US Edition THE ballroom at Buckingham Palace, completed in 1856 to the exacting demands of Queen Victoria, opens to the public today for the first time.
First used to celebrate the end of the Crimean War, the ballroom is the largest and grandest room in the Palace. It is more than 37 metres long and 18 metres wide with enough space to accommodate 35 double-decker buses. The Queen uses it for investitures and banquets, although this summer an exhibition commemorates the Queen Mother's time at the Palace from 1937 to 1953.
The designers, Sir James Pennethorne and Ludwig Gruner, were selected by Queen Victoria in 1853 to draw up the plans for the state rooms, the largest of which took two years to construct.
A watercolour by Louis Haghe records the banquet that marked the ballroom's inauguration on June 17, 1856. More than 140 years later it was the scene of the Prince of Wales's 50th birthday celebrations in 1998.
At the west end of the ballroom, the two thrones used for the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra stand on a red and gold carpet beneath a canopy of gold-embroidered crimson velvet. Facing the throne dais down the length of the ballroom is the musicians' gallery at the east end. The great organ's gilded pipes are set against a crimson background.
The Palace has attracted more than 2.25 million visitors since it was opened to the public in 1993. The annual report by the Royal Collection Trust, the administrators for the opening of the Palace, describes last year's visitor numbers as "slightly disappointing". Numbers were down from 5,500 visitors a day to 5,000 while the total amount was 29,000 lower at 300,000.
This year, the exhibition will focus on the Honours system with a presentation on how the investitures system operates. Visitors to the state rooms, open until October 1, will pay £10.50 for adults and £5 for those under 17. Admission for the over-60s is £8.
A spokesman for the Trust said that the Ballroom had not been included on the public tour previously because of its regular use for investitures. This had been reversed recently, he said, because of a desire to show the public "a working room in the Palace where events take place."