I went inside with Emily, Victoria, and Lindsay. We went into the Queen's Gallery first. It was full of Leonardo Da Vinci's work. It focused on Da Vinci's studies of the human body. He worked for years studying the body and had so many drawings of what he thought the inside of the body looked like and how it worked. He was surprisingly accurate with many theories. The most interesting displays were his drawings (like what a fetus might have looked like in the womb) next to the anatomically correct diagram of what it actually looks like. He studied everything from the reproductive system to blood flow to behavior and emotion. I had no idea he studied the body so this was a very informative exhibit.
The next thing we visited were the Royal Mews. I knew that these were horse stables so I thought the only thing we were going to see was horses. I was so excited I was wrong. They had the Queen's stage coaches on display! Each one had it's own little garage and we could get so close to them. They had the carriage that is used for Royal Weddings and that Diana had ridden in. My favorite coach was the Coronation Coach, though. Saying it was beautiful is an understatement. It was covered in gold from top to bottom and had Roman statues on it. It was so tall and absolutely gorgeous from every angle. This coach had it's very own room and it had statue horses attached to it and statue men riding the horses so we could see what it would look like if it were being used.
The next thing we went to see were the State Rooms. There were 19 of them and we spent the majority of our time going through these. They consisted of a Ballroom, Drawing rooms (like living rooms), a dining room, and rooms simply for entertaining. This is where presidents or kings of other nations would come and where the Queen would entertain them. Every single one of these rooms was breathtaking. I can't even describe how beautiful they were. I'm so disappointed they wouldn't allow photography in these rooms but it's probably a good thing they didn't because I would've spent an hour in each one just taking pictures. However, I did spend at least 10-15 minutes in each room because there was so much to look at. They were decorated just as they always are in use. Everything from the furniture to the lamps to the fireplaces to the hallways to every inch of the ceilings were covered in gold and lavish with detail. I have never seen anything so gorgeous in my whole entire life. We've seen some very pretty palaces and sights here in London but none of those can even compare to these State Rooms. I didn't realize that most of the decoration of the palace was because of King George IV and Queen Victoria. King George IV was responsible for most of the lavish architecture and decorations but some of the palace was unfinished when he died so Victoria continued the work.
While we were there, we also saw the crown jewels. I thought it was interesting how many of the crown jewels were made for past princesses and queens and especially Queen Victoria but hardly anything was made particularly for Queen Elizabeth II. All of the pieces were passed down to her, of course. I love how they included pictures of Queen Elizabeth II wearing each piece throughout her rein.
This tour was worth every penny and I feel so lucky to have been able to do it.
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