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England is an incredible place to visit if looking for a holiday destination. There is old city of Bath which is renowned for it’s spa’s and roman baths, or the famous university town of Cambridge. Whilst in Cambridge why not visit the tranquil Cambridge University Botanic Garden. One city in England that needs no introduction is that of London.

London is a wondrous place to visit whether for a city break or a two week vacation. Never just set aside one day for visiting London, you will have wasted most of your day on deciding which fascinating place to visit first. One interesting fact that would shock the tourist from other coutries is that many English people have never even visited their capital city.

London is full of magnificent ancient and historic buildings, and is famous for it’s incredible churches and cathedrals. Everyone will of heard of St. Paul’s Cathedral, this is the Anglican Cathedral where the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer married. An exciting new attraction which attracts over 3.5 million visitors a year is the ‘London Eye’ or ‘Millenium Wheel’ as it was originally known. However, one must see visitor attraction is Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace only became the official residence of the British monarchy in 1837. It was Queen Victoria who chose Buckingham Palace as her official royal residence. Ever since then Buckingham Palace has been known around the world as the most famous residence of the British royal family. The palace is located in the centre of London and has always been a rallying point for the British people at times of great joy and sadness.

Buckingham Palace was originally built as a townhouse and not a palace. The Duke of Buckingham had the house built in 1703. The house was the design of William Winde, and was basically a large town house. Rumour has it that the original house built on the site of a brothel.

Over the next 75 years Buckingham House was enlarged by the additon of three wings around a central courtyard. The main architects responsible for these additions were John Nash and Edward Blore. It was also John Nash who was responsible for the interior design of the monumental staterooms.

The famous architect Aston Webb was responsible for the building of the principal facade of Buckingham Palace which he re-designed in 1912. Webb along with the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock were the winners of a competition to design a memorial to Queen Victoria. This memorial is still seen today.

The Queen has many other residences besides Buckingham Palace. Some of the residences are ‘official’ residences and there are some which are ‘private’. One other famous, official royal residence in London is St. Jame’s Palace and once upon a time was the primary London royal residence. A favourite private residence with the Queen is Balmoral in Scotland. The Queen enjoys a relaxing holiday at Balmoral every August, and was there when she heard the grave news of Diana, Princess of Wales’, sad and untimely passing.

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