Editing Buckingham Palace (section)

===Early 20th century (1901–1945)===
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| footer            = The east wing public façade, enclosing the courtyard, was built between 1847 and 1850; it was remodelled to its present form in 1913.
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| image1            = 1910_Buckingham_Palace.png
| image2            = Buckingham Palace from side, London, UK - Diliff.jpg
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In 1901, the new king, [[Edward VII]], began redecorating the palace. He and his wife, [[Queen Alexandra]], had always been at the forefront of London high society, and their friends, known as "the [[Marlborough House]] Set", were considered to be the most eminent and fashionable of the age. Buckingham Palace—the Ballroom, Grand Entrance, Marble Hall, Grand Staircase, vestibules and galleries were redecorated in the [[Belle Époque]] cream and gold colour scheme they retain today—once again became a setting for entertaining on a majestic scale but leaving some to feel Edward's heavy redecorations were at odds with Nash's original work.<ref>Robinson (Page 9) asserts that the decorations, including plaster swags and other decorative motifs, are "finicky" and "at odds with Nash's original detailing".</ref>

The last major building work took place during the reign of [[George V]] when, in 1913, [[Aston Webb]] redesigned Blore's 1850 East Front to resemble in part [[Giacomo Leoni]]'s [[Lyme Park]] in Cheshire. This new refaced principal façade (of [[Portland stone]]) was designed to be the backdrop to the [[Victoria Memorial, London|Victoria Memorial]], a large memorial statue of Queen Victoria created by sculptor [[Thomas Brock]], erected outside the main gates on a surround constructed by architect Aston Webb.<ref>Harris, p. 34.</ref> George V, who had succeeded Edward VII in 1910, had a more serious personality than his father; greater emphasis was now placed on official entertainment and royal duties than on lavish parties.<ref>Healey, p. 185.</ref> He arranged a series of [[Royal Command Performance|command performances]] featuring jazz musicians such as the [[Original Dixieland Jazz Band]] (1919; the first jazz performance for a head of state), [[Sidney Bechet]] and [[Louis Armstrong]] (1932), which earned the palace a nomination in 2009 for a (Kind of) Blue Plaque by the [[Brecon Jazz Festival]] as one of the venues making the greatest contribution to jazz music in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 August 2009 |title=Buckingham Palace hits right note with jazz fans |location=London |newspaper=[[Evening Standard]] |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23727267-buckingham-palace-hits-right-note-with-jazz-fans.do |url-status=dead |access-date=11 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100426000757/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23727267-buckingham-palace-hits-right-note-with-jazz-fans.do |archive-date=26 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Bates |date=3 August 2009 |title=By royal approval: Buckingham Palace's place in jazz history |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/03/buckingham-palace-jazz-plaque-brecon |url-status=live |access-date=11 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715015559/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/03/buckingham-palace-jazz-plaque-brecon |archive-date=15 July 2014}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]], which lasted from 1914 until 1918, the palace escaped unscathed. Its more valuable contents were evacuated to Windsor, but the royal family remained in residence. The King imposed [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|rationing]] at the palace, much to the dismay of his guests and household.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rose |first=Kenneth |title=King George V |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1983 |url=https://archive.org/details/kinggeorgev0000rose/page/178/mode/2up?q=rationing |isbn=978-0-2977-8245-2 |location=London |pages=176–177 |author-link=Kenneth Rose}}</ref> To the King's later regret, [[David Lloyd George]] persuaded him to go further and ostentatiously lock the wine cellars and refrain from alcohol, to set a good example to the supposedly inebriated working class. The workers continued to imbibe, and the King was left unhappy at his enforced abstinence.<ref>Rose, pp. 178–179.</ref>

George V's wife, [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]], was a connoisseur of the arts and took a keen interest in the [[Royal Collection]] of furniture and art, both restoring and adding to it. Queen Mary also had many new fixtures and fittings installed, such as the pair of marble [[Empire style]] chimneypieces by [[Benjamin Vulliamy]], dating from 1810, in the ground floor Bow Room, the huge low room at the centre of the garden façade. Queen Mary was also responsible for the decoration of the Blue Drawing Room.<ref>Healey pp. 221–222.</ref> This room, {{convert|69|ft|m|abbr=off}} long, previously known as the South Drawing Room, has a ceiling designed by Nash, coffered with huge gilt console brackets.<ref>Harris, p. 63.</ref> In 1938, the northwest pavilion, designed by Nash as a conservatory, was converted into a swimming pool.<ref>Allison and Riddell, p. 69.</ref>

====Second World War====
{{ external media<!-- Do not move to external links. Per template documentation: "This template is normally placed in the main body of the article, in the same place that you would normally have placed the image...if it had been available on Wikimedia Commons." -->| float=right| width=230px|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxbV8EcaSkk Buckingham Palace Bombed (1940)] – Newsreel of damage to the palace and chapel&nbsp;(1:08)}}
During the [[Second World War]], which broke out in 1939, the palace was [[The Blitz|bombed]] nine times.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter from Queen Elizabeth to Queen Mary describing the bombing of Buckingham Palace, 13 September 1940 |url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/letter-from-queen-elizabeth-to-queen-mary-describing-the-bombing-of-buckingham-palace-13 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410024430/https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/letter-from-queen-elizabeth-to-queen-mary-describing-the-bombing-of-buckingham-palace-13 |archive-date=10 April 2016 |access-date=31 March 2016 |website=Royal Collection Trust}}</ref> The most serious and publicised incident destroyed the palace chapel in 1940. One bomb fell in the palace quadrangle while [[George VI]] and [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] (the future Queen Mother) were in the palace, and many windows were blown in and the chapel destroyed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thornton |first=Michael |title=Royal Feud: The Dark Side of the Love Story of the Century |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1985 |url=https://archive.org/details/royalfeuddarksid00thor/page/216/mode/2up?q=chapel |page=216 |isbn=978-0-6716-0298-7}}</ref> <!-- Wartime coverage of such incidents was severely restricted, however. --> The King and Queen were filmed inspecting their bombed home, and the newsreel footage shown in cinemas throughout the United Kingdom to show the common suffering of rich and poor. As ''[[The Sunday Graphic]]'' reported:
{{blockquote|By the Editor: The King and Queen have endured the ordeal which has come to their subjects. For the second time a German bomber has tried to bring death and destruction to the home of Their Majesties&nbsp;... When this war is over the common danger which King George and Queen Elizabeth have shared with their people will be a cherished memory and an inspiration through the years.<ref>''[[The Sunday Graphic]]'', 18 September 1939, p. 1.</ref>}}
It was at this time the Queen famously declared: "I'm glad we have been bombed. Now I can look the [[East End]] in the face".<ref name="Luftwaffe">{{cite news |last=Davies, Caroline |date=12 September 2009 |title=How the Luftwaffe bombed the palace, in the Queen Mother's own words |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep/13/queen-mother-biography-shawcross-luftwaffe |url-status=live |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417091423/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep/13/queen-mother-biography-shawcross-luftwaffe |archive-date=17 April 2021}}</ref>

On 15 September 1940, known as [[Battle of Britain Day]], an RAF pilot, [[Ray Holmes]] of [[No. 504 Squadron RAF|No. 504 Squadron]], rammed a German [[Dornier Do 17]] bomber he believed was going to bomb the palace. Holmes had run out of ammunition to shoot down the bomber and made the quick decision to ram it. He bailed out and the bomber crashed into the forecourt of [[London Victoria station]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Price |first=Alfred |title=The Battle of Britain Day |publisher=Greenhill Books |location=London |date=19 February 2006 |pages=49–50 |isbn=978-1-8536-7419-8}}and {{cite book| author-link=Stephen Bungay |first=Stephen |last=Bungay |title=The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain |publisher=Aurum Press |location=London |date=18 August 2000 |page=325 |isbn=978-1-8541-0721-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/mostdangerousene0000step/page/324/mode/2up?q=%22victoria+station%22}}</ref> Its engine was later exhibited at the [[Imperial War Museum]] in London. Holmes became a [[King's Messenger]] after the war and died at the age of 90 in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |date=2 November 2005 |title=Pilot who 'saved Palace' honoured |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4398484.stm |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207152854/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4398484.stm |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> 

On [[VE Day]]—8 May 1945—the palace was the centre of British celebrations. The King, the Queen, [[Elizabeth II|Princess Elizabeth]] (the future queen) and [[Princess Margaret]] appeared on the balcony, with the palace's blacked-out windows behind them, to cheers from a vast crowd in The Mall.<ref>{{cite news |title=On This Day: 8 May: 1945: Rejoicing at end of war in Europe |date=8 May 1945 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/8/newsid_3580000/3580163.stm |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=BBC News}}</ref> The damaged palace was carefully restored after the war by John [[Mowlem]] & Co.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 August 2000 |title=Sir Edgar Beck |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1351908/Sir-Edgar-Beck.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 June 2012 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1351908/Sir-Edgar-Beck.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>