檚 workshop, and a doctor鈥檚 surgery place.

State Rooms

Most of the rooms in the Buckingham Palace are closed to the public, but the State Rooms are opened to the public during summer and occasionally during spring. There are 19 State Rooms used by the royal family for ceremonial and official events. The same rooms are used to host guests, and they are open to the public. The rooms have numerous paintings, dripping chandeliers with crystals, and fine porcelain. They were designed by John Nash an architect who was commissioned by King George IV to design the Buckingham Palace.

Drawing Rooms

The State Rooms have numerous drawing rooms, and one of them is the White Drawing Room. It is used by the royal family as the reception room for the Queen and the family members. The royal family often meets in the White Drawing Room before the official events. There is also the Blue Drawing Room, although there is not much blue color in the room, the ornaments and the furniture has different shades of blue. From the Blue Drawing Room, one can view the palace gardens through the window.

The Ballroom

The Ballroom is used for the banquets among other large-scale events, and it occupies the largest space. There are glamorous light fixtures made up of 9,000 pieces of crystal weighing about half a ton. Setting up a large scale banquet for a state function takes up to 10 days and three more days for laying the tables with seven pieces of cutlery, six glasses, and one plate per person. During the banquet night, 19 stations are set up each manned by four staff, which include a wine butler, a page, under butler, and a footman. Traffic light system is used to coordinate all the serving courses.

Throne Room

The Throne Room is perhaps the most impressive of the State Rooms in the Buckingham Palace. It extends to cover 154 feet long and has picture gallery, which has an exceptional collection of paintings from notable painters such as Rubens, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Holbein, and Van Dyck. The walls of the throne room are painted with deep red colors that match the red carpet. At the far end are two royal thrones. The elaborate ceiling designed by Nash is covered with the Chivalric star of the order of Garter, which is common in the theme of the d茅cor of the palace. Positioned at the center is the Tudor Rose, which symbolizes the honor of royal family responsible for peace in the kingdom after several centuries of conflict. The room is also the place where the Queen receives the loyal addresses on important occasions. It was in the Throne Room where the Duke and the Duchess of the Cambridge were seen in photographs during their formal wedding on April 29, 2011.