Royalists and monarchists always claim that the Windsors are “good for tourism” and that people come to the UK specifically because of their monarchy. While I’m sure that’s true in some sense, let’s be fair to the European countries which dumped their monarchies long ago and turned their palaces and castles into pure tourist attractions. Those countries (like France) have worked it out that you actually don’t need to have a current monarchy to profit from all of those royal remnants. Speaking of, King Charles is being praised this week for making the bold decision to open up Balmoral Castle for paid tours this summer. Charles also decided to open up Buckingham Palace’s tours to an even more extensive part of the palace – as in, tourists will actually get to see “the balcony” and more of the state rooms. All of the tickets for Balmoral and BP tours sold out quickly. Which… just shows that people are interested in seeing the castles and palaces. But please allow the king’s biographer to lavish praise on Charles for his bold tourism decisions:
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.
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.
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.
Balmoral is owned “privately” by the king, but Buckingham Palace is “publicly owned” and currently being extensively renovated at great cost by the British taxpayer. The money from these new tour-schemes will go right back into the monarchy. Arguably, the BP tours will help pay for the upkeep of the drafty old palace. But the Balmoral tour money goes where, exactly? It’s owned by Charles, not the state. Anyway, despite this being billed as some kind of bold leadership move by Charles, all I can think about is how money could be made if they ended the monarchy and ran tours of Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Clarence House, Balmoral, Kensington Palace, St. James’s Palace and Sandringham full time, eleven months a year (one month off for general maintenance). Also: this is Charles admitting that he can’t stay at all twelve of his main residences at once.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.