Buckingham Palace

===From Queen's House to palace (1761–1837)===
{{anchor|Queen's House}}<!-- [[Queen's House (disambiguation)]] links here-->
[[File:Buckingham House, East Front, by William Westall, 1819 - royal coll 922137 257059 ORI 0.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The house in 1819, by [[William Westall]]]]
Under the new royal ownership, the building was originally intended as a private retreat for [[Queen Charlotte]], and was accordingly known as The Queen's House. Remodelling of the structure began in 1762.<ref>Harris, p. 24.</ref> In 1775, an Act of Parliament settled the property on Queen Charlotte, in exchange for her rights to nearby [[Old Somerset House]],<ref name="Old and New">{{Cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45183 |title=Old and New London |publisher=Cassell, Petter & Galpin |date=1878 |volume=4 |pages=61–74 |access-date=3 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008025710/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45183 |archive-date=8 October 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> and 14 of her 15 children were born there. Some furnishings were transferred from [[Carlton House]] and others had been bought in France after the [[French Revolution]]<ref>Jones, p. 42.</ref> of 1789. While [[St James's Palace]] remained the official and ceremonial royal residence,<ref name="Old and New"/>{{Efn|The tradition persists of foreign ambassadors being formally accredited to "the [[Court of St James's]]", even though it is at Buckingham Palace that they present their credentials and staff to the monarch upon their appointment.}} the name "Buckingham Palace" was used from at least 1791.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Zg-AAAAYAAJ |title=The Annual Register |date=1791 |editor-last=Burke |editor-first=Edmund |page=8 |quote=Buckingham-palace was the dwelling house of the king. |access-date=25 September 2016}}</ref> 

After his accession to the throne in 1820, [[George IV]] continued the renovation intending to create a small, comfortable home. However, in 1826, while the work was in progress, the King decided to modify the house into a palace with the help of his architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]].<ref>Harris, pp. 30–31.</ref> The external façade was designed, keeping in mind the [[Neoclassicism in France#Architecture|French neoclassical]] influence preferred by George IV. The cost of the renovations grew dramatically, and by 1829 the extravagance of Nash's designs resulted in his removal as the architect. On the death of George IV in 1830, his younger brother [[William IV]] hired [[Edward Blore]] to finish the work.<ref>Harris, p. 33.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Royal Residences > Buckingham Palace > History |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/BuckinghamPalace/History.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328161802/http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/BuckinghamPalace/History.aspx |archive-date=28 March 2010 |publisher=www.royal.gov.uk}}</ref> William never moved into the palace. After the [[Palace of Westminster]] was destroyed by fire in 1834, he offered to convert Buckingham Palace into a new Houses of Parliament, but his offer was declined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ziegler, Philip |title=King William IV |publisher=Collins |date=1971 |isbn=978-0-0021-1934-4 |page=280 |author-link=Philip Ziegler}}</ref>