Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the
British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace
is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has
been a rallying point for the British people at times of
national rejoicing and crisis. Originally known as Buckingham
House, the building which forms the core of today's palace was a
large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a
site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years.
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of
Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the seat of the two houses
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and
the House of Commons. It lies on the north bank of the River
Thames in the heart of the London borough of the City of
Westminster, close to the historic Westminster Abbey and the
government buildings of Whitehall and Downing Street. Her
Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the
Tower of London (and historically as The Towe