Queen Elizabeth Has a Secret Way To Get Rid of Guests At Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace in London is Queen Elizabeth II’s London residence and the official headquarters of the monarch. The famed palace has 828,000 square feet of living space and boasts 775 rooms. These include 19 staterooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 bedrooms for staffers, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms.
Over the years, the queen has held many functions and banquets there. But when she’s done entertaining her guests, she needs to find a way to get them to leave. So just how does she go about doing that? Read on to find out.
How Queen Elizabeth lets staffers know she is ready to see guests
The royal family matriarch doesn’t only throw dinner parties at the palace, she also conducts her business there. The queen usually meets with high-profile visitors in the 1844 Room. There she’s welcomed everyone from Barack and Michelle Obama to Angelina Jolie.
Some days she’s busier than others and has back-to-back appointments. When that happens she presses a buzzer to let her staffers know when they can usher in the next person to see her.
The queen uses this to move visitors out of the palace
A secret buzzer is also the monarch’s discreet way of getting her company to move along when an affair is over.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers told People Magazine that Queen Elizabeth has a hidden buzzer in her private audience room which alerts aides outside the room to come in and usher her guests away. He added that in keeping with royal protocol, the guest must then take their first three steps away from the queen walking backwards so they never turn their back on her.
Vickers explained that the queen has a discreet way of letting her staff know when she wants to get out of a conversation with one of her guests too. In those instances, she switches her purse from one hand to the other and that is the sign that she’s done with the conversation and needs a staff member to come over and escort her away.
Moreover, when she thinks a dinner party has gone on too long and wants that to end she’ll put her purse on the table as a signal that it needs to wrap up ASAP.
What else Buckingham Palace is equipped with
Queen Elizabeth’s home isn’t just equipped with secret buttons throughout. It has an underground tunnel system, which connects the palace to the Houses of Parliament as well as Clarence House where Prince Charles lives. Many once thought the notion of hidden tunnels beneath the palace was a tall tale until the Queen Mother revealed that she went down there exploring and came across a man who had been living in them for years.
Another thing Buckingham Palace has is its own zip code and so it has its own post office too. Therefore, the queen never needs to send aides out to pick up a package or have a letter mailed for her and staffers are welcome to use it as well.
The palace also has an ATM machine in case the queen needs some quick cash and a cinema so she can catch a flick.
Read more: Rodents and Asbestos Are a Few Reasons Some Royals Dislike Buckingham Palace
