What Is The Bow Room In Buckingham Palace?
After the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022, her body remained at Balmoral Castle for two days before starting the long trip back to London. After a one-night stop at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, her body was moved to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, September 13th, where it will remain until her planned funeral on September 19th (per New York Post).
Her Majesty's coffin will spend the last few days before the funeral in Buckingham Palace's Bow Room where, behind closed doors, King Charles III and the Queen Consort will have a chance to pay their respects in privacy. Other members of the royal family will also be able to say their goodbyes on that day.
On Wednesday, her body will be moved to Westminster Halls, where doors will open to the general public -– 24 hours a day until the morning of the funeral, visitors will have a chance to pay tribute to the queen and see the beautiful room that very rarely allows visitors (via Hello Magazine).
We've gotten peeks to the Palace's Bow Room over the years because of ceremonies and special events, including the example in the 2015 photo included below, where the queen attended a viewing of the Gurkha Truncheon, the ceremonial staff carried by the Royal Gurkha Rifles regiment. The room was also used for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in May 2022, according to Hello Magazine. It was also from this room that the queen broadcasted her first Christmas message in color in 1967, the Daily Mail reports.
Why is the Bow Room important?
Located in the palace's west wing, the Bow Room is commonly used for state visits and is one of the most stunning spaces in Buckingham's Palace. With a large window facing the garden, red carpets, and white and gold décor all around, it's certainly a space fit for a queen's final goodbye. The room is filled with plenty of antiques too –- everything from ornamental mirrors to 19th-century wood armchairs to George IV's candelabra (per Hello Magazine).
Glass cabinets display King George III's porcelain dinner set, and historical portraits of royal family members adorn the walls (via Royal Central). Over the decades, the queen herself oversaw the decoration of the Bow Room, adding royal memorabilia and using the space as a waiting room for visitors who had been granted an audience with the monarch, as reported via MSN.
Queen Elizabeth II loved this room and over the years welcomed many visiting heads of state and famous personalities right here. The room that once hosted Eleanor Roosevelt during a visit in 1942 hasn't changed much over the decades and still featured the same décor when former U.S, president George Bush and even Premier League soccer players attended meetings there much more recently (via BBC).
The beautiful setting of the room, which opens directly to the palace's gardens, will give King Charles III and his family a chance to mourn in private, away from the busy preparations going on for the queen's funeral.