Queen Camilla holds her own surprising link to Buckingham Palace that goes back further than her marriage to King Charles. The London-based palace, which is currently undergoing essential maintenance work until 2027, boasts 775 rooms, including 19 State rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
The royal’s great-great-great grandfather, architect Thomas Cubitt, is celebrated for designing the East Front and balcony of Buckingham Palace – as well as Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and various areas in Belgravia, Bloomsbury and Pimlico. The significant alteration occurred after Queen Victoria‘s wedding in 1840.
He also built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the Thames Embankment.
Thomas Cubitt, who was a Norfolk-born master-builder whose legacy forged an initial Royal link to Buckingham Palace over a century before the Queen would come to call it home, is a direct relative to Her Majesty through his son George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe.
His rise to prominence began after catching the eye of nobility such as the Duke of Bedford and the Marquess of Westminster for his exceptional work in London.
The current renovations on Buckingham Palace began back in 2017, and are expected to be finished next year.
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After Cubitt’s death in 1855, Queen Victoria said: “In his sphere of life, with the immense business he had in hand, he is a real national loss.
“A better, kind-hearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed.”
Queen Victoria was the first sovereign to rule from Buckingham Palace in 1837, according to the Royal Collection Trust. Over 20 years, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert transformed the Palace into the centre of an energetic, cosmopolitan court.