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CNN
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Buckingham Palace’s famous Balcony Room, where the monarch and other members of the royal family gather on special occasions before waving to cheering crowds in the streets below, will open to the public for the first time.
For royal fans who have waited for hours on the Mall in central London to catch a glimpse of the clan making brief balcony appearances at events such as Trooping the Colour, this could be a chance to see things from the royal perspective.
Unfortunately, visitors are not able to access the balcony themselves, so they have to look through the curtains.
The 45-minute tours, which run from July 15 to August 31, are already sold out despite a hefty price tag of £75 (around $97). They follow more than five years of renovations to the east wing of Buckingham Palace, which the Royal Collection Trust says will preserve the historic building for future generations and improve its accessibility.
“Be one of the first visitors to enjoy an exclusive guided tour of the highlights of the East Wing of Buckingham Palace,” says the Royal Collection Trust website. Visitors can also discover the “rooms behind the famous façade” of the palace.
The Wing Center Room, as the space behind the balcony is officially called, will probably be the most anticipated part of the tour. Last month, Princess Catherine of Wales joined other royals on the balcony to celebrate the King’s official birthday. It was her first public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer.
In the central room, a glass chandelier in the shape of a lotus flower is displayed, along with two 18th-century Chinese silk tapestries given to Queen Victoria by the Chinese Emperor for her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The Yellow Drawing Room displays 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper and two Chinese porcelain pagodas.
Visitors to the new tour can also stroll through the wing’s main corridor and admire works by English painters Thomas Gainsborough and Thomas Lawrence, as well as German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
The influence of Asian art on the interior design and exhibitions of the East Wing can be traced back to 1850, when the Brighton Pavilion, a seaside residence owned by George IV, Queen Victoria’s uncle, was sold to fund the construction of the new Royal Wing.
George IV’s collection of Asian art and ceramics, which he had previously kept at his estate on the south coast of England, was brought to the palace, where it remains to this day.
Victoria and Prince Albert were the first royals to use Buckingham Palace as their family residence after their wedding in 1840. The East Wing was built shortly afterwards, between 1847 and 1849, to accommodate the 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 officially asked him to form a new government.
The renovation of the east wing is part of a much larger – and more costly – renovation of the entire palace, which is expected to take ten years.
Floorboards were removed, new elevators were installed, and thousands of works of art and artifacts were temporarily removed so that restoration work could begin.
With a budget of £369 million ($478 million), the extensive construction program has torn a hole in the royal family’s finances.
Official figures showed that the royal household spent more money than it earned in 2022-23, partly due to reportedly “significant” renovations to the palace.
Tours of the East Wing are already fully booked for the summer, but if you still want to see the royal apartments, tickets for the State Apartments at Buckingham Palace are still available. Tours run seven days a week until September 29th.
Pre-booked tickets for the State Rooms tour cost £32 ($41) for adults and £16 ($21) for children aged 5-17.
