When the Queen opened Buckingham Palace

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Queen Elizabeth II first opened her London home to the paying public on 7 August 1993. Tourists were allowed to look round Buckingham Palace while the Royal family was staying elsewhere for the summer. In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter. This is a Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service. (Photo: Buckingham Palace. Credit: BBC)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Witness History on the BBC World Service.
0:09.0	Today we go back to 1993, and the moment one of the United Kingdom's most famous landmarks
0:15.0	opened its doors to tourists.
0:17.6	In this programme, first broadcast in 2018, Ashley Byrne speaks to the former Royal Press
0:23.2	Secretary, Dickie Arbetter, about the date booking in Palace went public.
0:28.3	There's little doubt that booking in Palace will prove one of London's biggest attractions.
0:32.4	Reaction among the crowds today was broadly favourable.
0:35.2	On the 7th of August 1993, businesses from around the world were given the opportunity
0:40.2	to be on the very first tour of booking in Palace.
0:43.4	In the summer of this year, some 400,000 people are expected to go through the doors to
0:47.4	visit most of the State Apartments, which housed some of the Royal Collections finest pictures
0:51.9	and furnishings.
0:53.2	After months of excited build-up, the famous residents of Queen Elizabeth II was
0:57.8	open to anyone who could afford the £8 entry fee.
1:21.8	There was a lot of excitement at the time in 1993.
1:24.4	People didn't know what to expect, they had seen pictures.
1:27.3	But it was seen all the state rooms and then to go out into the garden, which is quite
1:31.9	magnificent.
1:32.9	I mean, here's 42 acres in the centre of London that is surrounded by walls so you don't
1:37.3	see it unless you go in.
1:38.9	So they got a good tour.
1:40.8	Dickie Arbetter was a booking in Palace Press Secretary in 1993.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.