London isn’t short on galleries – even Hyde Park has a couple tucked away on the grounds – but not many can match the locale and splendour of The Queen’s Gallery.
When it comes to a magnificent setting and feeling like you’re really somewhere special, The Queen’s Gallery is probably the most breath-taking art repository the capital has to offer. But it’s not just the surroundings that excel here; the gallery has a vast collection of art and treasures to source from and exhibitions are always a fascinating delve into the royal vaults. And, perhaps best of all, it’s only a short journey from Montcalm London City.
Why it’s Special
For starters, how many art galleries do you know of that are part of a functioning royal palace? We ask because The Queen’s Gallery is on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, and that’s pretty special if you ask us. Getting there from our hotels in London is a cinch, and you won’t have to travel far for a unique experience.
The gallery more than lives up to its royal surroundings, feeling more like the private royal treasure trove than a standard gallery, and that’s a big part of the appeal. Everything in the gallery, from the parquet floors to the intricate ceilings to the marbled surfaces feels like a royal hangout. It’s simply beyond what other galleries can offer in terms of exquisite surroundings.
Pacing around the lush exhibition space, it’s hard to imagine that the place was a ruin as recently as the 1960s. It was the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh who spearheaded the renovation of the run-down chapel, turning it into a wonderful gallery that ranks as one of the best in all of London. And that’s pretty special, too.
Why You Need to Visit
If the above wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, then there’s one compelling reason to make the trip to The Queen’s Gallery from Montcalm London City – ‘Splendours of the Subcontinent’. That’s the name of the current exhibition running at the gallery, and it brings together a huge array of art, sculpture, jewellery shining with diamonds and ceremonial weaponry.
Splendours of the Subcontinent covers a 400-year period of south Indian history, with many pieces pulled from the royal archives and others supplied by additional museums.
The pieces on display show a culture alive with vibrant artistic expression, with the intricate artistry and stunning detail permeating everything on show. The exhibition is a celebration of a culture and people that saw beauty in everything and made sure to reflect that in the art they created. It’s hard to comprehend the level of skill and craft required to produce many of the pieces on display, but there they sit.
The Splendours of the Subcontinent exhibition really is a treasure trove of stunning, gorgeous work and there’s really no better place for it than in the similarly lavish surroundings of The Queen’s Gallery.
