Buckingham Palace's hidden treasures, from Samurai armour to the post office


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With a decades-long passion for sustainability and the environment, Prince Charles is said to have been looking for ways to make Buckingham Palace work more efficiently when he takes up residence there.

Although plans to turn more areas of the building into a museum have been steadily gaining traction, it is a proposal that is said to have faced opposition from Queen Elizabeth II.

“She’s not very keen on that particular idea and believes, of course, that it should remain a family home of sorts,” a source recently told the Daily Mirror.

The wrought iron gates were thrown open in 1993, when Buckingham Palace was opened to the public for the first time and has since proved a popular destination for visitors.

Often selling out tickets months in advance, the palace helped contribute towards the £49.9 million ($65.8m) the Royal Estates generated in ticket sales between 2019-2020, according to statistics website statista.com.

The queen makes permanent move to Windsor Castle

Following the 1936 abdication by her uncle Edward VIII, Queen Elizabeth II's father, King George VI, became the king, while she became the heir presumptive, the family moved into Buckingham Palace, which would become her main residence for the next nine decades.

Moving to Windsor Castle in March 2020 during the height of the pandemic, the queen has since made the Berkshire castle her permanent base and will not be returning to take up full-time residence at the palace.

With Windsor Castle, along with Balmoral in Scotland, her favourite second residences, it is where her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died in April 2021, aged 99.

“Windsor is the place she loves,” royal author Hugo Vickers told The Sunday Times. “She has her memories with Prince Philip there, she has her ponies there and family nearby. It makes sense.”

The future of Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II has made a permanent move to Windsor Castle, while Charles, who was previously said to want to rule from Clarence House, is now making plans to call Buckingham Palace home. Photo: Joe Giddens, Stuart C. Wilson
Queen Elizabeth II has made a permanent move to Windsor Castle, while Charles, who was previously said to want to rule from Clarence House, is now making plans to call Buckingham Palace home. Photo: Joe Giddens, Stuart C. Wilson

While plans concerning succession have been in the making for a long time, the question of Buckingham Palace has often been a thorny one.

According to royal sources, Prince Charles, who would be expected to move into the palace when he becomes king, has in the past expressed disdain for “the big house”, telling courtiers he would prefer to rule from his formal London residence, Clarence House.

“I know he is no fan of ‘the big house’, as he calls the palace," a source told the Sunday Times. “He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable.”

That said, sources recently told the Daily Mail Charles has come around to the idea that he would rule from the palace, reporting he is “firmly of the view that it’s the visible symbol of the monarchy in the nation’s capital and therefore must be his home”.

More of the Royal Collection to be made public?

A shake-up of Buckingham Palace and the 26 royal residences in the UK looks likely when Charles becomes king. Among those, perhaps plans to open up more of the palace and show more of the Royal Collection.

The collection, which features pieces owned by The Crown and also by the queen as a private individual, is made up of more than one million objects, including tapestries, furniture, ceramics, carriages, armour, jewellery, musical instruments, manuscripts, books and sculptures. That’s before the 7,000 paintings, including many Old Masters, 30,000 watercolours and drawings, about 450,000 photographs and a stamp collection valued at over £100 million.

“The Royal Collection has been formed from the private collections of monarchs over 500 years,” a Royal Collection spokeswoman told The Guardian. “It is held in trust by the Queen as sovereign, however, not as a private individual.”

While some of the Collection is on display to the public in the Picture Gallery and Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, including works by Canaletto, Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer, drawings and sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as countless pieces by Faberge, the majority is not.

Displays are changed and themed over the years, but the discovery of a lost Caravaggio in a store room at Hampton Court in 2006 proves that when it comes to public access to the Royal Collection, the surface has barely been scratched.

Here are 5 items and rooms visitors might see more of if larger parts of Buckingham Palace are turned into a museum…

1. 17th-century Japanese Samurai armour

Samurai armour dating from the 1600s is among one of the most impressive collections of Japanese artefacts and art in the West. Photo: Royal Collections Trust
Samurai armour dating from the 1600s is among one of the most impressive collections of Japanese artefacts and art in the West. Photo: Royal Collections Trust

The Japanese collection includes armour, weaponry, porcelain and fans, and is thought to be the most comprehensive in the Western world.

One of the oldest items in the collection is the samurai armour which was sent to King James I by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, the military leader who governed Japan on behalf of the imperial family.

The armour was given to the royals soon after the first contact between England and Japan had been made.

2. Twopenny Blue Mauritian stamp

The Twopenny Mauritian Blue stamp makes up part of the royal stamp collection overseen by five monarchs. Getty Images
The Twopenny Mauritian Blue stamp makes up part of the royal stamp collection overseen by five monarchs. Getty Images

The queen is the fifth monarch to inherit the Royal Philatelic Collection, the centrepiece of which is an extremely rare Twopenny Blue Mauritian stamp from 1847.

Valued at £2 million in a collection worth more than £100m, it was the first stamp to be issued by a colonial post office and was bought at auction by the future King George V in 1904.

3. Faberge Mosaic Egg

The Mosaic Egg by Faberge features the cameo images of the doomed Romanov children. Photo: Royal Collections Trust
The Mosaic Egg by Faberge features the cameo images of the doomed Romanov children. Photo: Royal Collections Trust

The egg was made by the Russian jeweller for Tsar Nicholas II to give to his wife Tsarina Alexandra in 1914.

Made of platinum and gold, and decorated with emeralds, rubies and diamonds, it holds a cameo of the couple's five children inside. Four years later, the family would be killed by the Bolsheviks.

4. The Court Post Office

The Telegraph Room of Buckingham Palace Post Office. Shutterstock
The Telegraph Room of Buckingham Palace Post Office. Shutterstock

Not all of Buckingham Palace’s rare treasures are items — some are rooms.

As well as an unseen swimming pool, cinema room, NHS doctor’s surgery and an ATM machine in the basement, Buckingham Palace also has its own post office.

The room hasn’t been seen publicly since 1948, when it was instrumental in dealing with post-wartime communications.

5. Eardley Norton astronomical clock

The Eardley Norton astronomical clock used state-of-the-art technology from the 1700s. Photo: Royal Collections Trust
The Eardley Norton astronomical clock used state-of-the-art technology from the 1700s. Photo: Royal Collections Trust

Bought by George III for his dressing room at Buckingham Palace, the 1765 Eardley Norton clock was cutting-edge technology for its era.

It shows the time at 30 locations across the globe relative to Greenwich Mean Time, an orrery of the solar system, ages and phases of the moon, a year calendar, and high and low water at 32 sea ports.

Scroll through the gallery below to see Queen Elizabeth II's colour-blocking style:

UAE%20Warriors%2045%20Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures

Tuesday, October 29

Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE

Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman

Wednesday, October 30

Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one

Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two

Thursday, October 31

Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four

Friday, November 1

Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one

Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two

Saturday, November 2

Third-place playoff, 2.10pm

Final, 7.30pm

Company profile

Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space

Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)

Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)

Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi 

Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution) 

Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space  

Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019

The%20specs
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Dunki
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rajkumar%20Hirani%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shah%20Rukh%20Khan%2C%20Taapsee%20Pannu%2C%20Vikram%20Kochhar%20and%20Anil%20Grover%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

Company%20profile
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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.0-litre%2C%20flat%20six-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseven-speed%20PDK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E510hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E470Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh634%2C200%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: March 08, 2022, 10:41 AM