13 Secrets of the Buckingham Palace. Things You Can Find Beyond the Royal Residence

The Buckingham Palace, the London residence of the British royal family, has always attracted a lot of interest. The British monarchs have lived there since 1837. Let's discover some of its biggest secrets.

There are as many as 775 rooms in the palace, including 52 bedrooms and 78 bathrooms. The personnel themselves occupy 188 room. The total floor area is 77,000 square meters.

Of course the palace does not consist of bathrooms and bedrooms only. There are also a chapel, a swimming pool, a cash point, a cinema, a jeweler's and a cafe for the personnel. Interestingly, there is also a garden of 15 hectares with a helicopter landing spot.

The palace has got its own post code: SW1A 1AA. Moreover, the employees can use the post office inside the palace.

In the White Drawing Room there is a stash door that the Queen can use to get into her private chambers. It is hidden behind a mirror.

The Banquet Hall was the first place where, in 1883, electricity was installed. Today there are 40,000 light bulbs illuminating the interiors of the palace.

The only ruler to have been born and to have died in the Buckingham Palace was Edward VII (1841 – 1910). It was the eldest son of Queen Victoria.

Edward Jones (known as Boy Jones) was a Brit who managed to break into the palace three times, between 1839 and 1841. he first did that at the age of 14. He was caught red-handed with queens Victoria underwear in his pocket.

According to one of the legends about the palace, there is a secret network of tunnel and an underground station, in case the royal family would have to flee from the residence unnoticed.

The Buckingham Palace was built in 1703. Before that there had been a mulberry plantation set up by king James I who wanted to keep silk moths. Unfortunately, his business plans never came off.

The flag over the palace communicates important things. The flag called Royal Standard means that the queen is in. Union Jack, on the other hand, means that she is away. A half-mast flag means national mourning after the death of an important person or some tragic incidents.

There are about 600 historical clocks inside the castle. Switching them to the winter (or summer) time takes about 20 hours.

The clocks in the kitchen are about 5 minutes ahead of the rest to make sure that the meals are served timely.

The Ball Room is the biggest chamber of the palace. Almost 36 meters long it is the venue of all balls and official banquets held there. It was first used to celebrate the end of the Crimean War in 1856.

There are about 800 people looking after the palace. The queen invites about 50,000 people to a variety of social events per year.

Which fact did you find the most surprising?