A group pose with a policeman at the gates to Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London

John Gay's photograph captures a group of four children and an elderly lady standing with a uniformed policeman at the open gates of Buckingham Palace. Originally Buckingham House, built in 1705, it was bought to serve as a house for George III's wife Queen Charlotte. Queen Victoria was the first British sovereign to reside here, from July 1837.

Historic England Archive AA054109