Shedding Light on Buckingham Palace

My plans for the evening were cancelled and so despite the inclement weather, I found myself hopping on a bus to Grosvenor Place, of all, er places, in search of a photo op highlighted by Londonist yesterday. In honour of the queen's birthday in her Diamond Jubilee year, The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts is projecting a series of portraits of the queen and children's self-portraits onto Buckingham Palace until 11.30 tonight as part of the Face Britain project.

Hardy patriots enjoying Face Britain's Buckingham Palace projections.

By the time I got to Buckingham Palace, it was pouring with rain and I was a little worried about my camera but because we are such a patriotic nation, there was a good-sized crowd outside, taking photos and watching the images change. Actually, most people were probably tourists and professional or would-be pro photographers, but still.

It looked very cool and I took a whole load of photos, assuming--as with the projections onto Senate House in Nowheresville for the university's 800th birthday--that this probably wasn't a sight I would see again. My favourite photo is probably the top one, with the couple sheltering under their Union Jack brolly. And yes, I did have to wait about five minutes for the Union Jack background to reappear on the palace, hoping that the couple wouldn't move on in the meantime! I've included a couple of other photos too, to give a better idea of what the blinged-up palace looked like.