Buckingham Palace East Wing opens to visitors for first time
Buckingham Palace’s East Wing will open for visitors for the first time in 175 years as part of the annual Summer Opening. Here, we step inside these magnificent rooms…
This summer visitors to Buckingham Palace will be able to step inside the magnificent East Wing for the first time since it was completed 175 years ago.
The palace’s annual Summer Opening will welcome visitors from 11 July to 29 September 2024 for guided tours of the 19 opulent State Rooms and the palace gardens.
The East Wing is now open to the public after five years of improvement and essential conservation works. This suite of rooms was added to the palace between 1847 and 1849 to provide space for Queen Victoria and her growing family, and was financed through the sale of King George IV’s retreat, the Royal Pavilion, in Brighton.
The Pavilion’s contents – which reflected the King’s love of Asian art and design – were transferred to the East Wing, inspiring the Chinese-themed décor of its principal rooms.
The East Wing includes the famous facade of the palace and the iconic balcony from which the Monarch and Royal Family have been making public appearances since 1851.
Visitors will also see the Centre Room, where you can view the balcony, the Yellow Drawing Room, and the 240-foot-long Principal Corridor, which spans the entire width of the Palace and features paintings by artists including Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
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