Balmoral Castle tours of royal residence sold out in 24 hours

Tours of Balmoral Castle which will give visitors the chance to see parts of the royal family’s private home for the first time have sold out.

Guided tours will take place of the castle’s interior from July 1 to August 4, but tickets sold out within a day of going on sale.

The tours will take place before the King and Queen arrive for their summer break at the Aberdeenshire castle, with 40 tickets a day made available.

Visitors have previously only been able to visit the ballroom and the grounds of the castle, which was completed in 1855 and bought by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

The sell-out tour of the castle’s interior was priced at £100, or £150 for the tour plus afternoon tea.

Tours are restricted to 10 people, and visitors are promised “a historical journey through several of the beautiful rooms within Balmoral Castle”, and the chance to “travel through time” from the Victorian era to the present day.

Balmoral is described as “the much-loved and celebrated Highland home of the royal family”, in publicity material for the tours.

In September 2022, the Queen was photographed in the drawing room at Balmoral as she waited to receive then Conservative leader Liz Truss, to invite her to become prime minister and form a new government.

Two days later on September 8, the Queen died.

In London, Buckingham Palace’s famous centre room where the royal family gather before appearances on the balcony is to open to the public for the first time.

Visitors will be able to take guided tours of the royal residence’s east wing, the front facade which faces The Mall where crowds assemble on major occasions to see the monarchy.

Tickets for a limited number of East Wing Highlights Tours, which will run daily from July 15 to August 31, go on sale from April 9.

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