Explore London
St James’s, the exclusive little enclave sandwiched between St James’s Park and Piccadilly, was laid out in the 1670s close to St James’s Palace. Regal and aristocratic residences overlook Green Park, gentlemen’s clubs cluster along Pall Mall and St James’s Street, while jacket-and-tie restaurants and expense-account gentlemen’s outfitters line Jermyn Street. Hardly surprising then that most Londoners rarely stray into this area. Plenty of folk, however, frequent St James’s Park, with large numbers heading for the Queen’s chief residence, Buckingham Palace, and the adjacent Queen’s Gallery and Royal Mews.
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Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
The graceless colossus of Buckingham Palace, popularly known as “Buck House”, has served as the monarch’s permanent London residence only since the accession of Victoria. Bought by George III in 1762, the building was overhauled in the late 1820s by Nash and again in 1913, producing a palace that’s as bland as it’s possible to be.
For two months of the year, the hallowed portals are grudgingly nudged open. The interior, however, is a bit of an anticlimax: of the palace’s 660 rooms you’re permitted to see twenty or so, and there’s little sign of life, as the Queen decamps to Scotland every summer. For the other ten months there’s little to do here – not that this deters the crowds who mill around the railings, and gather in some force to watch the Changing of the Guard, in which a detachment of the Queen’s Foot Guards marches to appropriate martial music from St James’s Palace (unless it rains, that is).
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More than just a cuppa: afternoon tea
More than just a cuppa: afternoon tea
The classic English afternoon tea – assorted sandwiches, scones and cream, cakes and tarts, and, of course, lashings of tea – is available all over London. The best venues are the capital’s top hotels and most fashionable department stores; a selection of the best is given here. To avoid disappointment it’s essential to book ahead. Expect to spend £20–40 a head, and bear in mind that most hotels will expect “smart casual attire”; only The Ritz insists on jacket and tie.
