A Right Royal Attraction (The Queen's Gallery (London))

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	The Queen's Gallery (London)
Date:	07/08/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating exhibition, very attentive staff

Disadvantages: No cafe, shop is expensive

After two and a half years of living in London, I finally got round to visiting an exhibition at the Queens Gallery. I've wanted to go for ages, and fancied the one at Holyroodhouse as well, but whenever I was there with my mum we didn't fancy the exhibition that was on, and every time she's visited me in London we didn't fancy the one here.

The Queens Gallery is located at Buckingham Palace, or as I mention there is also one in Edinburgh. It runs several exhibitions through the year, often showcasing items from the Royal Collection. In 2007 they also had exhibitions celebrating the Queen and Prince Philipp's wedding anniversary. Entry to the Gallery is £8.50 for adults. As my dad chose not to visit, and I got in free as I was pushing my mum's wheelchair, so it only cost us £8.50.

It's not very cool these days, but I like the royal family. I love the history, the splendour and having met the Queen (not that I'm showing off or anything...) I think she's lovely. She reminded me of my gran and was so nice to everyone she spoke to. I even worked for her once, as a waitress at her Golden Jubilee garden party at Balmoral. I love the jewels and treasures of royalty, and have a great interest in European royalty of the 19th-20th centuries.

At the time of our visit, early in July this year, the Queen's Gallery was showing two exhibitions - Treasures of the Royal Collection and French Porcelain for English Palaces: Sèvres from the Royal Collection. We were particularly keen on the Treasures exhibition, which promised a wide variety of objects including paintings, furniture, armour, porcelain and sculpture, but most exciting, jewels and work by Fabergé. My mum once saw a whole exhibition of Fabergé at the Gallery in Edinburgh, but I haven't seen any, and anyway, you can never have too much Fabergé, so we were very excited! We were interested in the Sèvres exhibition too, but we wouldn't have gone just for that. The entrance prices covered both exhibitions.

We paid our entry and went to the entrance. There are metal detectors and you have to empty your pockets. The Gallery is attached to the Palace, and the staff are employees of the Royal Family, so security is understandably tight. Once we were through we were pointed towards the lift. Before we went upstairs to the exhibitions (located on the first floor) we visited the toilets, which as you would expect were very clean and well maintained.

On reaching the exhibition floor we were offered an audio guide, but as my mum is a walking (or wheeling on certain days) guide to the history of the British Monarchy, we declined. There were useful information signs next to each item telling us when they dated from, who had acquired them into the Collection, and a little bit of information about the item itself. All the walls were lined with paintings, and there was a lot of furniture, porcelain and sculpture to see in the larger rooms. The jewels, miniatures and Fabergé were in smaller, darkened rooms to the side, with some excellent lighting in the display cases. Obviously, the sparkly things were the most popular, and it was very difficult to take the wheelchair into these very small rooms, so we parked it outside and my mum walked in - this was not a problem for her, but for those who are wheelchair bound it would require more understanding and accommodating from other visitors.

I won't go into too much detail on the items we saw, because obviously the exhibitions change so this is not strictly a review of the exhibitions. However, I would like to mention my highlights. There was a large selection of Fabergé on display, including one of the famous Easter Eggs purchased by Tsar Nicolas II for his wife Alexandra - I am very interested in the history of the Tsars, so to see this was special. Also on display were two of the famous Cullinan diamonds, Cullinan II and Cullinan IV. You can look these up online, they really are quite spectacular. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Sèvres collection. It is very recognisable, but it is very pretty with beautiful colours. There was some interesting information on each collection, and on how long it takes to make.

I think we spent around an hour and a half looking at everything in the two exhibitions. The website says to allow an hour to an hour and a half, but I will say that we didn't read every single information board, so if you are particularly keen on everything in an exhibition, you can probably expect to take longer.

Once we exited the exhibition, we went for a look round the shop. Having visited Holyroodhouse a few times, I knew what to expect from the shop and I wasn't disappointed. Prices are steep but there are a lot of lovely items. You can get the usual souvenirs, keyrings and t-shirts, but they all appear to be very good quality. There are also toiletries, china and jewellery, all inspired by the Palaces or the Royal Collection. Every time I visit one of these shops I want to buy some china, they have some lovely ranges which aren't all obviously covered in the Coat of Arms, but I can't justify the cost (upwards of £30 for a cup and saucer). I did once find myself a bargain in the Edinburgh shop however - having visited the Royal Yacht Britannia the day before I was delighted to find a book on the yachts design and life for only £5. And it was an excellent read too.

One drawback to note - there is no cafe. During the summer when the Palace has its State Opening (end July to end September), there is a refreshments tent available, but it does not sound like this sells much, just snacks and drinks. As we visited prior to the State Opening this year, I can't even tell you if this tent is accessible to those only visiting the Gallery. So my advice would be, take into account the fact there is no cafe!

The staff at the Gallery were lovely, they were discreet but incredibly friendly and helpful. They treated all the visitors with courtesy and respect, and treated my mum in her wheelchair like royalty.

Obviously, the decision to visit the Gallery may rest on the exhibition(s) which are on at the given time, but in general I would strongly recommend a visit. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there, and will definitely be keeping an eye on future exhibitions.

Summary: A really interesting afternoon