The Garden at Buckingham Palace
‘The land is magnificent and calming, you will find - a treasure trove of delightful gems and gifts from around the world,’ said my guide on the morning of our visit. With a growing fascination of the energetics and non-physical influence of our Head of State, Monarchy and ‘Crown Estate’ - the unavoidable energy lines and dynamics they create, and have created, within our land and world - I was eager for our visit. Energies stem from here - a global pinpoint. I was my son’s plus-one however, accompanying him (I didn’t leave him much option, but to choose me :)) to one of the many garden parties and celebrations held within London’s largest private garden. So restraint was the order of the day: shoes had to stay on and I was on my best and most attentive behaviour. But energetically, I was noticing a lot.
With the invitation extending to a generous three hours, there was plenty of time to explore the grounds. My initial impression, was that it had no ‘centre’ energetically - that the boundary walls and lawns were the most powerful aspects - and the gardens, secondary. It felt quite ‘flat’ energetically - horizontal and quite ‘surface’. Not multi-dimensional. There are areas of significant beauty, but not much energetic depth - which I found surprising, and also logical - and I noticed an absence of ‘magic’ which is often found in special gardens of note (Kew Gardens comes to mind, and the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park). It feels that the custodian is absent and there’s a division of work and roles so that it is ‘maintained’…but not invested in. It didn’t feel personal or ‘private’ - which is unsurprising - though some areas were out of bounds.
The lawns are magnificent - the ‘centre piece’ - and the blend of natural wildness beautifully softens and invites what would otherwise be a hard landscape; but something is missing energetically, I sense. There is a noticeable lack of ‘nature elementals’ which, if cajoled and invited in, would clear some of the stagnant energies in the lake and create a depth into the gardens. And yet, ‘one is not meant to loiter’…so the energy serves its purpose as more of a ‘business affair’. A consciousness of cost and spend - of accountability - felt palpable. The place ‘had to work’.
I get the sense that despite the considerable cost it must take to maintain - hedges, lawns, borders, pathways, trees - it is ‘done on a budget’; that the money and attention goes into ‘what you don’t see’ in the necessary maintenance and appearance, as opposed to the unseen magical and mystical attraction of an enchanting garden. As a result, I feel the gardens of Buckingham Palace are missing a trick. I would have loved to have experienced its ‘spirit of place’, but given the numbers visiting that day, it was no doubt hiding :)
Though vast at 39 acres, the Buckingham Palace Gardens felt smaller on the inside, compared to having walked the perimeter boundary on the outside. The wall feels strong, secure - the vital and necessary equal component to what lives within it. But it is also encroached, which would indicate it is not quite ‘in its power’. The noise of the surrounding traffic felt a little heavy, rather than distant, and the erection of multi-storey buildings overlooking the gardens, while few, were questionable: an absence of power has enabled this permission to be granted. And whilst the gardens host up to 24,000 visitors a year, its inclusivity and welcome feels compromised by a subtle giving away of power elsewhere. In a wish to be all things, we can lose our sparkle - as much for a garden as ourselves.
What entrances, are the specimens of trees and planting. Glorious trees - over 1000, including 85 species of oak - running borders and deliciously exquisite roses. A beautiful and considered ‘quality’ of planting and wildlife. Nature can be ‘for show’ and also touchingly beautiful, it seems.
I found our visit fascinating, informative and welcoming. There is an art to greeting guests, and this little enclave of world influence (and dominance over the centuries) is finding its new feet, I feel. The imposing building which sits in its ground needs inhabiting…energetically Buckingham Palace feels vacant. It needs some love and it needs some magic - and could be a perfect example of transformation. After all, that is what, through the activities held within these grounds, is supported and celebrated in others.
Love,
Delilah
Visited: 13.05.24