King Charles’ historic decision to open Buckingham Palace and Balmoral to the public is another hint at his ‘lack of affection’ for the world’s most famous royal homes, says expert
The King calls Buckingham Palace ‘The Big House’, and while he intends to move there in 2027 when its £369million refurbishment is complete, those close to him insist he is ‘no fan’ of the royal home.
His decision to open up Buckingham Palace and Balmoral Castle to the public reflects his emotional detachment from them – and a need to bring in money for their upkeep, royal experts told MailOnline today.
The King is said to be a firm believer in ‘the living tradition’, namely that a house which is not lived in becomes a museum. But some believe tours costing up to £100 suggest both homes are heading that way.
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The Queen rarely stayed at her London home after the pandemic – preferring Windsor Castle – and before then only used six of Buckingham Palace’s 775 rooms.
Former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole has said Charles’ decision to open up Buckingham Palace and Balmoral after just a year on the throne shows he has ‘no great affection’ for them – even verging on a dislike.
He said ‘The King dislikes Buckingham Palace and wants to open it up more to visitors. He is not comfortable living there and goes there only to conduct official business – for instance for the Prime Minister’s “audience of the King” usually on Tuesday evenings’.
‘He also has no great affection for Balmoral, hence his decision to make it more accessible to the paying public. He always stays at Birkhall, his late grandmother’s cosy, comfy home on the Balmoral Estate’.
He added: ‘It is the King’s instinct and wish to make the monarchy more accessible, making changes that would not have been contemplated while his mother was alive and on the throne’.
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King Charles III waves from the Buckingham Palace balcony on his Coronation Day – but insiders insist he is no fan of it
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Balmoral’s Drawing Room is where the last photograph of Elizabeth II was taken, as she appointed Liz Truss as Prime Minister two days before her death. The King is much more keen to open up palaces than she was, experts have said, as people can now visit Balmoral
It is known as the Royal waiting room – where for more than 150 years kings, queens and royals have mingled – often nervously – before walking on to the world’s most famous balcony (slidey left today, right in 1939)
Many believe that Charles will do all he can to stay at Clarence House – just a five minute walk from Buckingham Palace.
His home on The Mall has been revamped and furnished by Charles and Camilla with their own pictures, artworks and priceless antiques. He is unlikely to relish moving in 2027, when he will be 78.
One source said recently: ‘Charles is no fan of “the big house”, as he calls Buckingham Palace. He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable’.
It is also no secret that he and Queen Camilla prefer living at Birkhall, the late Queen Mother‘s home seven miles from Balmoral.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their dog Tinker in 1976 as they spent their summer break in Balmoral Castle
Thousands of people will be able to pay between £75 and £100 per ticket to see inside the royal properties – including an afternoon tea at His Majesty’s Scottish estate.
The openings reflect Charles’s wish to make more of his official residences accessible to the public.
Charles reportedly only visits Buckingham Palace once a week.
The monarch has said that he and Queen Camilla will move to Buckingham Palace in 2027 after works have been complete.
But experts have said they would not be surprised if the couple, who would both be in their late seventies by then, would move at that age – especially given how much Chares loves Clarence House.
Mr Cole says that he is more likely to go to Buckingham Palace to board his helicopter then spend the night there.
He said; ‘Charles goes there to go to the grounds to board a helicopter to go somewhere he prefers — another of his residences, Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle, Highgrove’.
When asked where could be next Mr Cole said the royal residence in Norfolk – although it would be a wrench given his mother’s affection for her “Dear old Sandringham”, as she called it.
He said: ‘The Queen loved Balmoral but she loved Sandringham, also personally owned by the monarch, even more’.
Former MP Norman Baker, an expert on King Charles and royal finances, told MailOnline it is all about trying to ‘rake in even more money’.
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The Band of the Welsh Guards perform the NATO hymn during the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation this week
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Balmoral Castle is, above all, a family retreat — as the first busload of tourists are about to find out when the King throws opens its doors to the paying public for the first time
Mr Baker believes like Buckingham Palace, Balmoral and Sandringham should be brought into public ownership, rather than be privately owned by the Royal Family.
He said: ‘We need a full investigation by the Public Accounts committee into royal finances’.
The changes offer the public the chance to see areas of royal palaces never opened up before.
Buckingham Palace’s famous centre room, where the Royal Family gather before appearances on the balcony, is to open to the public for the first time.
At a cost of £75, visitors will be able to take guided tours of the royal residence’s east wing, the front facade which faces The Mall, where crowds assemble on major occasions to see the monarchy.
The palace’s east wing was built between 1847 and 1849 to accommodate Queen Victoria’s family.
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.
George IV’s oriental-style seaside palace in Brighton was sold to finance the building work, and its contents were moved to the east wing and inspired the Chinese-themed decor of its principal rooms.
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It was in the Centre Room that the monarch prepared to make her final wave to the public from the famous Palace platform at her Platinum Jubilee in 2022
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Prince William and Catherine, now the Princess of Wales, shared a kiss on the balcony when they married in 2011
Tours will conclude in the centre room which leads on to the balcony, but the public will not be able to step out.
Highlights in this room include two Chinese 18th-century imperial silk wall hangings, presented to Victoria by Guangxu, emperor of China, to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Tour tickets, from July 15 to August 31, go on sale from April 9.
It comes after it was announced on Tuesday that the King will open the interior of Balmoral Castle to the public for the first time from July 1.
But a Balmoral ticket will cost £100.
Until now tours of the castle have been limited to the grounds and ballroom – where the late Queen’s coffin was placed following her death at her beloved Scottish retreat in September 2022 – at a price of £17.50.
The new private tours of the interior this summer will cost £100 or £150 with afternoon tea, and be limited to 40 tickets per day.
The tours will take place from July 1 until August 4, before the King and Queen arrive for their annual summer break.
They will take visitors through a selection of rooms used by the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family.
In a statement on its website yesterday, the Balmoral estate announced: ‘Since its completion in 1855, access to the interior of Balmoral Castle has been restricted to the public, until now.
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Diana and Charles pictured on the Balmoral estate two months before their wedding in 1981
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The late Queen watches Charles driving around in a toy car on the grounds of Balmoral Castle
‘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.’
It added: ‘You will learn about the origins of the Castle and how it has been loved by generations of the Royal Family…
‘You will see why Balmoral is such a special place – the much loved and celebrated Highland home of the Royal Family.’
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 ordered workers to construct a giant thistle-themed maze in the grounds – only the second new Royal maze in 300 years, the other having been built at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
He is quietly opening up Balmoral to the public for longer and extending the commercial activities.
Inside the Royal waiting room: How Buckingham Palace’s Centre Room has played host to nervous Kings, Queens and other royals – and even a triumphant Winston Churchill – before they stepped out onto the most famous balcony in the world
It is known as the Royal waiting room – where for more than 150 years kings, queens and royals have mingled – often nervously – before walking on to the world’s most famous balcony.
Buckingham Palace‘s Centre Room, which will be open to visitors for the first time this summer as part of an opening of up of the royal home’s East Wing, has been a host for nerves and excitement since the reign of Queen Victoria.
It is now home to a newly restored glass chandelier that is shaped to resemble a lotus flower and two Chinese 18th-century silk wall hangings that were presented to Victoria by the emperor of China to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
But, beyond the beauty of the ornate furnishings, it is the conversations that the royals have had inside it ahead of their balcony appearances that are most fascinating.
Meghan Markle, on her first balcony outing in 2018, reportedly admitted to her husband Prince Harry that she was ‘nervous’, so it was in the Centre Room where she would have sought to calm those jitters.
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On VE Day in 1945, Winston Churchill joined the Royal Family – including Princess Elizabeth in uniform – on the palace’s balcony. A fly on the wall in the Centre Room would have seen him engage in small talk before he stepped outside to the roar of a jubilant, war weary crowd
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Meghan Markle , on her first balcony outing in 2018, reportedly admitted to her husband Prince Harry that she was ‘nervous’, so it was in the Centre Room where she would have sought to calm those jitters
The room has also been host to at least one wisp of cigarette smoke. Prince Henry, the late Duke of Gloucester, was pictured enjoying a crafty puff on the balcony threshold in May 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the first Trooping the Colour ceremony of her reign.
During her 70 years on the throne, there were dozens more balcony outings that would have been preceded by the gathering of the royals in the Centre Room.
At her Silver Jubilee in 1977, Lord Mountbatten recalled in his diaries how he hung back before the Queen called him out.
He wrote: ‘I then stayed back discreetly to let the Family go on but was sent for by Lilibet no less than three times saying she wanted me to come up and go out on the balcony.
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The Centre Room is seen above in 1939. Its chandelier was originally in Brighton Pavilion
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Four-year-old Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne, then two, are seen on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the Queen, Prince Philip and other royals on the day of the Coronation in 1952
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At the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, Lord Mountbatten recalled in his diaries how he hung back before Her Majesty called him out. He wrote: ‘I then stayed back discreetly to let the Family go on but was sent for by Lilibet no less than three times saying she wanted me to come up and go out on the balcony’
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The room has also been host to at least one wisp of cigarette smoke. Prince Henry, the late Duke of Gloucester, was pictured enjoying a crafty puff on the balcony threshold in May 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the first Trooping the Colour ceremony of her reign
‘When I arrived she asked me what had been delaying me and said that she wanted me to be there when the family went out together so I was pulled out and stood behind her and I was glad that this happened because I would never have believed the sight of the crowds if I hadn’t been out on the balcony and seen for myself.’
He added that the sight of The Mall, which was ‘full from end to end’, was ‘staggering’.
It was in the Centre Room that the monarch prepared to make her final wave to the public from the famous Palace platform at her Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
The following year, King Charles gathered his new ‘slimmed down’ monarchy in the same spot before the traditional balcony appearance at his stunning Coronation.
On the day of the majestic wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, the new royal couple kissed on the balcony.
And, five years later, when Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson tied the knot, they echoed Charles and Diana’s kiss with a smooch of their own.
Prince William and Catherine, now the Princess of Wales, also shared a kiss on the balcony when they married in 2011.
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The Centre Room, Buckingham Palace, South-East Corner, 1939
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Building work takes place in the Centre Room at Buckingham Palace in London, 2021
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Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary after their wedding in November 1947
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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with their baby son, Prince Edward, on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, during Trooping the Colour, June 13, 1964
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Prince Charles and Princess Diana kissing on the Buckingham Palace balcony on the day of the royal wedding in 1981
But the royal waiting room has also played host to some of Britain’s most well-known politicians.
On VE Day in 1945, Winston Churchill joined the Royal Family – including Princess Elizabeth in uniform – on the palace’s balcony.
A fly on the wall in the Centre Room would have seen him engage in small talk before he stepped outside to the roar of a jubilant, war weary crowd.
Seven years earlier, when the ill-fated Munich Agreement was struck with Hitler, George VI chose to bring out prime minister Neville Chamberlain – the architect of the deal – onto the balcony.
Royal historian Hugo Vickers told MailOnline: ‘At times of national celebration, the focus of London turns to the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
‘Queen Victoria was the first to appear on it in 1851 during the celebrations for the opening of the Great Exhibition.
‘One of her granddaughters, Princess Alice of Albany appeared on it, aged 4, at the time of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and remarkably she was out there again after Trooping the Colour in June 1977 at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee – then called Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.
‘George VI brought Neville Chamberlain out rather controversially after his ‘Peace in our Time’ visit to Germany in 1938.
‘More popular was the appearance of Winston Churchill with the Royal Family on VE Day in 1945, Princess Elizabeth in uniform.
‘The Queen Mother appeared fifty years later with the Queen and Princess Margaret to celebrate the anniversary.
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Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret seen with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the day of the Coronation in 1937
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The royal family gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London for the Trooping the Colour ceremony, June 1989
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The future Queen Elizabeth II waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London, with her younger sister Margaret and her grandparents King George V and Queen Mary, on the occasion of their Silver Jubilee, May 6, 1935
‘It has become a feature of modern day royal weddings that the bride and groom appear on the balcony.
‘In 1981 there was the first famous royal kiss between Charles and Diana. Now this is expected.
‘In 1986 Andrew and Sarah Ferguson pretended not to hear the demands of the crowd, but then went for it. William and Catherine were more restrained in 2011.’
He added: ‘The last time the Queen was ever publicly seen in London was at the end of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
‘She had missed many of the celebrations but decided at the last minute to come up from Windsor by road.
‘She appeared in a bright green coat, waving to the adoring crowd for the last time.’
Queen Victoria was the first to use the Centre Room, which was was built between 1847 and 1849 as part of an extension to house her growing family.
