On this day in military history
On the 13th of September 1940, amid the harrowing months of the Blitz, Buckingham Palace was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in a daylight raid that left a lasting scar on the British monarchy and a defining image of wartime resilience. The palace, long a symbol of the British crown and national identity, became a direct target in Adolf Hitler’s campaign to demoralise the British people and leadership through relentless aerial bombardment.
That Friday morning, five high-explosive bombs fell on and around Buckingham Palace during one of the heaviest phases of the Blitz. Two of the bombs struck the inner quadrangle, while others landed near the Royal Chapel and the palace gates. The most serious damage was inflicted on the private chapel, which was almost completely destroyed in the attack. The windows were shattered, the roof collapsed, and much of the interior was reduced to rubble. The destruction of the chapel was not only a symbolic blow but also a personal loss for the royal family, for whom the space held deep religious and ceremonial significance.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) were in residence at the time of the bombing and had a close encounter with the explosion. Remarkably, the royal couple were unhurt, but they felt the full force of the blast, which shook the walls of the palace and echoed across London. The Queen later famously remarked, “I’m glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel I can look the East End in the face.” This statement came to epitomise the solidarity between the royal family and the ordinary citizens of London, many of whom had suffered devastating losses from nightly air raids.
The attack on Buckingham Palace was a deliberate psychological strategy by the Nazis, aiming to fracture the morale of the British people by showing that not even the monarchy was safe from the war’s destruction. Instead, the bombing had the opposite effect. The sight of the royal family walking calmly through the damaged palace grounds, inspecting the wreckage, became a powerful image of defiance. Newsreels and newspapers captured the moment, reinforcing a sense of national unity and determination.
Despite the damage, Buckingham Palace continued to function throughout the war, with much of its staff relocated and some royal duties carried out from Windsor Castle. The palace itself would be bombed on a total of nine occasions during the Blitz, but it remained standing and symbolically unbroken. The destroyed chapel was eventually replaced in the post-war years with the Queen’s Gallery, which now houses parts of the Royal Collection and stands as a quiet memorial to that violent chapter in the palace’s history.
