The Queen's official London residence has a whopping 775 rooms. It is one of the few working royal palaces remaining in the world today. The lavishly decorated State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the summer months, and you can visit all year round to see the famous Changing The Guard.

Worth seeing are:

Queen's Gallery

Dedicated to works of art from the Royal Collection, The Queen's Gallery was constructed 40 years ago at Buckingham Palace, out of the bomb-damaged ruins of a chapel. In addition to gems from the Royal Collection (which is held in trust by the Queen for the nation), there's a changing programme of temporary exhibitions.

Royal Mews

The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace is a working stable, and home to the royal collection of historic coaches and carriages, as well as the cars used for state occasions. The most dazzling of all the coaches on display is the Gold State Coach, used as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. 

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If you want your photograph taken with a royal, head to Madame Tussauds!

Get close to the royal couple at Madame Tussauds, where you can see life-like wax figures of Will and Kate. The Duchess is dressed in a replica of her blue Issa engagement dress as well as her famous engagement ring. The couple are situated in the royal zone alongside other wax versions of the royal family.

The Australian connection

There are no royal palaces in  Australia, but for a short while there was a royal coach.

This stunning coach built to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 is now on permanent display within the Royal Mews at London's Buckingham Palace. It was conceived and designed by Mr J. Frecklington, who was also responsible for the construction of the Australian State Coach, and its construction brought together a team of artists, artisans and master craftsmen from Australia and other parts of the world. The Diamond Jubilee State Coach was unveiled during the State Opening of Parliament in 2014 and is only the second coach to be built for the Royal Household in more than a century.

Combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, the State Coach measures five-and-a-half metres long, over three metres high and weighs over three tonnes. One of the main design features of this coach is that it was built as a traditional postilion vehicle where the horses have riders as opposed to being driven by a coachman from the box.

Contained within the coach is a 'Thousand Years of British History' with artefacts from The Mary Rose and the gun metal used for Victoria Crosses. More than 100 items have been incorporated into the final design.

On the roof of The Diamond Jubilee State Coach is a carved Imperial Crown (above) created from specially selected oak from Admiral Lord Nelson's ship HMS Victory. Another unique quality is that the crown was hollowed allowing for the installation of a small camera to film the crowds lining the route. Other modern conveniences such as electric windows, interior lighting and heating can all be controlled via an interior hand panel concealed in the teak armrests.

Around 'the gallery' or gold roof decoration at the top of the coach are the English Rose, the Scottish Thistle, the Irish Flax, and the Welsh Leek. These national emblems represent the four territories that comprise the United Kingdom.

The Diamond Jubilee State Coach can be viewed as part of any visit to Buckingham Palace.