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It's safe to say that Buckingham Palace is the most famous royal residence of the British royal family. Indeed, it's the family's official residence and its walls are filled with history. Well, from protests to stalking, many bizarre things have taken place at the iconic London landmark.
Curious? Read through this gallery and get to know the craziest things to have ever happened at Buckingham Palace.
There used to be a small settlement located on a ford crossing on the River Tyburn. It was known as Eye Cross, and it stood on the grounds where Buckingham Palace now stands.
A woman named Margarie Gourdemaine (or Margery Jourdemayne) was born in Eye Cross in the late 1300s, and she is said to have been a witch. She became known as the Witch of Eye.
Goudemaine lived in Eye Cross for many years, allegedly practicing witchcraft. She was eventually burned at the stake in 1441, quite possibly somewhere on the terrain Buckingham Palace now stands on.
Security standards at Buckingham Palace in the 19th century weren’t quite the same as they are today. In 1838, a teenager named Edward Jones, aka “the boy Jones,” managed to easily sneak in and steal several things. He is said to have disguised himself as a chimney sweep to do so.
Among the items Jones stole were several pieces of the young Queen’s underwear. Despite being caught, Jones is said to have returned to the palace again—twice. In fact, he bragged about the fact that he has done so multiple times without ever being caught. Whether this is true or not we’ll never know.
In 1982, a man named Michael Fagan climbed up a drain pipe and made his way to the late Queen’s apartment. Queen Elizabeth II kept her cool, didn’t panic, and even had a brief conversation with the trespasser—but nothing like was depicted on 'The Crown.'
The Queen used her phone to call for help. The man was escorted off the premises and wasn’t charged.
In 1609, King James I ordered the planting of 100,000 mulberry trees across the country, in an attempt to get into the silk business. It turns out he also had his own mulberry orchard on palace grounds.
The silk dream was shattered when the king realized the wrong kind of mulberry trees had been planted—black mulberries, which silkworms didn’t actually eat. As a result, no strand of silk was ever produced in the palace. Or in Britain, for that matter.
Many people have actually died in Buckingham Palace throughout the course of its history, but not many have been born there, let alone both. King Edward VII is the exception.
Queen Victoria’s son is, thus far, the only monarch to have been born and to have died at Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace has always been a hotspot for protestors, and of course it was no different for the women involved in the suffragette movement.
On May 21, 1914, one of the movement's leaders, Emmeline Pankhurst, and about 200 other women armed with paint-filled eggshells marched towards Buckingham Palace to confront the king about women’s right to vote.
They were met by 2,000 police officers, and things became violent. Some women even chained themselves to the railings of Buckingham Palace.
Many women, including Pankhurst (pictured), were arrested, and many others were injured as a result.
It was not until the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act of 2005 was passed that it actually became illegal to trespass on Buckingham Palace.
King Edward VII not only was born and died at Buckingham Palace, but he also underwent surgery on palace grounds.
In 1902, one of the palace’s rooms was turned into an operating theater and Edward VII underwent surgery for peritonitis. This was just months before his coronation.
In 1937, the future queen Elizabeth and her sister Margaret joined Girl Guides (similar to America's Girl Scouts). They then formed their own company: the 1st Buckingham Palace Company of Girl Guides.
Then World War II happened, and the company disbanded in 1939. They reformed in 1942 at Windsor Castle, and then Queen Elizabeth II reformed it again in 1959—but this time for her daughter, Anne. The group was last disbanded in 1965.
In 1994, an American paraglider named James Miller, aka “Fan Man,” landed without clothes on the roof of Buckingham Palace. He was painted green, too! Miller was fined and banned from the UK for life.
In December 2000, an Australian man named Brett De La Mare was arrested after flying his paraglider onto the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. The man was reportedly trying to pull a publicity stunt to try and get a publishing deal for his book.
Well, sort of. In 2004, a group of fathers' rights advocates known as Fathers 4 Justice staged a protest at Buckingham Palace. One of the protestors, Jason Hatch, dressed as Batman and decided to climb a ledge near the Queen's balcony.
Batman sported a banner that read "Super Dads of Fathers 4 Justice, Fighting for Your Right to See Your Kids." Hatch managed to stay there for five hours.
Supporters could be heard chanting “Free Batman” when the police used a crane to remove Batman from the ledge. The royal family was on vacation when this happened.
Major John Gwynne, the private secretary to King Edward VII, went through a divorce. This was a huge scandal back then and Gwynne ended up taking his own life. The Buckingham Palace room where he died is reportedly haunted.
Daily Mirror reporter Ryan Parry was assigned to infiltrate Buckingham Palace and expose the lack of security. During this period, he also happened to cover President George W. Bush’s state visit to the UK in 2003.
To perform his investigation, Parry went undercover and got a job at the palace as a footman. The reporter revealed numerous things about life at the palace and even took photos of the bed where the American president slept.
''I shuddered at the thought of the damage a terrorist could have inflicted had they been in the same position,'' said Parry.
Security operations at the palace underwent an in-debt review after this event. Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the chair of the independent security commission, was responsible for the security review.
See also: What it’s really like to live at Buckingham Palace
The craziest things that ever happened at Buckingham Palace
Well, that we know about!
LIFESTYLE British royal family
It's safe to say that Buckingham Palace is the most famous royal residence of the British royal family. Indeed, it's the family's official residence and its walls are filled with history. Well, from protests to stalking, many bizarre things have taken place at the iconic London landmark.
Curious? Read through this gallery and get to know the craziest things to have ever happened at Buckingham Palace.