Buckingham Palace secrets exposed - from stinking sewage to rat troubles
ok.co.ukFrom party-loving princes to heartbroken heirs, Alexander Armstrong is digging up the royal drama behind the king’s abode in Channel 5’s Buckingham Palace With Alexander Armstrong.
Although, not everything he’s discovered is as glamorous as seen in The Crown. “The palaces didn’t have any flushing loos until the Victorian era,” he reveals. “The kings and queens had a ‘chamber’ but there was no provision for guests – all thousands and thousands of them! “It meant guests would make a point of not eating or drinking for hours before going!
In fact, the sanitation issue was one that clung to the palace like a, well, a bad smell. Most of the waste was just slung into a cesspit in the cellars and, consequently, the palace, for all its gilded glory, absolutely stank.” The Pointless host is joined by Strictly star JJ Chalmers and archaeologist Raksha Dave throughout this series, detailing how the landmark palace has been transformed since it was first occupied by King George III. “It’s the social history of Buckingham Palace, but told through the actual structure itself,” JJ says. “So taking you through its journey from being Buckingham House to the Buckingham Palace we know today.” Since becoming a royal residence in 1761, Buckingham Palace has seen numerous renovations, with the original house being “subsumed into the mega- scale building” that’s fit for a king. “I imagine it’s what it must be like if an old friend goes off to become a bodybuilder,” Alexander says.
However, despite its grandeur, the historic building has faced a number of challenges over the centuries – including terrible rat troubles. “At the time of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s wedding, the palace itself and its staff were in an appalling state,”.
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