The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British royal family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and then within the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
Entrance to the Royal Mews
The 'Royal Stables in the Mews, Charing Cross' in 1793.
The King's Mews in 1809 (an etching by Rowlandson and Pugin).
Stables in the Royal Mews
Charing Cross is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. Clockwise from north, the routes that meet at Charing Cross are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; Northumberland Avenue leading to the Thames Embankment; Whitehall leading to Parliament Square; The Mall leading to Admiralty Arch and Buckingham Palace; and two short roads leading to Pall Mall.
Charing Cross roundabout, with a Statue of Charles I on the site of the original Eleanor Cross in the then hamlet of Charing, an important junction since the middle ages.
The old Eleanor cross at Charing (c. 1293 to 1643)
Frontage onto Strand/Charing Cross of Northumberland House in 1752 by Canaletto. The statue of Charles I is at the right of the painting. At the left is the Golden Cross Inn, with signboard outside.
The Victorian replacement of the original Eleanor Cross 200 metres (200 yards) away, along the Strand in front of Charing Cross Station/Hotel. The area derives its name from the original monument destroyed by Parliament in the 1600s; the memorial replacement dates from the 1800s.