Buckingham Palace and motorcades of visiting heads of state, and by the royal family on state occasions such as the annual Trooping the Colour. In 1901 the accession of Edward VII saw new life breathed into the palace. The new King and his wife Queen Alexandra had always been at the forefront of London high society, and their friends, known as "the Marlborough House Set", were considered to be the most eminent and fashionable of the age. Buckingham Palace—the Ballroom, Grand Entrance, Marble Hall, Grand Staircase, vestibules and galleries redecorated in the Belle Époque cream and gold colour scheme they retain today—once
Palace of the Shirvanshahs enclosing four right angles. There were originally 52 rooms connected by three narrow spiral staircases in the palace building: 27 on the first and 25 on the second floor (currently 16 rooms on the second floor), and the layout of the second floor basically reproduced the plan of the first floor. The central part of the palace (octagonal hall of the second floor, the entrance to which is decorated with a portal) has thicker walls. Arranged in the western facade, the main entrance to the palace is decorated with a high portal. The ladder of the portal leads to a