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60 free Buckingham Palace trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Buckingham Palace trivia quiz covers the London home of the British monarchy from a duke's townhouse to the palace behind the famous balcony. The easy questions are the ones any visitor should manage: which monarch first lived there, what ceremony happens in the forecourt, how many rooms it has, and which king now chooses to live next door instead. Then it gets more demanding: the mulberry garden James I planted for silk, the price George III paid in 1761, the queen who bore 14 children there, the architect sacked for overspending, the sale that paid for the East Front, the note pinned to the railings in 1864, the jazz band that played for George V, the RAF pilot who rammed a bomber to save the palace, the Queen Mother's East End remark, the room where state banquets are held, the Delhi Durbar canopy, the Belgian Suite, the Gold State Coach and the man who got into the Queen's bedroom in 1982. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entry on Buckingham Palace before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. If you enjoy this one, try our Big Ben, London and British royal family quizzes next.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Buckingham Palace lies in which London borough?
Westminster
The Tyburn river still flows beneath the courtyard and south wing.
Q 02The building at the core of today's palace was built in 1703 as a townhouse for which nobleman?
The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby
John Sheffield's Buckingham House was designed by William Winde as a three-floored block with two service wings.
Q 03Buckingham House was bought in 1761 as a private residence for whom?
Queen Charlotte
George III paid £21,000 to Charles Sheffield, the duke's illegitimate son.
Q 04How much did George III pay for Buckingham House in 1761?
£21,000
The leasehold on the old mulberry garden site was due to expire in 1774 anyway.
Q 05Under George III the property became known by what name?
The Queen's House
An Act of 1775 settled it on Queen Charlotte in exchange for her rights to Old Somerset House.
Q 06How many of the queen's 15 children were born at the house?
14
The name 'Buckingham Palace' was in use from at least 1791, though St James's remained the official residence.
Q 07Which architect did George IV hire in 1826 to turn Buckingham House into a palace, then sack in 1829?
John Nash
The façade reflected George IV's taste for French neoclassical architecture.
Q 08Which architect did William IV bring in to finish the palace after Nash's dismissal?
Edward Blore
William never moved in, preferring Clarence House, and even offered the palace as a new Houses of Parliament after the 1834 fire.
Q 09Who was the first monarch to live at Buckingham Palace, moving in on her accession in 1837?
Queen Victoria
The chimneys smoked, the ventilation stank and the staff were said to be lazy until Prince Albert reorganised the household in 1840.
Q 10William IV offered to convert Buckingham Palace into what after a fire in 1834?
A new Houses of Parliament
The offer was declined and Charles Barry's new Palace of Westminster was built instead.
Q 11The sale of which royal property in 1850 paid for the new East Front wing?
Brighton Pavilion
The Pavilion was also stripped of fittings, giving the East Wing rooms their oriental character.
Q 12Which builder constructed the East Front wing between 1847 and 1849 to Blore's design?
Thomas Cubitt
James Pennethorne, Nash's pupil, designed the ballroom wing in the same period.
Q 13Which composer is known to have played at the palace on three occasions during Victoria's reign?
Felix Mendelssohn
Johann Strauss II and his orchestra also performed there when in England.
Q 21After the palace was bombed, the Queen Mother said she could look which part of London 'in the face'?
The East End
Newsreels of the royal couple inspecting the damage were shown in cinemas across the country.
Q 22On Battle of Britain Day 1940, how did RAF pilot Ray Holmes stop a bomber heading for the palace?
Ramming it with his own aircraft
He had run out of ammunition; the Dornier crashed into the forecourt of Victoria station and Holmes bailed out.
Q 23What was built on the site of the bombed chapel and opened to the public in 1962?
The King's Gallery
Q 14What did a note pinned to the palace fence in 1864 offer, mocking the absent widowed Queen?
The premises to be let or sold
It cited 'the late occupant's declining business'; Victoria had retreated to Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne.
Q 15Which king redecorated the state rooms in the Belle Époque cream and gold scheme they still have?
Edward VII
His fashionable friends were known as the Marlborough House Set.
Q 16Which architect refaced the East Front in Portland stone in 1913, creating the façade we know today?
Aston Webb
It was designed as a backdrop to Thomas Brock's Victoria Memorial outside the gates.
Q 17Which American group played for George V in 1919, the first time its genre was performed for a head of state?
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong followed in 1932, earning the palace a nomination for a 'Kind of Blue' plaque.
Q 18Which prime minister persuaded the King to lock the palace wine cellars during the First World War?
David Lloyd George
The idea was to set an example to the working class; the workers kept drinking and the King regretted it.
Q 19In 1938 the north-west pavilion, designed by Nash as a conservatory, was converted into what?
A swimming pool
The palace also has a cinema, doctor's surgery, jeweller's workshop and post office.
Q 20How many times was the palace bombed during the Second World War?
Nine
The chapel was destroyed in 1940; the King's Gallery now stands on its site.
It shows a changing selection from the Royal Collection; 174,000 people visited it in the year to March 2025.
Q 24The state rooms have been open to the public in summer since which year?
1993
Ticket money originally paid to rebuild Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire; it now funds Royal Collection conservation.
Q 25How many rooms does Buckingham Palace have?
775
That includes 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, 52 principal bedrooms and 19 state rooms.
Q 26How many bathrooms are among the palace's rooms?
78
There are 19 state rooms and 92 offices.
Q 27Which is the largest room in the palace, built in 1854 and used for state banquets?
The Ballroom
It is 120 feet long and its throne dais sits under a canopy used at the 1911 Delhi Durbar.
Q 28Up to how many guests dine at a state banquet using the 1811 silver-gilt Grand Service?
170
Dress is white tie and decorations, tiaras included.
Q 29Investitures, including knighthoods conferred by dubbing with a sword, usually take place where?
The Throne Room
A military band plays in the musicians' gallery as recipients receive their honours.
Q 30Which top-lit, 55-yard-long space links the state rooms and hangs works by Rembrandt, Rubens and Vermeer?
The Picture Gallery
The Guard Room at the top of the Grand Staircase holds marble statues of Victoria and Albert in Roman costume.