King Charles will open all the royal palaces to the public, the turning point of the Windsor- Corriere.it

by time news

Doors open to the palace, but to the most famous palace in the world, the palace of Buckingham Palace. And not just in the summer months when the queen on vacation in Balmoral, but all year when at the palace he will usually be at work … a king. King Charles III, or as the Prince of Wales decided to be called: nothing prevents him from choosing other names in the history of the Windsors to reign. And then you will be able to enter the palace as tourists, not only at Buckingham Palace since 1837, the official palace, headquarters and beating heart of the British monarchy, but in all other royal residences: in Balmoral as in Sandringham, up to Clarence House where today the Prince of Wales resides.

Places open to the public

the plan for open all the Windsor palaces to transform them from private residences to places open to the public, with all the magnificence of priceless art treasures that they guard. How many times, when I was still a child, have I stopped in front of Canaletto’s paintings hanging in the rooms of Windsor Castle or at Buckingham Palace …, he told the Courier service Prince Charles. I met her in Venice during one of her Italian travels and remembering her childhood days she added: I will never forget the first time in Venice, as an adult: I really couldn’t believe my eyes, it was all exactly as I was pictured with those magnificent palace paintings. Here, now those treasures will be available to everyone, all year round. The Ballroom, famous for hosting the official banquets offered by the Queen to foreign heads of state and sovereigns, which actually debuted as a ballroom, with a dance party to celebrate the end of the Crimean War in 1856. Or the Center Room which leads to the famous balcony, or the Chinese Room.


Clarence House

Preparing the moment when I will inherit the throne from Elizabeth II who next year, in June 2022, will solemnly celebrate her Platinum Jubilee (70 years of reign), for years Carlo has been caressing the idea of ​​modernizing the monarchy starting from the royal residences. And in particular from Buckingham Palace: it is said that he also dreamed of never moving from Clarence House to leave the building of Buckingham with its 775 rooms that have housed heads of state, princes and kings. And then Carlo, very attached to Clarence House, lived there the carefree years of early childhood. And even her mother Elizabeth when she was crowned queen resigned herself to moving with the family from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace only after Winston Churchill insisted on the move without delay. And Carlo, Filippo and everyone in the house wept so bitter tears for the farewell to the beloved first family home.

The history of Buckingham Palace

The first sovereign who chose Buckingham Palace as the palace was Victoria, and the palace still bears the name of the Duke of Buckingham who became its owner in the 1700s. It used to be a field of mulberry trees for the breeding of silkworms. A field of mulberry trees around which the construction of a first building commissioned by Lord Goring in 1633 begins, then the Duke of Buckingham started the reconstruction taking inspiration from the very Italian Palladian Villas of the Veneto. And had it not been for a small portion of the land on which Buckingham House stood, which actually belonged to the royal complex of St James’s, King George III could not have claimed ownership. Or rather, this bureaucratic element gave the king the inspiration to buy the entire site from the duke in 1761, and thus make it his residence after his wedding with Queen Charlotte.

The Highgrove Estate

In fact, Carlo’s plan would be to leave the doors of the buildings open to the public, all year round (even when the new king will live there). And to divide as needed into the various estates: in Highgrove, his model of sustainability estate in Gloucestershire, as in the solemnity of Buckingham Palace, but also in Sandringham in Norfolk or in Birkhall his Scottish home on the estate of Balmoral Castle.

Consultations in the Sunday Times

According to Sunday Times the family consultations to define this greater openness to the world of the royal palaces would have already been started by Charles which would have involved the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, his son William Duke of Cambridge with his wife Kate, and other members of the first line of the Windsors. And, of course, Her Majesty. The prince wants to give people a chance to get in touch with the institution, according to a source from the Royal household. As for years, since the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Carlo insists on a lightened royal family, slimmed down to a front line of working Royals. in fact the Windsor pool that we have seen spent between smart working and commitments in the presence in these months of pandemic: from Cambridges to Wessex (Edoardo and Sophie) to Princess Anna.

The Windsor brand

Per continue the modernization process the House of Windsor must focus on core product, on the flagship product: the direct line of succession, avoiding wasting energy and money on subsidiary branches. And then invest seriously in sustainability, including what I would call the Royal footprint, and prepare to offer even greater transparency on the financial side of the monarchy, he explains to the Courier service Daniel Franklin, executive editor dell’Economist London.

The economy

To understand Carlo’s move, we must also look at the economy. It is no coincidence that the decision to first open Buckingham Palace to tourists coincided in 1993 with the reconstruction, costing 37 million pounds, of the wing of Windsor Castle destroyed by the 1992 fire (Carlo and his father took charge of the reconstruction. Filippo: both lovers of design and architecture). And now? Buckingham Palace currently subject to a substantial £ 369 million restructuring plan. The works that will be completed by 2027. And by that date, Carlo can therefore say that the palace has been renovated for the British and the world, not just for the Windsors. Not to mention that the royal palaces open to tourists all year round will help the restart of London and the United Kingdom in the post-pandemic and post-Brexit.

Philip’s example

At bottom Carlo is moving as his father would have done, who disappeared on April 9 and was buried in the Windsor crypt exactly one month ago. Because it was Philip who suggested to the queen to rebuild the Queen’s Gallery in place of the destroyed (by the bombings of the Second World War) royal chapel of Buckingham Palace: the first space open to the public in the building, where you can admire the treasures of the Royal Collections.

And the precedent of Edward VII

And speaking of Filippo – to whom the queen has always delegated the management of the royal estates – that role now passed to Carlo who, in the footsteps of the Duke of Edinburgh, continues the modernization work. Of residences, as well as of the institution. Curiosity: to find a Prince of Wales who has been heir to the throne as long as Charles, you have to go back to Edward VII, very different in character but who, like him, tried to make his role evolve in the approximately fifty years in which he awaited the succession. It was he who imagined the King’s Fund, involving the new rich people of the City with his royal charisma. Result: for example, the London Hospital was financed with the King’s Fund.

May 16, 2021 (change May 16, 2021 | 14:25)

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