Buckingham Palace forms the architectural core of the palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 to the design of William Winde. The style chosen was of a large, three-floored central block with two smaller flanking service wings. Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham's natural son, Sir Charles Sheffield, in 1761 to George III for £21,000. Sheffield's leasehold on the mulberry garden site, the freehold of which was still owned by the royal family, was due to expire in 1774. Under the new Crown ownership, the building was originally intended as a private retreat for King
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