Buckingham palace

[CHRISinUSA]

Your question is a bit difficult given that the rooms you are asking about are used for many many purposes.  They are collectively part of the State Apartments, so in general they are all used for large-scale formal entertaining and functions.

The Green Drawing Room happens to the be the first one entered at the top of the Grand Staircase, so it is generally used as a anteroom or waiting room where guests gather before being presented to the Queen in another room. 

The White and Blue Drawing Rooms (and the Music Room in between them) are the principal State reception rooms on the garden side of the palace, so they are used collectively on formal occasions.  Since the White Room is closest to the private apartments, it is where the Royal Family and their guests of honor often gather before receiving other guests.  The royal party then steps next door into the Music Room, and guests pass from the Green Room across the Picture Gallery and into the Music Room to be presented formally.  Having been presented, guests then step into the adjacent Blue Room for drinks before dinner.  Note:  This isn't always how such events take place but often.

The Yellow Drawing Room is at the opposite end of the palace, at the south end of the east range.  It is part of the guest apartments and is often used as a sitting room by guests staying at the palace.  It is also probably used for a variety of other functions.

[joye]

I found this photo, and wondered, where in Buckingham Palace, it was taken?

[aleksandr pavlovich]

I found this photo, and wondered, where in Buckingham Palace, it was taken?

Not that it would change the posited location, but note that the photo is REVERSED, as the Duke's medals, the two breast stars, placement of the sword, etc., are depicted here on the wrong side.  Regards,   AP.

[brnbg aka: liljones1968]

I found this photo, and wondered, where in Buckingham Palace, it was taken?

if i'm not mistaken, that's the staircase in the Queen's private Entrance to the palace.
i figured a visual aid might help :-)

[CHRISinUSA]

I think you're right - good eye.  I have only seen one other photo of that mini staircase before, published in the papers when President and Mrs. Obama were arriving for their first visit to the palace and entered the building from the north side (an unusual entrance point for official guests). 

[joye]

Thankyou so much. I could not work out where this photo was taken.

[toddy]

I found this photo, and wondered, where in Buckingham Palace, it was taken?

I think it is at the kings staircase  because you can see the part of the stairs that goes up to the second floor??

[CHRISinUSA]

Except that the King's Staircase continues upward to the right, not the left.  Look at the floorplan aleksandr pavlovich posted earlier. 

Oh wait - he also said the photo may have been somehow reversed due to the appearance of the Duke's medals.  Perhaps you are right - perhaps this is the King's Staircase entry instead of the Sovereign's entry hall.

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Except that the King's Staircase continues upward to the right, not the left.  Look at the floorplan aleksandr pavlovich posted earlier. 

Oh wait - he also said the photo may have been somehow reversed due to the appearance of the Duke's medals.  Perhaps you are right - perhaps this is the King's Staircase entry instead of the Sovereign's entry hall.

  Unfortunately I cannot claim credit for the floorplan posted; that was through the kindness of "brnbg aka: liljones 1968."   I did comment that the photo of the Queen and the DoE was definitely reversed as shown.  Regards,  AP.

[joye]

So, is the Queen's stairs or the King's stairs please?

[brnbg aka: liljones1968]

So, is the Queen's stairs or the King's stairs please?

i believe i was mistaken and the others are correct.... i think it is, indeed, the king's stairs and not the stairs of the private entrance.

[joye]

Thankyou, The Kings Stair it is.
And where are they positioned please?

[CHRISinUSA]

That lobby / those stairs are entered from the right side of the quadrangle.  If you look at the floorplan, look to the middle of the north / private wing from the quadrangle (to the right of the plan) and you'll see that entrance and staircase.  This is the entrance and stairs used by the prime minister when arriving for an audience with the Queen.

[Maria the Beautiful]

Can someone who is familiar with Buckingham Palace please tell me - are there any private gardens around BP where the Queen can walk in solitude?  When I view the grounds around BP on Google Earth, it appears as though all the surrounding grounds are open to the public.  The only somewhat private area seems to be the courtyard in the center of the palace which you could hardly call a garden.   Where, for instance, does she walk her corgis while at BP?  Could it be that some of the surrounding gardens are only open to the public on certain days?   I made the assumption that all the surrounding gardens were open to the public because of all the private pictures that have been posted on Google Earth.   Can someone enlighten me.  I'm beginning to feel sorry for the poor Queen living in such a fishbowl.

[CHRISinUSA]

I wonder if when looking at the area from above (Google), you may be incorrectly thinking that the various vast green areas of Green Park, Hyde Park, etc. are part of the palace's grounds?  Those are not actually.  Buckingham Palace gardens are those immediately behind (north and west side of) the palace, and are not open to the public; they are totally walled in and private.  Well, private when one considers the hundreds of staff and visitors wandering about every day.

The vast lawn and lake beyond on the west side is probably the least private parts, as someone walking there would be visible from a variety of areas of the palace.  But the gardens to the north side (visible out the windows of the Queen and Duke's private apartments in that wing) are probably considered the "private gardens" for the royals.  Looking closely on Google maps, I've noticed winding paths through the trees on that side, what appears to be a tennis court and maybe even a summer or tea house.  That's where I suspect HM and HRH wander when they wish to have privacy outdoors when in residence at BP.