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Ian Skelly tours the world-famous home of British monarchs, exploring its art and music, featuring composers from Byrd and Vivaldi to Errollyn Wallen. Queen Victoria, who had a great love of music and dancing, built Buckingham Palace’s enormous ballroom in 1847. She was also a musician, and Ian’s tour takes in a magnificent gilt grand piano which she played with Prince Albert and their friend Felix Mendelssohn. The many famous paintings that hang in the Gallery include works by Rubens, Canaletto and Vermeer’s depiction of a lady playing the virginal, and Ian ventures into the Royal Mews to marvel at the majestic Gold State Coach used in coronation processions. The music includes tracks by Byrd, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn, Ruth Gipps and Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King’s Music since 2024.

2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the appointment of the first Master of the King’s Music, art dealer Nicholas Lanier, who built the foundations of what would become The Royal Collection. Today the Collection comprises some 700,000 pieces including major art works, manuscripts and instruments, from ancient times right up to the present day, spread over 13 royal residences in the UK.

In this landmark four-part series, Ian Skelly tours four of the most art-laden royal residences in the UK – Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Holyrood Palace – to explore the stories and musical connections behind some of the most fascinating objects in the Royal Collection, giving listeners special behind-doors access to these history-steeped locations.

Producer: Graham Rogers