Buckingham Palace’s famous balcony room, where the monarch and other members of the Royal Family gather on special occasions before waving at cheering crowds in the streets below, is opening to the public for the first time.
For royal fans who have waited for hours on The Mall in central London to get a glimpse of the clan as they make their brief balcony appearance during events such as Trooping the Colour, this could be an opportunity to see things from the royal perspective.
Sadly, visitors will not be able to step out onto the balcony itself, so a peek through the net curtains will have to suffice.
The 45-minute guided tours, running from July 15 to August 31, have already sold out, despite a hefty £75 (around US$97) price tag. They follow more than five years of renovation work to the East Wing of Buckingham Palace, which aims to preserve and improve access to the historic building for future generations, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
“Be one of the first visitors to enjoy an exclusive guided tour of the highlights of the East Wing of Buckingham Palace,” the Royal Collection Trust says on its website, adding that visitors will get to discover the “spaces beyond the famous façade” of the palace.
The wing’s Centre Room, as the room behind the balcony is officially known, will probably be the most anticipated part of the guided tour. Last month, Catherine, Princess of Wales joined other royals on the balcony to celebrate the King’s official birthday, in her first public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer.
In the Centre Room, a lotus flower-shaped glass chandelier will be on display, alongside two 18th-century Chinese silk wall hangings, which were given to Queen Victoria by the Emperor of China to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. In the Yellow Drawing Room, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper from the 18th century, as well as two Chinese porcelain pagodas, will be on display.
Visitors on the new tour will also be able to amble down the wing’s main corridor and admire works by English painters Thomas Gainsborough and Thomas Lawrence and German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
The influence of Asian art on the interior design and displays of the East Wing can be traced to 1850, when the Brighton Pavilion, a seaside residence owned by George IV – Queen Victoria’s uncle, was sold off to fund the building of the new royal wing.
George IV’s collection of Asian art and ceramics, which he had previously kept at the property on the south coast of England, was moved to the palace, where it remains to this day.
Victoria and Prince Albert were the first royals to use Buckingham Palace as a family home, following their marriage in 1840. The East Wing was built shortly after, between 1847 and 1849, to accommodate their growing family.
Today, Buckingham Palace is mainly used for official meetings and events. Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, recently met with King Charles III at the palace, where the King formally asked him to form a new government.
The East Wing refurb is part of a much broader – and more expensive – renovation of the palace at large, which is expected to take 10 years.
In the process, floorboards have been taken up, new elevators have been installed, and thousands of artworks and artifacts have been temporarily removed to allow the restoration work to get underway.
With its £369 million budget (US$478 million), the extensive program of works has left a dent in royal finances.
Official figures showed that the royal household spent more money than it made in 2022-23, partly because of what it described as the “significant” renovation work at the palace.
The East Wing tours are now fully booked for the summer, but if you’re still wanting to check out the royal pad, tickets to visit Buckingham Palace’s state rooms are still available, with tours running seven days a week until September 29.
Tickets booked in advance for the state rooms tour cost £32 ($41) for adults and £16 ($21) for children between the ages of 5 and 17.
