LONDON.- Does The Queen wear her crown in bed and who walks the corgis when she’s busy? Those are the sort of details children really want to know about life at Buckingham Palace.

Inspired by the many questions that children have asked her, Marion McAuley, a former Head of Education at the Royal Collection, decided to provide the answers in the Royal Household’s first children’s book about The Queen’s London home.

In this 32-page book, illustrated by Katy Sleight, a footman guides two children around the Palace, showing them some of its rooms and explaining The Queen’s most important duties – and what you should do if you meet her.

The children find crowns all over the Palace – on picture frames, on ceilings and even on uniforms worn by staff. They discover which crown The Queen wears on stamps – and that it has 1,333 diamonds in it. They throw balls for some of The Queen’s dogs, which are walked by footmen when she is hard at work, and find out what their names are. They also have tea in the Palace garden, where they discover that 45,000 sandwiches are eaten at summer Garden Parties.

Mrs McAuley said, ‘The inspiration for the title and indeed much of the content comes from the real questions we are asked by children. We hope the book will help them understand better how Buckingham Palace functions as a home, an office and a palace.’

Jemima Rellie, Director of Publishing and New Media at the Royal Collection, said, ‘Children perhaps more than any other age group are fascinated by kings and queens, but most of the information that is readily available to them is fiction. We hope this book will complement these other offerings by showing children what the real Queen does today.’

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain’s sovereigns since 1837 and today is the administrative headquarters of the Monarchy. Its hundreds of rooms include 19 State Rooms, 52 royal and guest rooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. The building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep and 24 metres high.

Although used for the many official events and receptions held by The Queen and members of the Royal Family, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every year.