From conservatory to private chapel

The building that originally stood on the site of the current King’s Gallery was designed by John Nash as one of Buckingham Palace’s three identical conservatories or pavilions in the form of Ionic temples. It was constructed on the south-west corner of the Palace, facing the garden, and was completed in 1831. The conservatory was converted into a private chapel for Queen Victoria in 1843, but destroyed in an air raid in 1940.

At the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, the ruined chapel was redeveloped as a gallery for the Royal Collection in 1962. 

Redesigning to mark the Golden Jubilee

In 1997 a competition was held for the appointment of an architect to expand and modernise the Gallery as a celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee. John Simpson & Partners, the newly appointed project architects' role included creating a new entrance, improving the access, making the gallery spaces more flexible and adding state-of-the-art environmental controls.

In the main gallery area, the new design provided much more display space; with the three gallery rooms allowing a variety of combinations for special exhibitions. The Nash Gallery formed the major part of the original gallery of the 1960s, but was entirely rebuilt internally.

The newest addition to Buckingham Palace

The £20-million expansion of The Gallery was the most significant addition to Buckingham Palace in 150 years. The project was funded entirely by Royal Collection Trust through public admissions to the official residences and through associated retail activities. The project involved stone masons, wood carvers, craftsmen working in plaster, copper and bronze, joiners, blacksmiths, painters and cabinet-makers.

The Gallery (then known as The Queen’s Gallery) was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in May 2002, as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The King’s Gallery

Following His Majesty The King’s Accession, The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace became The King’s Gallery in 2024.

The Gallery shows changing exhibitions of works of art from the Royal Collection, one of the largest and most important art collections in the world. 

See the latest exhibition on our main Gallery page, or look for specific events taking place at the Gallery. 

Watch our film to find out more about the history of the Gallery.