King Charles is opening his residences to the public to make the Royal Family 'more transparent and cost effective' – and is acknowledging 'the need for the monarchy to evolve', claims royal expert

King Charles III’s decision to open his royal residences to the public indicates he has realised ‘the need for the monarchy to evolve’, a royal expert has claimed.

Earlier this week, in an unprecedented move, His Majesty, 75, announced that Balmoral Castle – the late Queen’s favourite retreat in Scotland, will open its doors to members of the public.

Days later, news landed that Buckingham Palace’s famous centre room, where the Royal Family gather before appearances on the balcony, is also to open to the public for the first time.

A leading royal expert has since told FEMAIL that the move is due to Charles wanting the Royal Family to be ‘more transparent and cost effective’.

Writer and broadcaster Robert Jobson, author of Our King: Charles III – The Man And The Monarch Revealed, said the King has been ‘mulling over’ the decision for some time.

King Charles III’s decision to open his royal residences to the public indicates he has realised ‘the need for the monarchy to evolve’, a royal expert has claimed. Pictured, The King attends the Easter Mattins Service at Windsor Castle on March 31, 2024

He said: ‘The King has been mulling over these plans to open up the royal residences to the public for some time.

‘It has even been mooted that Balmoral Castle might one day become a museum. This is a good compromise.

‘Making these buildings more accessible to the public is just part of acknowledging the need for the monarchy to evolve.

‘These historic buildings need to be cost effective as they are very expensive to run too. This helps that. The King has always wanted the Royal Family to be more transparent and cost effective.

‘This is all part of that and will generate money for the local communities around the royal residence too by bringing in more tourists.’ 

While Balmoral and Buckingham Palace’s centre room are the latest buildings to open to the public, they join a list of others offering public observation, including Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Tower of London. 

After news broke that Balmoral would welcome members of the public, royal fans went wild, with tickets to the Scottish estate, which cost between £100 and £150, selling out in less than a day, causing the website to crash.

Tickets for Balmoral Castle (pictured) cost between £100 to £150 and sold out in less than a day, causing the website to crash  

Balmoral and Buckingham Palace join the list of other royal residences open to the public, including Kensington Palace (pictured) 

Elsewhere in Scotland, the official residence of the monarch in Scotland, Holyrood Palace (pictured) is also open to the public

Those who missed out on the opportunity, however, are in luck as for the cost of £75, visitors will be able to take a guided tour around the London-based Buckingham Palace. 

Members of the public will be able to take a look behind the scenes of Buckingham Palace’s east wing – the front façade, which faces The Mall where crowds assemble on major occasions to see the monarchy. 

The palace’s east wing was built between 1847-49 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 £369million reservicing programme to update the palace’s electrical cabling, plumbing and heating system over 10 years.

King George IV’s opulent oriental-style seaside palace, the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, was sold to finance the building work and its contents, some of the finest ceramics and furniture in the Royal Collection, were moved to the east wing and inspired the Chinese-themed décor of its principal rooms. 

Windsor Castle (pictured), in Berkshire, which is the largest British royal residence, is also open to the public

Members of the public will be able to take a look behind the scenes of Buckingham Palace’s (pictured) east wing – the front façade, which faces The Mall where crowds assemble on major occasions to see the monarchy 

Kew Palace (pictured) in Kew Gardens, which is the smallest of all the royal palaces, is also open to the public 

East wing tours are available only as part of a visit to the palace’s state rooms costing £75 for adults. Admission to state rooms only is £35, with a £3 discount if booked in advance. 

Tours will take visitors through rooms and spaces including the principal corridor, which runs the length of the wing, where paintings by artists such as Thomas Gainsborough are hung. 

They will conclude in the centre room which leads on to the balcony but the public will not been able to step out on to it. 

Highlights in this room include a newly restored glass chandelier, shaped to resemble a lotus flower, and two Chinese 18th century imperial silk wall hangings, presented to Victoria by Guangxu, emperor of China, to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. 

Tickets for a limited number of East Wing Highlights Tours, which will run daily from July 15 to August 31, go on sale from April 9.

Meanwhile Balmoral Castle will be open to the public for the first time from July 1 until August 4. 

The tickets – priced at £100 or £150 with afternoon tea – sold out in less than 24 hours, with the website crashing due to demand at one point. 

Balmoral’s ticket booking system was locked down under the stress of demand, with a notice reading: ‘As we are currently experiencing a high demand of bookings, you have been placed in a queue.’

The Principal Room in the East Wing of Buckingham Palace is pictured

The Yellow Drawing Room in the East Wing of Buckingham Palace

But the monarch has raked in around £140,000 from the new guided jaunts, which are thought to have been introduced in line with the King’s wishes to make royal properties more accessible to the public.

Previously, tickets have been sold for access to the grounds of the Aberdeenshire estate, between the towns of Ballater and Braemar, at £17.50 apiece.

Guests will be given a rare glance into rooms used by the King and Queen, two dining rooms, the drawing room, the page’s lobby and the Red Corridor, where King Charles met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year. 

The tours will teach ‘how it has been loved by generations of the Royal Family’, according to the estate’s website. 

Some, however, expressed frustration at the speed at which the tickets sold out – and the prices being charged to enter the previously unseen corridors of the royal family’s favoured summer retreat.

One said on Facebook: ‘Why is it so expensive? I would love to do this but £100 per person is extortionate.’

Queen Elizabeth II waits to meet with new Conservative Party leader and Britain’s Prime Minister-elect Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle on September 6, 2022 – two days before she died

King Charles inspects Balaklava Company at the gates of Balmoral in 2023

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with their children, Prince Andrew (centre), Princess Anne (left) and Charles,(right) sitting on a picnic rug outside Balmoral Castle in Scotland, 8th September 1960

‘A shame all the tours have sold out,’ said another. ‘More tickets need to be released for the internal castle tour,’ pleaded a third fan on X, formerly Twitter.

‘It has proved very popular. I went and booked within 10 mins of seeing this post yesterday morning. It may well become a regular experience,’ said a fourth, signing their post off with a smiling emoji.

Tours will take guests through a selection of rooms used by the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family.

There will be no ropes tethering off rooms as in some other properties, because it remains a functioning royal home.

In a statement on its website, the Balmoral estate announced: ‘Since its completion in 1855, access to the interior of Balmoral Castle has been restricted to the public, until now.

‘For the first time in history, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of interior castle private tours – The Balmoral Experience.

‘Learn about Balmoral’s history and heritage, led by our experienced guides through several of the exquisite rooms within Balmoral Castle.

‘You will see why Balmoral is such a special place – the much loved and celebrated Highland home of the Royal Family.’

Some of the King’s own personal artworks will also be put on display in a bid to entice more visitors to the Aberdeenshire estate.

Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, has been the Scottish home of the Royal Family since it was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852, having been first leased in 1848.

The King has also ordered construction of a giant, thistle-themed maze in the grounds – inspired by a maze he used to play in as a child at Sandringham.

Queen Elizabeth watches her son Charles driving in a toy car on the grounds of Balmoral Castle

The then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana at Balmoral in 1981 whilst on their honeymoon

The eyes of the world were drawn to the estate in September 2022 when the late Queen Elizabeth II died within its walls.

She had been photographed meeting with the then-new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, just two days before she died as she asked the one-time Tory leader to form a new government.

Balmoral was beloved by the late monarch and she, and the wider family, came to be regarded as neighbours by the locals in the nearby towns of Ballater and Braemar.

Many local businesses came to be associated with the estate, having been granted Royal Assent for providing services to the Royal family each summer, as they would come to stay for the entire season.

Queen Elizabeth II was also a frequent sight around the estate, both on foot and at the wheel of a Range Rover.

Queen Elizabeth II with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at Balmoral on September 26 1976

In one famous tale, relayed by former Royal protection officer Richard Griffin, she met a pair of Americans while walking around the grounds with Mr Griffin – but the tourists did not recognise her as the head of state.

He told Sky News in September 2022: ‘It was clear from the moment we first stopped that they hadn’t recognised the Queen – which is fine – and the American gent was telling the Queen where they came from, where they were going to next, and where they’d been to in Britain. And I could see it coming.

‘And sure enough, he said to Her Majesty, ‘And where do you live?’ And she said, “Well, I live in London but I have a holiday home just the other side of the hills”.’

The Americans then asked her if she had ever met the Queen. Mr Griffin added: ‘And as quick as a flash, she says, “Well I haven’t, but Dicky here meets her regularly.”‘

Source link