King Charles triggers a change at Buckingham Palace that could let the public feel like part of the Royal Family

For many years, anyone wanting to visit Buckingham Palace, the home of the British Royal Family, has had limited options. While the Palace has always opened fairly regularly for royal events, regular tourists could only visit the East Wing during the summer months. However, King Charles III — a longtime proponent of making his family home more accessible to his adoring public — is seemingly getting his wish to allow more people to tour the iconic property and its grounds.

The Palace — which is the King’s official residence in London, is where he works and invites his visitors to meet, but it’s not where he sleeps (he lays his head at the nearby Clarence House) — has announced it will open its gates to tourists in January 2025, with visitors able to pay to walk through the front gates and across the building’s iconic forecourt. The news comes as the Royal Collection Trust looks towards making it easier for tourists to access numerous royal properties in alignment with the King’s vision. The plans include a reduced price of £1 per person (around $1.30) for tickets for groups of up to six people to visit Berkshire’s Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Guided tours of London’s St James’s Palace in London, including a view of the Chapel Royal, are also planned for spring 2025, having been trialed a few years ago.

The new scheme means that the aforementioned East Wing of Buckingham Palace, previously only accessible during the peak summer tourism period, will have five additional months of opening time. The Royal Collection Trust’s plans come in the wake of record-breaking visitor numbers last summer, as tourists exploring the East Wing were able to experience areas like the famous central balcony for the first time in its 175-year existence.

The Buckingham Palace tour won’t be cheap

The new tour of Buckingham Palace will set guests back a hefty £90 (around $115). Still, it will provide a more detailed insight into the history of the East Wing than ever before — and the money will undoubtedly go towards funding the Palace’s ongoing 10-year £369 million (around $480 million) refurbishment, which will see updates to its dated electrical cabling, plumbing, and heating systems.

Over 50,000 people visit Buckingham Palace as guests for state banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions, and garden parties every year. Charles also has weekly meetings with the Prime Minister and receives newly appointed foreign Ambassadors there. However, this news will mean it will receive more visitors than ever before.

When Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, sadly passed away in 2022, the Royal Family pledged to modernize and evolve into the 21st century. This move to open their flagship home and other official residences to the public undoubtedly represents modernization and evolution. Hopefully, tourists will embrace the opportunity to take a glimpse into the Royal Family’s life. In a world with so much conflict, tension, and unrest, strengthening relationships and bonds between people in power and the civilian population is most welcome. Here’s hoping more such examples of this occur globally.