London: For the first time, this summer you will at least be able to pretend you’re President Obama or the Queen of Denmark when Buckingham Palace will be open for visitors along with its ballroom lay out as State banquet.
Visitors to the annual summer opening of the Palace will enter the State rooms through the Grand Entrance, walking up the steps where Kings, Queens and Presidents, as well as the newlywed Duchess of Cambridge, have been welcomed over the centuries.
As such, this year’s annual summer opening exhibition is entitled, ‘A Royal Welcome’, as the Palace revealed just how it coped with 62,000 guests it entertains each year.
In the ballroom, the horseshoe shaped table will be set for a state banquet, complete with silver gilt centrepieces, candelabra and 170 place settings using 2,000 pieces of cutlery.
Also on display will be the Grand Service, which has been used by successive monarchs for 200 years and was originally commissioned by George IV when he was Prince Regent.
It consists of 12 ice-pails, 14 soup tureens, 118 salt cellars, 140 dishes, 288 dinner plates, 58 dessert stands and centrepieces, and 107 candelabra.
Dresses and jewellery worn by the Queen at State Banquets over the years, and gifts presented by some of the 110 heads of state to the Queen will be on display at the palace.
As part of the unique ‘Royal Welcome exhibition’ to be unveiled this July which will go on till September, tourists will be able to enter Britain’s most revered land mark to see up close and personal how the country’s monarch entertains her most important guests.
Visitors will have a behind the scenes glimpse of the 12 months of preparation that goes into inward state visits, including the selection of food and wine and the choice of Her Majesty’s outfits.
It will be the first time ever that common people, willing to pay a price of about £50 (Rs 5,000) will be able to enter the palace through the Grand Entrance which is used by the Queen for ceremonial processions.
The Buckingham palace is one of the most visited monuments of the world – both as far as tourists visiting it and crowding outside it gates to foreign dignitaries visiting it.
In 2014, the royal family welcomed around 62,000 guests to the Palace as part of state visits, garden parties, investitures and private audiences. The palace grounds were also opened to a select group of people in 2014 as part of the 60th anniversary of the coronation of the queen. The Queen’s sought after fleet of cars and state carriages were also exhibited at the grounds.
The Palace also hosts around 25 Investitures every year. Guests will also get to know about the Queen’s famous garden parties – the first of which was held by Queen Victoria in the 1860s.
In modern times, there are usually three garden parties at the Palace every summer, each attended by approximately 8,000 people, who consume 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 cakes.