Balmoral CastleandBuckingham Palaceare welcoming visitors in new ways.
It was revealed this week that both royal residences will welcome visitors into previously unseen spaces through ticketed tours this summer. In fact, Balmoral Castle in Scotland is opening “for the first time since the castle was completed in 1855,” itswebsitesays.
Balmoral is famed as the royal family’s cherished summer sanctuary in the Scottish Highlands, but it also holds sad memories for the group.Prince WilliamandPrince Harrywere spending time there in August 1997 when their mother,Princess Diana, tragically died in a car crash in Paris.
Queen Elizabeth, who her granddaughterPrincess Eugenieonce said was “most happy” at Balmoral, died there in 2022. Sources told PEOPLE at the time it was fitting she spend her last hours there because it was such a special place for her and her family — and now, the public can step into the castle in Aberdeenshire for themselves.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the study at Balmoral Castle on September 26, 1976.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
The royal family has previously permitted tours at Balmoral around the grounds and gardens, but access inside the castle was limited to the ballroom, making the Castle Internal Guided Tours the most intimate yet.
The tours are set to run from July 1 to August 4, capped at 10 people per session. The general guided excursion currently costs about $126 a person, while tickets with afternoon tea are about $189 — and are open to adults only.
Balmoral Castle in Scotland.Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty
Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty
While Buckingham Palace has been a popular stop for royal watchers since 1993 when Queen Elizabeth opened its gates as a fundraiser after adevastating fireripped through Windsor Castle in 1992, new areas of the famous London residence will be available to tour for the first time this year.
The East Wing of Buckingham Palace, where the King filmed his Christmas broadcast in December 2023, will be toured for the first time come summer. On April 3, theRoyal Collection Trust announcedthat the iconic palace will open the wing via the Principal Floor following five years of restorative work.
King Charles poses during the recording of his Christmas message at Buckingham Palace on December 7, 2023.Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool /Getty
Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool /Getty
The East Wing includes the front façade and iconic palace balcony, “where the monarch and members of the royal family have gathered for public appearances during special occasions or historic moments since 1851,” including royal weddings, coronations and Trooping the Colour, the annual celebration of the monarch’s birthday.
The Royal Collection Trust said that the royal family still uses the wing today for official meetings and events.
Royal watchers can save the date for East Wing Highlights Tours held daily in July and August starting July 15, booked in addition to standard admission to the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.
The royal family waves on the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour 2023.Chris Jackson/Getty
Chris Jackson/Getty
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The palace will be open seven days a week in July and August for the first time since 2019 before scaling back to five days a week in September.
While Buckingham Palace is synonymous with the British royals and serves as the hub of the monarchy’s operations, King Charles and Queen Camilla don’t actually live there! The palace is in the middle of a$460 million renovationreportedly not due to be complete until2027.
Buckingham Palace on April 17, 2021 in London, England.Stuart C. Wilson/Getty
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty
As King Charles, 75, invites the public into new nooks for the first time this summer,The Timescited royal biographer Robert Hardman’s prediction that the King would open up Balmoral during his reign.
“Balmoral is private property. However, it needs public footfall not just to help pay the bills but to bring benefits to the wider community and to remain in step with other stately homes,” the outlet quoted Hardman as writing inCharles III. New King. New Court. The Inside Story 2024, which was published under the titleThe Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchyin the U.S. in January.
source: people.com
