Buckingham Palace：Britain’s Royal Culture in Mi...
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality.It has been a focus for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis.
白金汉宫是英国君主位于伦敦的主要寝宫及办公处。宫殿坐落在西敏市，是国家庆典和王室欢迎礼举行场地之一。历史上每逢英国欢庆或是危机时刻，这儿也是不列颠人民一处重要的集会场所。
●The historical origin and the changes of the times 历史渊源与时代变迁
Originally known as Buckingham House with the meaning of"other's home"，the building which forms the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as"The Queen's House".During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard.Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.However, the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in World War II；the Queen's Gallery was built on thesite and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.Buckingham Palace is now open to the public and the famous Janissary handover ceremony every morning is a large landscape of British royal family culture.
白金汉宫原名叫白金汉屋，意思是“他人的家”，于1705年白金汉公爵兴建的一处大型镇厅建筑构成了今天的主体建筑，150多年来一直是白金汉公爵的私人财产。之后，乔治三世于1761年占有了白金汉屋，被夏洛特皇后作为私人住所，因此也被人叫做“女王之家”。此后的19世纪进行了该宫殿的扩建工程，主要由建筑师约翰·纳西和爱德华·布罗尔主持，为中央庭院构筑了三侧建筑。1837年，维多利亚女王登基后，白金汉宫成为英王正式宫寝。19世纪末20世纪初，最后的主体建筑修建完毕。遗憾的是，第二次世界大战期间，宫殿礼拜堂遭一枚德国炸弹袭击而毁；在其址上建立的女王画廊于1962年向公众开放，展示皇家收藏品。现在的白金汉宫对外开放参观，每天上午都会进行著名的禁卫军交接典礼，成为英国王室文化的一大景观。
●Witness the Royal Love of"Loving Beauty instead of Power" 见证“不爱江山爱美人”的皇室爱情
In the Buckingham Palace, there ever happened a story of"loving beauty instead of power". The protagonists of the story are Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and later the Duke of Windsor；the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay.As a young man, he served in the British Armed Forces during the First World War and undertook several foreign tours on behalf of his father, George V.
Edward became king when his father died in early 1936. Only months into his reign, he caused a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to the American socialite Wallis Simpson, who had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second.The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominions opposed the marriage, arguing that the people would never accept a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands as queen.Additionally, such a marriage would have conflicted with Edward's status as head of the Church of England, which opposed the remarriage of divorced people if their former spouses were still alive.Edward knew that the government would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have dragged the king into a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral constitutional monarch.Choosing not to end his relationship with Simpson, Edward abdicated.He was succeeded by his younger brother Albert, who chose the regnal name George VI.With a reign of 326 days, Edward was one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British and Commonwealth history.After his abdication, he was given the title Duke of Windsor.He married Simpson in France on 3 June 1937，after her second divorce became final.
Today, the touching love story of the Duke of Windsor was widely spread. When many royal stories become a dead history, we can still remember there was a king who gave up everything for love.
在白金汉宫发生过“不爱江山爱美人”的故事，故事的主角是爱德华八世与沃利斯·辛普森。爱德华八世，英国国王，即后来的温莎公爵，自1936年1月20日到1936年12月11日，为英国和英联邦各自治领国王，以及印度皇帝。在继位前，爱德华是威尔士王子兼康沃尔罗塞斯公爵。第一次世界大战期间，年轻的他在英国武装部队服役，也代表父亲乔治五世游历了国外一些地方。
1936年，皇帝父亲驾崩，他便成为英国国王。在爱德华八世作为国王的数月之中，他的婚姻问题引发英国的宪政危机，人们都反对他迎娶美国社交名媛沃利斯·辛普森，这个女人已经与她的第一任丈夫离婚，并正在准备与第二任丈夫离婚。英国政府、自治领政府都反对他的这次婚姻，都说英国人民绝对不能接受一个有过两任前夫的离异女人来当他们的王后。而且，这次婚姻也与爱德华的英国教堂领袖的地位相冲突，因为英国宗教制度反对那些配偶还活着的人再婚。爱德华知道，假如他要结婚，就会引起政府辞职，把他拉进一次大选，将他从君主立宪政体下国王保持政治中立的位置上拉下来。因为他不想结束与辛普森夫人的关系，所以选择了主动退位。爱德华八世退位后，头衔由他的弟弟乔治六世继位。他在位仅326天，是英国和联邦历史上在位最短的国王。爱德华退位后，改称为温莎公爵，于1937年6月3日在法国与第二次也即最后一次离婚后的辛普森夫人喜结连理。
今天，温莎公爵的动人爱情故事已经广为传诵。在许多王室故事已变成一页枯萎的历史后，我们却还记得有位国王为爱情而放弃了一切。
●The Palace Structure and the Open Sights 皇宫结构与开放景点
The Buckingham Palace is a gray, four-layer cube building. The solemn front gate hanging the royal badge is the power center of the emperors.It is British famous tourist resort with some attractions open to the outside world.
白金汉宫皇宫是一座四层正方体灰色建筑物，悬挂着王室徽章的庄严正门，是英皇权力的中心地。它是英国著名的旅游胜地，有部分景点已对外开放。
The Principal Rooms, Throne Room and Music Room 宫内正房、御座室与音乐室
The Principal Rooms are on the west side of the palace, among which the biggest is"the Royal Ballroom"built in 1850，designed for Queen Victoria. In the hall is hanging a giant crystal chandelier.The blue room is regarded as the most elegant room in the palace, displayed a"command table"for Napoleon I.The white living room is colored white and gold, decorated with exquisite furnitures and luxurious carpets.
The Throne Room has crystal chandeliers hanged, surrounded on the top by the scene of"the Wars of the Roses"in the 15th century. The median throne was ever used by Elizabeth Ⅱand the Duke of Edinburgh in 1953.
The Music Room has a round roof, decorated ivory and gold, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert used to hold music parties here.
王宫西侧为宫内正房，其中最大的是“皇室舞厅”，建于1850年，专为维多利亚女王修建。厅内悬挂有巨型水晶吊灯。蓝色客厅被视为宫内最雅致的房间，摆有为拿破仑一世制作的“指挥桌”。白色客厅是用白、金两色装饰而成，室内有精致的家具和豪华的地毯。
御座室内挂有水晶吊灯，四周墙壁顶端绘有15世纪“玫瑰战争”的情景。正中的御座是女王伊丽莎白二世1953年加冕时和王夫爱丁堡公爵使用的。
音乐室的房顶呈圆形，用象牙和黄金装饰而成，维多利亚女王和王夫艾尔伯特亲王曾常在此举办音乐晚会。
The Square, the Garden and the Royal Stables 广场、花园与皇家马厩
There is a square outside the iron railing of the main building of the Buckingham Palace. In the center of the square stands the gold-plated Vitoria statue monument which is surrounded by four groups of stone carvings.There is the Queen Victoria Memorial Hall accomplished by Edward VII, in which the gold-plated Goddess of Victory stands on the tall marble table, twinkling.The golden angels above Queen Victoria represent that the Royal family hope to create another brilliant Victorian era.
The garden behind the Buckingham Palace covers an area of 18 hectares, designed by King George IV. There are lakes, grassland, trails, and a variety of flowers and trees in it.During the reign of Elizabeth Ⅱ，the garden parties were held each summer, and all sectors of the national representatives, celebrities and the diplomats from other countries to London were invited.
The Royal Stables is the department of land transports provided for the queen and other members of the royal family. It holds the main royal traffic tools, including carriages and motor carriages which were used mainly for coronations, state visits, royal weddings and State Openings of Parliament, etc.Since 1760，George Ⅲmoved his collection to the Buckingham Palace, the Royal Stables has become the royal main road transport.The queen of England will come by carriage to the Houses of Parliament to the state of the union address on each new year’s day.
白金汉宫主建筑物的铁栏杆外，有一个广场。广场中央竖立着维多利亚镀金雕像纪念碑，它的四周有四组石雕群。广场上有爱德华七世扩建完成的维多利业女王纪念堂，胜利女神金像站在高高的大理石台上，金光闪闪。维多利亚女王像上的金色天使，代表皇室希望能再创造维多利亚时代的光辉。
花园位于王宫后面，约占地18公顷，为英王乔治四世所设计。园内有湖泊、草地、小径，并有各种花草树木。伊丽莎白二世统治时期，每年夏天，都在园内举行花园招待会，邀请全国各界代表、知名人士及各国驻伦敦的外交官参加。
皇家马厩是王室为国王和其他王室成员提供陆路接送的部门，这里保管着王室的主要交通工具，包括马拉的四轮车和机动车，主要用于加冕礼、国事访问、王室婚礼、国会开幕大典等。自从1760年乔治三世将他的收集品搬移到白金汉宫后，皇家马厩就成了皇家的主要通道。每年新年，英国国王就会坐着马车来到国会大厦来做国情咨文。