Buckingham Palace destruction of the Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834, William considered converting the palace into the new Houses of Parliament. Buckingham Palace finally became the principal royal residence in 1837, on the accession of Queen Victoria, who was the first monarch to reside there; her predecessor William IV had died before its completion. While the state rooms were a riot of gilt and colour, the necessities of the new palace were somewhat less luxurious. For one thing, it was reported the chimneys smoked so much that the fires had to be allowed to die down, and consequently the court
Garden at Buckingham Palace were invited to apply for tickets to Party at the Palace where the guitarist Brian May of the band Queen performed his "God Save the Queen" guitar solo on top of Buckingham Palace. This concert was preceded the previous evening by a Prom at the Palace. During the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations in 2006 the garden was the scene of Children's Party at the Palace for an audience of 2,000 children. The gardens are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The landscape design was by Capability Brown but the garden was redesigned at the time