Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace, known before 1826 as Buckingham House, is the London residence and principal workplace of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the center of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focus for the British people at times of national rejoicing.

History

Origin and renovation

The palace was originally a private residence for the Duke of Buckingham John Sheffield. In 1761, the residence was purchased by King George III for his wife Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. After his death in 1820, his son George IV aimed to convert the house into a palace. In 1826, George IV hired the Welsh architect John Nash, who doubled the house's size by adding several rooms, rebuilding the north and south wings, and adding a marble arch in the courtyard. When the redesign went £500,000 over budget, George IV fired John in 1829 before dying the following year.

The remaining project was then taken over by George IV's brother and successor William IV, who completed the palace in 1830, months after George IV's death. Despite its completion, William did not live in the palace, with Queen Victoria instead becoming the first monarch to live inside it.

Victorian era

Evie and Jacob Frye at the palace

In late 1868, Queen Victoria hosted a state ball in Buckingham Palace's gardens; it was during this ball that the British Templars' Grand Master Crawford Starrick planned to recover a Shroud of Eden from a vault beneath the Palace in order to assassinate all the heads of state and church present and "begin anew". However, the twin British Assassins Evie and Jacob Frye foiled his plan, having infiltrated the party in order to assassinate Starrick. Despite a lengthy fight with Starrick, who had earned augmented healing powers from the Shroud, both twins killed him and returned the artifact to its resting place. The vault lay undisturbed for almost 150 years afterward.

The near-assassination of Queen Victoria was not the only incident to occur at Buckingham Palace in 1868. Within the course of the same year, the palace was also the target of a plot masterminded by the criminal Henry Raymond, who posed as a murdered guard in order to observe the Queen open her safe, from which he stole the Scepter of the Dove. To cover his escape, Raymond left behind clues to mislead Evie and Jacob, making it seem like he planned to bomb the palace, but the Assassins eventually discovered the truth and killed Raymond on the palace's roof.

Later, another assassination attempt occurred at the palace, where Templars from the British Indian Company targeted Maharaja Duleep Singh while he and other guests attended a party in the gardens. Fortunately, Evie and Jacob were again present to foil the plot, killing the would-be assassin and discovering his affiliations thanks to a Templar ring found in his pocket.

Modern times

In 2015, the Assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane travelled to the vault under Buckingham Palace to recover the Shroud of Eden, having learned its location. However, the Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg, the Sigma Team operative Violet da Costa, and the Inner Sanctum member Isabelle Ardant discovered and overwhelmed the pair. The Assassin Galina Voronina rescued them by attacking the Templars under cover of a smoke bomb, creating an opening that allowed an injured Rebbeca and Shaun to escape. In the ensuing skirmish, Violet escaped with the Shroud while Isabelle was killed.

Interior

The White Drawing Room

The palace contains 775 rooms, including 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, 52 principal bedrooms, and 19 state rooms. It also has a post office, cinema, swimming pool, doctor's surgery, and jeweler's workshop. Another room is known as the "White Drawing Room". It was designed by John Nash and it has been used as a reception area for guests of the royal family from its completion onwards. In modern times, it is used as a backdrop for the royal family portraits.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (first appearance)
  • The Dreadful Crimes
  • The Last Maharaja
• Assassin's Creed: Underworld
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)

References

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An image gallery is available for Buckingham Palace