King Charles will be opening up more of Buckingham Palace to visitors this summer for the first time and royal fans have rushed to snap up the opportunity to see previously unseen rooms.
Tours for the newly reserviced East Wing have already sold out, according to the RCT's website, after going on sale to the general public on Wednesday morning.
The lucky visitors who managed to buy tickets at £75 a pop will be given guided tours of the front façade of the King's London residence, including the centre room, which leads on to the balcony where the royal family have gathered for major occasions over the years. Although the public will not be able to step out onto the famous open-air space.
Highlights in the centre room include a newly restored glass chandelier, shaped to resemble a lotus flower, and two Chinese 18th century imperial silk wall hangings, presented to Queen Victoria by Guangxu, emperor of China, to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
The palace's east wing was built between 1847 to 1849 to accommodate Queen Victoria's growing family, and the development enclosed the former open horseshoe-shaped royal residence.
The wing's principal floor will be open in July and August following more than five years of improvements, which were part of the ongoing £369 million reservicing programme to update the palace's electrical cabling, plumbing and heating system over ten years.
© Peter SmithVisitors will also be able to walk along the principal corridor, which features paintings by artists such as Thomas Gainsborough.
It comes after tours of Balmoral Castle sold out within 24 hours of going on sale earlier this month. For the first time, members of the public will be able to see inside the King's Scottish residence from 1 July to 4 August before Charles and Camilla spend their summer break at the Aberdeenshire castle. The sell-out tour of the castle's interior was priced at £100, or £150 for the tour plus afternoon tea.
© Peter SmithBalmoral was said to be the late Queen Elizabeth II's favourite home and was the place where she passed away on 8 September 2022. It has been the Scottish residence of the royal family since it was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852, having been first leased in 1848.
The King and Queen privately marked their 19th wedding anniversary on Monday, with Charles carrying out a brief engagement at Buckingham Palace where he was presented with the first banknotes bearing his portrait by the Governor of the Bank of England.
Tuesday also marked the third anniversary of the death of the King's father, Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh and the 22nd anniversary of the funeral of Charles's beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother.
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