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Though the British monarchy has been going strong since the Middle Ages, the Queen's official residence in the United Kingdom's capital is relatively new. Buckingham Palace wasn't even designed as a palace -- it was originally built in 1702 as the London home of the Duke of Buckingham and was simply called Buckingham House. In 1761, King George III bought the house for his wife, Queen Charlotte, as a family home near to court functions. The building was extensively remodeled and became known as the Queen's House. The next monarch, George IV, decided to double the size of the house and transform it into a palace.
Construction lasted through the 1820s, but George IV died before he could live in the palace he created. In 1837, Queen Victoria became the first sovereign monarch to reside in Buckingham Palace. Since then, all of Britain's monarchs have lived there. Expansion and renovation of the building continued throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century. During World War II, a German bomb gutted an area used as a private chapel, so Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, had it rebuilt as the Queen's Gallery in 1962, and it housed part of the royal art collection. The Queen's Gallery was recently expanded and modernized for the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and it can be toured by the public.
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