The State Apartments

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THE STATE APARTMENTS

The portions of the palace that are open to the public on certain days comprise a suite of ceremonial chambers that are used by the sovereign at the State opening of Parliament, the House of Peers, the House of Commons, and a number of halls, lobbies, etc. (the visitor fortunate enough to be shown round by a Member of Parliament sees considerably more).

The decorative work of the various apartments is stunning, and the visitor would do well to study closely the ceilings, vaultings, pavements, windows, doorways, and the stone and woodwork.

The oil paintings, the frescoes, the more important mosaics, and the chief statues bear inscriptions in the majority of cases, and from these a deal of information can be acquired.

Entry is by a doorway against the Victoria Tower, and the apartments are traversed in the following sequence : -

THE ROYAL STAIRCASE by which the sovereign ascends from the entrance in the Victoria Tower to the NORMAN PORCH, which is so called because of an intention to set up statues of the Norman kings here and to paint the walls with subjects from Anglo-Norman history.

THE ROBING ROOM, where is the Chair of State. The frescoes (by William Dyce, R.A.) and the carved panels (by H. H. Armstead) below them, which adorn the walls of this beautiful chamber, depict episodes from the Arthurian legend.

THE ROYAL GALLERY, through which the sovereign proceeds to the House of Peers, a richly decorated apartment of fine proportions, on the walls of which are the two largest and finest of all English historical frescoes, The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher, and The Death of Nelson, by Daniel Maclise, R.A.

Each of these paintings is 45 feet 8 inches in length by 12 feet in height. The artist received £8,500 for executing them.

THE PRINCE'S CHAMBER, a panelled room in which the sovereign is received by the chief peers, with John Gibson's statue of Queen Victoria, between Justice and Mercy, facing the entry.

On the walls are portraits of sovereigns and their consorts, and princes and princesses of the House of Tudor.

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