King's Gallery

The King’s Gallery stands on the south side of Buckingham Palace in the City of Westminster. It occupies the site of the palace chapel destroyed in the Second World War and forms the most prominent wing of the building. The gallery opened to the public in 1962 under Elizabeth II and was enlarged in the early 21st century by architect John Simpson. Simpson added a Doric entrance portico and created new rooms that more than tripled the available space. The refurbished gallery reopened on 21 May 2002, timed for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Since then it has welcomed millions of visitors each year. The gallery is worth the journey because it houses rotating exhibitions drawn from the Royal Collection. During the summer of 2019 it displayed two hundred of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, all from the collection. The space now regularly shows around four hundred and fifty works, mostly paintings and drawings. These pieces are rotated so that visitors can see different highlights on each visit. The Royal Collection itself spans centuries of European art and includes works by Rembrandt, Rubens and Vermeer. Each exhibition is organised to highlight a particular theme or artist. Inside, visitors find a sequence of elegant rooms added by Simpson. The Doric portico leads into a classical entrance hall before opening into the main galleries. Natural light from tall windows illuminates the walls hung with framed works. The walls themselves are lined with deep red damask, creating a rich backdrop for the art. Outside, the gallery overlooks the palace gardens and the wider Buckingham Palace grounds. The setting combines royal grandeur with the calm of an art museum.