London summer openings.(Houses of Parliament and parts of Buckingham Palace)(Brief Article)

The traditional long summer vacation taken by official London means that the Houses of Parliament and parts of Buckingham Palace are open to the public on a very limited basis.

The Houses of Parliament make their home in the Palace of Westminster, as they have since the sixteenth century. The present building was designed by Sir Charles Barry. The House of Lords first sat in it in 1847 and the House of Commons in 1850. Edward the Confessor built the original palace, of which nothing remains, in the first half of the eleventh century. The son of William I, William Rufus (later William II), built Westminster Hall (1097-1099) as part of his palace, and this was the principal royal residence until 1512.

Visitors to the summer opening of the palace follow the same route as the monarch does during the state opening of Parliament. They enter the building at the Sovereign's Entrance, proceed to the Queen's Robing Room, the Royal Gallery, the Princes Chamber, and the House of Lords. Unlike the queen, visitors visit the various lobbies, the Commons Corridor, and the House of Commons. Saint Stephen's Hall and Westminster Hall are also on the itinerary.

Because the queen spends the summer out of London, some of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors. The palace was built as Buckingham House for John Sheffield, first duke of Buckingham and Normandy, about 1705. ...