Fans of Buckingham Palace can now visit a previously inaccessible portion of the iconic royal estate for the first time.
Rooms inside of the East Wing at the front of the palace will be opened to the public later this summer, and TODAY's Meagan Fitzgerald got to take a sneak peak of the East Wing before visitors get to take a look behind its doors next week.
Visitors will be able to tour the Yellow Drawing Room, where Queen Elizabeth II would sit for portraits, and can walk down the Principal Corridor lined with paintings of descendants of the Royal family.
Fitzgerald also got to take a look at what she called "the most intriguing room of all."
"This is called the Centre Room — it is where the Royal family waits before they step out onto this balcony," Fitzgerald said. "So every time we see them out there, they were here first, preparing."
The Royal family most recently gathered on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to celebrate Trooping the Colour, or the official birthday celebration of the monarch.
The balcony has also played an important role in the royal weddings of King Charles III and Diana, the Princess of Wales, as well as Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales.
Winston Churchill, Britain's former prime minister, also celebrated the end of World War II with members of the royal family on the same balcony.
"They are walking in the footsteps of earlier generations who have used the balcony in exactly the same way," Fitzgerald said. "It’s fulfilled that very important role of connecting the sovereign and the Royal Family to the people, making them visible in a way that previously wasn’t possible."
One of Queen Elizabeth's final public appearances was on the palace's balcony at her Platinum Jubilee celebration in 2022, and Charles would greet the world for the first time as king later that year.
Charles has pushed to make more areas of royal residences available to the public, including the opening of Balmoral Estate in Scotland for the first time in its history.
Tickets for Balmoral and the East Wing of Buckingham Palace sold out within hours, but tickets remain available for the state rooms.
When available, tickets for the East Wing of Buckingham Palace go for £75.00 ($96) for adults, £63.50 ($81) for young adults between 18-24 and £59.00 ($75) for children between the ages of 5 and 17.
