威斯敏斯特宫 (英語：Palace of Westminster)：从皇宫到國會大厦

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即使有国会标志戳也不好到那里。

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The Sovereign's Throne (宝座) is one of the most important items of furniture in the Palace of Westminster. The elaborately carved woodwork is gilded, inset with rock crystals and upholstered in sumptuous red velvet and intricate embroidery. John Webb of Bond Street constructed the throne to A.W.N. Pugin's design in 1847. Pugin was most likely influenced in his design of this throne by St Edwards Chair, popularly known as the Coronation Chair, which sits in Westminster Abbey and was first used by Edward II in 1308. The Coronation Chair is the earliest surviving example of an English throne and Pugin could not have failed to have been inspired by it.

In 1901 the embroidery was revived by Holland & Sons and in the same year, in a matter of weeks, a second throne, known as the consort's throne, was created. Almost identical to the sovereign's throne, but an inch shorter, the consort's throne is brought back to the Palace of Westminster once a year for State Opening of Parliament from its permanent home in Houghton Hall, Norfolk.

The sovereign's throne is used during each State Opening of Parliament by the Monarch. (parliament.uk)

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在每一次的國會會期開幕儀式中，女皇都會乘坐馬車抵達國會西敏宮，並由維多利亞塔的皇家入口進入西敏宮內。由於西敏宮乃皇家宮殿，因此女皇甫抵達西敏宮，宮殿的屋頂會掛起皇家旗（而非英國國旗），直到她離開為止。步入皇家入口後，女皇與其隨從會行經皇家大梯、諾曼門廊（Norman Porch），然後在禮服廳內穿上國家禮袍及帝國皇冠。女皇準備好後，她通常會在皇夫愛丁堡公爵的陪同下，穿過皇家畫廊而抵達上議院議事廳。(zh.wikipedia.org/國會開幕大典)

The Victoria Tower is the tallest tower in the Palace of Westminster. Named after Queen Victoria, it was for many years the tallest and largest stone square tower in the world, with a height of 98.5 metres (325 feet). At the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, which is used by the Queen whenever entering the Palace. The steps leading from there to the Norman Porch are known as the Royal Staircase and are the start of the processional route taken by the Queen. By tradition, this route is the only one the Sovereign is allowed to take when he or she comes to the House of Lords. The Norman Porch (諾曼門廊) is so called, because it was originally intended to house statues of the Norman kings. (parliament.uk)

唯一的一枚諾曼門廊明信片不见了。

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The Royal Gallery (皇家画廊) is used for important occasions including state receptions, dinners and parliamentary ceremonies, often with Members of both Houses of Parliament present.

Originally called the Victoria Gallery, this is the largest room in the Palace of Westminster and was designed to be imposing. Almost every part of the Gallery is highly decorated, including the ceiling, wallpaper, wood panelling and floor tiles.

Portraits of monarchs and their consorts from Georgian times to the present-day line the walls of the Gallery.

Beside the doorways and the bay window are the ‘Warrior Kings and Queens': four pairs of gilded stone statues of monarchs such as Alfred the Great, Richard I, Henry V and Elizabeth I.

The stained-glass windows, which were damaged by bombs during the Second World War, have since been repaired and show the arms of the Kings of England and Scotland.

Two enormous paintings by Daniel Maclise depict significant moments from the Napoleonic Wars: the death of Horatio Nelson at Trafalgar and the meeting of the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshall Blücher prior to the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.

A glass stand in the room commemorates the names of the 408 Members of the House of Lords who gave their lives during the two world wars. In front of this case is a block of timber from the jetty used during the evacuation of Dunkirk by the British Expeditionary Force in 1940.

The Royal Gallery saw several peers stand trial during the early 20th century, including Earl Russell in 1901 on the charge of bigamy and Lord de Clifford in 1935 for ‘motor manslaughter'.

Both Houses of Parliament presented addresses to George V on 19 November 1918 after the signing of the armistice, and to George VI on 17 May and 21 August 1945 upon the conclusion of the wars in Europe and the Pacific.

The Royal Gallery has hosted receptions for visiting foreign statesmen and dignitaries such as Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia in 1954 and Nikita Krushchev of the Soviet Union in 1956.

US Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton addressed both Houses here, and it was where Kofi Annan marked the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in 2007 in a speech to Members of the Lords and the Commons. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and King Felipe VI of Spain have also addressed parliamentarians in this space.
(parliament.uk)

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The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft (地下室的圣玛丽·安德克罗夫特教堂) was completed by King Edward I in 1297, further developed under Edward II, and finally completed by Edward III in around 1365. While St Stephen's Chapel was the chapel of the Royal Family, the Court and the Royal Household worshipped at St Mary Undercroft.

The Chapel contained five vaulted bays and clustered columns of polished Purbeck marble. Its ceiling was decorated with fanciful carvings of foliage, dragons, musical angels and the heads of men and beasts, and its floor was paved with tiles mixed with marble.

By the time of the fire of 1834, the Chapel had been used as a wine cellar and (so legend has it) as stabling for Oliver Cromwell's horses.

Part of the Chapel had also been turned into a dining room for the Speaker of the Commons, and holes were bored into the wall to accommodate the kitchen chimneys.

Because of its underground location, the Crypt Chapel was one of the few structures in the Palace of Westminster to survive the great fire of 1834, although much of its stonework was harmed.

The chapel was heavily restored between 1860 and 1870 by Charles Barry's (the architect of the current Palace of Westminster) son, Edward, who tried to reproduce the earlier medieval decoration and vaulting in a neo-Gothic style.

During the restoration works, the remains of William Lyndwoode, the Bishop of St David's (who died in 1464) were found embalmed in the chapel's north wall; he was reburied in the cloister of Westminster Abbey.

The decision to reinstate the building as a chapel was much debated, but it was slowly brought into use as one. The Chapel is a Royal Peculiar, which means it does not come under the jurisdiction of a bishop but is under the monarch's control. The monarch exercises this via the Lord Great Chamberlain.

Black Rod, who is also the Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain, has responsibility for managing the use of the Chapel chiefly by Members of both Houses and their families for weddings and christenings. (parliament.uk)

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在每一次的國會會期開幕儀式中，女皇都會乘坐馬車抵達國會西敏宮，並由維多利亞塔的皇家入口進入西敏宮內。由於西敏宮乃皇家宮殿，因此女皇甫抵達西敏宮，宮殿的屋頂會掛起皇家旗（而非英國國旗），直到她離開為止。步入皇家入口後，女皇與其隨從會行經皇家大梯、諾曼門廊（Norman Porch），然後在禮服廳內穿上國家禮袍及帝國皇冠。女皇準備好後，她通常會在皇夫愛丁堡公爵的陪同下，穿過皇家畫廊而抵達上議院議事廳。(zh.wikipedia.org/國會開幕大典)

The Victoria Tower is the tallest tower in the Palace of Westminster. Named after Queen Victoria, it was for many years the tallest and largest stone square tower in the world, with a height of 98.5 metres (325 feet). At the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, which is used by the Queen whenever entering the Palace. The steps leading from there to the Norman Porch are known as the Royal Staircase and are the start of the processional route taken by the Queen. By tradition, this route is the only one the Sovereign is allowed to take when he or she comes to the House of Lords. The Norman Porch (諾曼門廊) is so called, because it was originally intended to house statues of the Norman kings. (parliament.uk)

唯一的諾曼門廊明信片寄伦敦盖戳在一年后终于收到了。这是2020年自制极限明信片第202 枚。