Q 01/05

Buckingham Palace lies in which London borough?

A) Westminster

B) Kensington

C) Camden

D) Southwark

Answer · why

A) Westminster

Westminster Abbey once owned the land: a Norman baron gave the manor to its monks, and it stayed theirs for centuries until Henry VIII acquired it in ...

Q 02/05

Buckingham Palace takes its name from what?

A) A village that once stood there

B) The architect who first designed it

C) A duke who built a house there

D) The county that supplied its stone

Answer · why

C) A duke who built a house there

A duke who built a house there: John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, put up Buckingham House in the early 1700s, and his townhouse still forms the core...

Q 03/05

George III bought Buckingham House in the early 1760s as a private home for whom?

A) Queen Caroline

B) Queen Charlotte

C) Queen Anne

D) Queen Adelaide

Answer · why

B) Queen Charlotte

Queen Charlotte was the King's new bride, and the house gave the couple a private family home, away from the palace where the ceremony of court carrie...

Q 04/05

Who sold Buckingham House some 40 years after its builder died?

A) His widow

B) His son

C) His grandson

D) His creditors

Answer · why

B) His son

His son, Charles Sheffield, was illegitimate: he came into the house because the builder's legitimate heir died young.

Q 05/05

Under George III, Buckingham House became known by what name?

A) The Queen's House

B) The Queen's Lodge

C) St James's House

D) The King's Retreat

Answer · why

A) The Queen's House

The Queen's House became hers by law in 1775, when an Act of Parliament settled it on the queen in exchange for her rights to Somerset House.