The image of the royal family waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace to the crowds below is embedded in the national conscience.
Now, for the first time, members of the public will have the chance to witness the view from the royal family’s perspective as the east wing of the palace opens to visitors.
Tours take place in the Center Room, which opens onto the balcony.
Although there is no access to the balcony itself, visitors can peek through the net curtains to experience the view enjoyed by the King and Queen as they wave to the crowds on the Mall.
A palace insider said: “Visitors won’t be able to go onto the balcony, but they will certainly experience the impact and atmosphere of that room, as well as the view from the window.”
The decision to open the East Wing reflects the king’s desire to make royal residences more accessible to the public. It follows the announcement that Balmoral will also open for the first time, giving visitors a glimpse into some of the rooms where Elizabeth II spent her final days.
Tickets, which cost between £100 and £150, sold out within 24 hours, with the Balmoral website briefly crashing due to demand.
The east wing of Buckingham Palace, which includes the main facade, has never before been opened to the public.
It was built between 1847 and 1849 after Queen Victoria commissioned architect Edward Blore to draw up plans for renovations that would increase accommodation for her growing family.
The building, which previously enclosed an open, horseshoe-shaped courtyard, was financed by the sale of the Royal Pavilion, George IV’s seaside retreat in Brighton, in 1850.
Many beautiful ceramics and furnishings from the pavilion, which reflected George IV’s love of Asian art and design, were transferred to the new wing and inspired the Chinese themed decor of the main rooms.
It was first occupied by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children and is still used by the Royal Family for official meetings and events.
Small groups of visitors, led by expert guides, can walk through the rooms on the main floor, decorated with highlights from the Royal Collection.
Main corridor
The tour passes various rooms along the red carpet, the Principal Corridor, which runs across the entire wing.
In the corridor itself there are almost 30 paintings by artists, including Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
The paintings at the north end of the corridor are mainly portraits of Queen Victoria and her family, but also include scenes depicting important events in her life.
Among them is a painting called God Save the Queen, by John Charlton, showing Queen Victoria arriving at St Paul’s Cathedral for her Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving service on June 22, 1897.
Yellow salon
At the south end of the corridor is the Yellow Drawing Room, where Elizabeth II recorded her Christmas address to the nation in 2004.
The room is decorated with recently restored Chinese hand-painted wallpaper from the 18th century.
Visitors will see two nine-tiered hexagonal Chinese porcelain pagodas and the Kylin Clock, which features two turquoise Chinese lions.
Center Room
Halfway down the corridor, as the name suggests, is the Center Room, which opens onto the balcony.
The king chose this room last December to record his Christmas message.
The room features a recently restored glass chandelier in the shape of a lotus flower, as well as two Chinese 18th-century imperial silk tapestries, which were given to Queen Victoria by Guangxu, Emperor of China, on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
There are also many Chinese porcelain vases, originally supplied to George IV in 1807.
Visitors will also see the entrance to the Privy Purse, the Privy Purse stairs and a cage lift that dates from the early 20th century and bears the code of Edward VII.
Two years of construction work
The wing will open to the public following an extensive renovation program that started in 2018.
The work is part of Buckingham Palace’s ten-year conservation program to upgrade the historic building’s infrastructure, improve access and preserve it for future generations.
The current phase, which started last summer, involves the removal of around 70,000 objects from the North Wing, which is expected to take 18 months, before two years of construction work.
Discussions about the prospect of tours of the East Wing began about two years ago, with sources revealing it felt like a “good opportunity” to widen access as the newly renovated rooms are “so beautiful”.
A limited number of East Wing Highlights Tours will run daily throughout July and August, beginning July 15.
The tours must be booked in addition to the standard admission ticket to the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, with the combined ticket costing £75.
Tickets go on sale on April 9, with priority access given to Royal Collection Trust email subscribers before remaining tickets go on general sale the following day.
Works of art and decorative arts
The palace will be open seven days a week in July and August for the first time since 2019, and five days a week again in September.
The Royal Collection Trust cares for the works of art and decorative arts collected by monarchs and manages the public openings of the king’s official residences
As a charity, it receives no government funding and funds its work through entrance fees to the royal residences and other commercial activities.
Finances were therefore severely hit by the lockdowns introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a £15 million deficit being reported in the 2021-2022 financial year.
However, last summer it emerged that the trust had returned to profitability for the first time since the pandemic, generating £8 million in income in the previous financial year.