Mireia Rovira, 1st B

BUCKINHAM PALACE

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality.

Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years.

It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as "The Queen's House". During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September, as part of the Palace's Summer Opening.

THE MALL

The Mall in central London is the road running from Buckingham Palace at its western end to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square at its eastern end, where it crosses Spring Gardens, which was where the Metropolitan Board of Works and, for a number of years, the London County Council were based. The surface of The Mall is colored red which gives the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace. This color was obtained using synthetic iron oxide pigment from The Deanshanger Oxide Works, which was created using The Deanox Process devised by head chemist Ernest Lovell.

The Mall was created as a ceremonial route in the early 20th century, matching the creation of similar ceremonial routes in other cities, such as Berlin, Mexico City, Oslo, Paris, St. Petersburg, Vienna and Washington D.C.