Buckingham Palace behind the scenes: A Royal Welcome


August 11, 2015

Buckingham Palace is best known as the Queen's London home and office but it is also one of the last few remaining working royal palaces in the world. In 2014, around 62,000 people visited as invited guests for occasions ranging from a private audience with the monarch to garden parties for thousands.

For two months every summer, some of the State Rooms are open to visitors who can enjoy a special exhibition.

Buckingham Palace has welcomed some of the world's most high-profile visitors including President Obama and First Lady Michelle. 

This year, a series of displays will give a sense of the events that take place at the palace, along with an insight into what goes on behind the scenes to plan and deliver these occasions.

Anna Reynolds, a curator at the Royal Collection Trust, has written exclusively in HELLO! about the new exhibition "A Royal Welcome" at Buckingham Palace. She has described her fascinating details about royal life, from the "traffic lights" inside the Palace, to the precise way the Queen accessorizes her couture dresses.

© Photo: HELLO!

Anna Reynolds, a curator at the Royal Collection Trust, meticulously measures the table setting at the Palace to make sure everything is in place 

For the first time this year visitors to Buckingham Palace will enter through the Grand Entrance, where they'll be able to view the Australian State Coach. This is the same entrance where a red carpet is rolled out, and famous guests in the past have included presidents and popes.

A state banquet has been set up in the Ballroom, complete with glittering silver gild on the table, flower arrangements and napkins, to show guests what it would look like.

To hear more about royal party planning and the spectacularly grand events at the palace, watch HELLO!'s exclusive chat with Anna in the video below.

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