Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the Queen, and one of several royal palaces in London.

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837 and is today the administrative headquarters of the Monarch. The Palace has 775 rooms. These includes 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. The total floorspace is 77,000 square meters (828,818 sq ft). More than 50,000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties.

At the rear of the Palace, is a large and park-like garden  which, together with its lake, is the largest private garden in London (the Royal Garden). Here the Queen hosts her annual garden parties each summer, and also holds large functions to celebrate royal milestones, such as jubilees.

Visitors can tour the inside of the Palace during the summer months. For visitor information, please visit the Royal Collection website.

Every year, millions of visitors come to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony, which takes place outside the Palace at 11:30 daily from May to July and on alternate dates throughout the rest of the year. Changing the Guard or Guard Mounting is the process involving a new guard exchanging duty with the old guard. The Guard which mounts at Buckingham Palace is called The Queen's Guard and is divided into two detachments: the Buckingham Palace Detachment (which is responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace), and the St. James's Palace Detachment (which guards St. James's Palace).

The Queen's Guard usually consists of Foot Guards in their full-dress uniform of red tunics and bearskins. When The Queen is in residence, there are four sentries at the front of the building. When she is away there are two.