PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: 7 April 2021
Buckingham Palace Garden to open to visitors this summer
The garden at Buckingham Palace will open to visitors from July to September this year, allowing the grounds of Her Majesty The Queen’s official London residence to be explored through a self-guided tour for the first time.
Visitors will be free to explore a route through the garden that encompasses the 156-metre Herbaceous Border, plane trees planted by and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and views of the island and its beehives across the 3.5-acre lake. The unique opportunity to enjoy a picnic on one of the sweeping lawns will be part of the visit. Features in the south-west of the garden, including the Rose Garden, summer house and wildflower meadow, can be viewed through one of the guided tours that will run each day.
The current landscape of the historic 39-acre garden dates back to the 1820s when George IV turned Buckingham House into a palace. Despite its urban location, the garden is home to a remarkable array of flora and fauna, including rare native plants seldom seen in London. The garden is a rich biodiverse habitat, with more than 1,000 trees, the National Collection of Mulberry Trees and 320 different wildflowers and grasses.
On weekends in April and May, garden enthusiasts can enjoy the tranquillity of the garden and discover its history and highlights by joining a guided tour. Visitors will experience the garden in springtime, with its meadows carpeted with primroses and bluebells, and flowering camellia, magnolia and azalea shrubs and trees.
From May to September, special guided tours of Buckingham Palace will be available. Visitors will see many of the Palace’s magnificent State Rooms, furnished with some of the greatest treasures of the Royal Collection including paintings by Benjamin West and Franz Xaver Winterhalter, exquisite Sèvres porcelain and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. From July, access to the garden will be included in the visit.
In line with the easing of Government restrictions, Royal Collection Trust shops in London will reopen from Monday, 12 April. The Palace of Holyroodhouse and the new exhibition Victoria & Albert: Our Lives in Watercolour at The Queen’s Gallery, Edinburgh will open from Monday, 26 April. Windsor Castle and the exhibition Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace will welcome visitors from Monday, 17 May.
For those unable to visit the official residences of Her Majesty in person, a programme of live online events is now available. Led by expert guides and streamed live from Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, A Warden’s Welcome interactive talks will reveal the history and stories of the Palaces through exclusive images and film footage.
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Ends
A selection of images is available to download from mediaselect.pa.media. For further information and images, please contact the Royal Collection Trust Press Office, +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected].
Buckingham Palace Garden Guided Tours will run on weekends from Saturday, 17 April to Sunday, 16 May 2021. Tickets are priced at £21.50 for adults.
Buckingham Palace Spring Guided Tours will run on Fridays and weekends from Friday, 21 May to Sunday, 20 June 2021. Tickets are priced at £47.50 for adults.
The Garden at Buckingham Palace will open from Friday, 9 July to Sunday, 19 September 2021. Tickets are priced at £16.50 for adults. Garden Highlights Guided Tours should be booked with the main ticket and are priced at £6.50 for adults. Tours will run 12 times a day.
The State Rooms and Garden at Buckingham Palace will run six times a day on weekends from Saturday, 10 July to Sunday, 19 September 2021. Tickets are priced at £60 for adults.
A Warden’s Welcome digital talks on Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse will run on selected dates from Wednesday, 12 April 2021. Tickets are priced at £5.00.
Visitor information and tickets: www.rct.uk, +44 (0)303 123 7300. Pre-booking is essential. The Palaces and Galleries will open five days a week, remaining closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The Exhibition Programme at The Queen’s Galleries
The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace, 4 December 2020 – February 2022, brings together 65 of the most important paintings in the Royal Collection from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace.
Japan: Courts and Culture, spring 2022, explores 300 years of diplomatic, artistic and cultural exchange between Britain and Japan through works of art in the Royal Collection.
The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
Victoria & Albert: Our Lives in Watercolour, 26 April – 3 October 2021, explores Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s enthusiastic collecting and commissioning of watercolour paintings to record their public and private lives together.
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Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk
Notes to Editors
Royal Collection Trust, a department of the Royal Household, is responsible for the care of the Royal Collection and manages the public opening of the official residences of The Queen. Income generated from admissions and from associated commercial activities contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programmes. Royal Collection Trust’s work is undertaken without public funding of any kind.
The Royal Collection is among the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. It comprises almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts, and is spread among some 15 royal residences and former residences across the UK, most of which are regularly open to the public. The Royal Collection is held in trust by the Sovereign for her successors and the nation, and is not owned by The Queen as a private individual.
‘We’re Good to Go’ is the official UK mark to signal that a tourism and hospitality business has worked hard to follow Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines and has a process in place to maintain cleanliness and aid social distancing. The mark is recognised by the national tourist boards of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Frogmore House, Clarence House and the Royal Mews will not open to the public this summer, owing to the operational challenges of social distancing.
Admission to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mews and The Queen's Galleries is managed by The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity in England and Wales (1016972) and in Scotland (SCO397).
Press Office, Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London SW1A 1BQ T. +44 (0)20 7839 1377, [email protected], www.rct.uk