Latest news with #TheQueen'sGallery
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Inside the Buckingham Palace, with 775 rooms, including 200 bedrooms and 92 offices
If you've ever stood outside Buckingham Palace, pressed against its iron gates for a glimpse of royalty, you're not alone. Millions visit it every year, but only a lucky few walk through its magnificent halls. If you're unable to visit the palace, here's an immersive peek inside the most iconic royal residence in the world. With 775 rooms, including 200 bedrooms and 92 offices, Buckingham Palace is a kingdom unto itself. But access is limited. The entrance for visitors? Gate C at Buckingham Gate, not the East Front flooded with cameras and hopeful tourists. Once past airport-style security and with your complimentary audio guide in hand, the experience begins at The Quadrangle. It's only when you pass into the Grand Entrance, however, that the real magic begins. The Grand Staircase, climbed by presidents and monarchs alike, leads you into opulent rooms: Don't forget to check out the chandeliers, the ceilings—everything is decked out in red and gold. Next, you'll pass the Picture Gallery, with artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Dutch masters. For art lovers, it's a dream. The Ball Supper Room, currently exhibiting the Queen's personal jewellery, including the Diamond Diadem seen on stamps and currency, is a dazzling display. But the real showstopper is the Grand Ballroom, where state banquets and knighting ceremonies take place. From there, you explore the 1844 Room, the Blue Drawing Room, the Music Room (home to royal christenings), and the White Drawing Room, where VIPs like the US President meet the Queen, who may just appear via a hidden 'secret' door behind a bureau. Outside, the Palace Gardens offer a quieter experience, where the Queen prefers wildlife over humans. The tennis court and swimming pool are off-limits, but you can partake in afternoon tea made by the Palace's own caterers. For true royal enthusiasts, a visit to The Queen's Gallery and The Royal Mews is essential. The former showcases ever-changing royal art exhibitions, like Japanese artefacts gifted to the monarch. The latter is home to Her Majesty's carriages and horses, including the Gold State Coach. Tours of the State Rooms and Palace Gardens are open during the Queen's absence—mainly late July to September. Tickets can be booked via Nearest Tube stations are Green Park and St. James' Park, each just five minutes away. Avoid driving, parking is a nightmare, of course. And don't forget: no photos inside the State Rooms!
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Widow of sex fiend Rolf Harris' jaw-dropping will
Rolf Harris' widow, who stood by the disgraced entertainer after he was exposed as a serial sex offender, left a huge sum of money in her will, it has been revealed. Alwen Hughes died in August aged 92 — just over a year after the disgraced entertainer died of neck cancer and 'frailty of old age', according to his death certificate. Hughes, a Welsh sculptress and jeweller who married Harris in 1958 and remained with him after he was convicted of indecent assault on young girls, died of a stroke after suffering vascular dementia.. Her will — written in 2018, after Harris' fall from grace — included provision for him to have a slice of her whopping $8.2 million estate, should she have died first, according to The Sun. Given Harris died first, the bulk of the estate now goes to their daughter Ava Reeves, formerly known as Bindi, with other relatives also set to benefit. Harris himself left a substantial estate behind, totalling $33 million, most of which was also left to Reeves. Rolf Harris and Alwen Hughes with daughter Bindi. Credit: JOHN CAMPBELL / WA News Perth-born Harris had a glittering international career across music, art and television and was considered a national treasure before it all came crashing down amid revelations he was a serial sexual abuser. Harris was famous for songs including Tie Me Kangaroo Down and Jake the Peg and was a talented artist — painting Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday portrait. Rolf Harris officially unveils his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at The Queen's Gallery in Buckingham Palace in 2005. Credit: Chris Jackson / Getty Images Rolf Harris was a serial sexual abuser. Credit: Supplied / TheWest Harris was 84 when a UK jury unanimously found him guilty of 12 counts of indecent assault involving victims as young as seven or eight, in July 2014. He was sentenced to five years and nine months. In May 2017 Harris was released from jail and in the same month was formally cleared of four unconnected historical sex offences, which he had denied. Later that year, one of the 12 indecent assault convictions was overturned by the Court of Appeal. — with AAP.
