This year, Buckingham Palace is opening their doors again for a special summer exhibition to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria.  We were able to visit before the doors officially opened and really enjoyed the story of Queen Victoria, her family and Buckingham Palace.  I asked my daughter, Charlotte Dixon, to write this review:

To enter you have to go through airport security but it wasn’t that bad and I recommend getting the multi-media guide (created by ATS). I set mine to family-friendly as it has more options than that of the adult version.

No pictures are allowed except in certain areas but they will let you know (and you can buy postcards and books from the shop after).

The exhibition is set in a couple of rooms one being the Ballroom (which was completed in 1858). Overall the layout of the exhibitions was good as although setup for a timeline you can go from one area to the other if it’s crowded.

Some items that I was intrigued by were:

Casket of Queen Victoria’s children’s teeth from 1860. I don’t know why I liked it but it was unique and I’ve never heard of one before. Queen Victoria had 9 children, 8 that were born at Buckingham Palace. She wasn’t thrilled with pregnancy but did love being a mother.

Queen Victoria used journals and sketchbooks to record her children’s life. This is an example by the Queen of ‘Studies of Victoria, Princess Royal’ from 1843

Seeing her clothing was especially interesting as it made me recognise her height (or lack of!). The top picture is Queen Victoria’s costume for the Stuart Ball in 1851 and the second picture was featured on ATS audio guide as a ‘Find me’ game option.

In the second exhibition room, the original scheme of the Ballroom was recreated via digital projection in this exhibition

Within this room,there was a replica setup of a typical banquet under the reign of Queen Victoria. The cakes pictured below were actually real made from a recipe found in the archives (although the curator did mention you would be ill if you ate it as there is a special coating in order to preserve them).

In the middle of the table was this grand fountain feature that was actually not always used as it runs for 40 minutes and was quite loud:

When you exit Buckingham Palace (and return your multimedia guide) you can enjoy coffee and cake at the cafe or take the kids to the family room that is full of activities.

Before exiting the estate, there is a lovely shop where you can get a stuffed corgi or Andy Warhol teatowels along with other items. The walk to the exit is quite long but picturesque.

Queen Victoria’s exhibition is on from 20 July – 29 September 2019. Ticket cost and more information can be found on their website.