The State Rooms Buckingham Palace & Edwardians: Age of Elegance Exhibition

Course Code: TSRBP10C24

Start Date: 10/07/2025

Thursday

Session: All Day

Delivery method: Off Site (see description for further details)

Length in weeks: 1

Time: 9am

Price: £

The Trip Will Include

• Transport to and from Buckingham Palace
• Entrance to The State Rooms and Exhibition
• Access to the Garden

The Details 

Explore the opulence and glamour of the Edwardian age through the lives and tastes of two of Britain’s most fashionable royal couples – King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George V and Queen Mary – from their family lives and personal collecting to their glittering social circles and spectacular royal events. 

More than 300 objects from the Royal Collection will be on display – almost half for the first time – including works by the most renowned contemporary artists of the period, including Carl Fabergé, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Rosa Bonheur, John Singer Sargent and William Morris. 

The exhibition covers the period from Edward and Alexandra’s wedding in 1863 up to the end of the First World War. 

The magnificent State Rooms in Buckingham Palace are used by The King for ceremonial occasions and official entertaining. Each room is furnished with many of the treasures from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens; sculpture by Canova; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world.   

The State Rooms visit will finish with a walk through the garden, with splendid views of the Palace and the famous lake.  Here we will be able to enjoy our lunch, whether brought from home or from the Garden Café. Our walk from the State Rooms to the Kings Gallery will take about 20 mins. However, there will be an ice cream parlour enroute, so may take longer! 

The Itinerary 

• Leave Bedford at approximately 9am  

• Return to Bedford by approximately 7pm 

• Arrival at Buckingham Palace at 11 30am – entrance to the State Rooms 

• Time for lunch – 1 30pm to 2 30pm  

• Entrance to the King’s Gallery exhibition –3pm and 3 15pm.    

• Depart Buckingham Palace 4 30pm 

 Additional Information 

Due to continuing issues with external parking providers, there may only be one pick-up from the REC. We are continuing to investigate other options. The nearest car park to the REC is St Peters Street Car Park at the top of Rothsay Gardens on Goldington Road MK40 3NG.  The cost here is £6.80 for over 4 hours.  Our coach company think it shouldn’t be a problem to drop off there after a trip, before going on to the REC.  This will all be confirmed in an email nearer to the day along with final timings and trip details. 

Members will get priority booking for themselves and one guest until midday Wednesday 14th May 2025, after which the trip will be open to non-members with a closing date of midday Wednesday 4th June 2025.  This trip will be extremely popular, so book today to avoid disappointment! 

 Due to the conditions of trip bookings, tickets are non-cancellable. Therefore, we cannot guarantee a refund but will endeavour to resell tickets and if successful, we will provide a reimbursement. In the event of circumstances beyond our control which may prevent the trip from going ahead we will seek to postpone the trip until a later date. 

We very much look forward to you joining us on the day!