London Recap: Buckingham Palace + Changing the Guard Ceremony

On our third day in London, we wanted to see the Changing the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace! Our friend Steve’s grandfather had given us some good advice about arrival time and where to stand, which really helped!

We left our Airbnb at 9 am (a later morning for us, woo hoo! 😉 ) and got to the Buckingham Palace area at 10 am.

^^ the park you see when you face away from Buckingham ^^

Signe and I got breakfast (which felt a lot more like dessert, haha!) from a nearby food stand, and then we joined Bjorn and Steve for a long wait at the front of the palace.

^^ waffles with Nutella and marshmallow! ^^

The Changing the Guard Ceremony is daily (with a few exceptions) at 11:30 am from April through July. It really paid off to get there early and entertain ourselves with food and selfies. 😉 So many people arrived later than we did and ended up getting pushed way to the back of the crowd. I can’t tell you how many selfie sticks we saw!!! 🙂

Our special spot was on the curb that faces the yard (the turn-around drive) away from the palace, but very close to the palace’s front gate.

The ceremony lasted about 45 minutes and started when we saw one band enter the yard, followed by a regiment marching in. Another band then played from within the gates of Buckingham Palace, and then that band and that regiment marched out. What surprised us was the bands playing a pop music medley (with songs by people like the Beatles and Billy Joel and Lion King?!).

It was a neat display of British formality and tradition – plus a bit of fun! 🙂