The Buckingham Palace Gardens are open to the public for the firs time ever. Visitors can now wander the lush gardens without any guides. Previously, there have been guided tours of the palace’s 39-acre grounds, the current landscape dating back to 1820.

The queen generally hosts three events a year in these gardens, but these have been canceled for the past 2 years in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Royal Finances had taken a hit from the pandemic, losing out on the millions of pounds normally received from the ticket sales.

“We sadly haven’t been able to open the staterooms this year because of the current [coronavirus] situation as we might ordinarily have done and therefore it’s wonderful to be able to open the garden instead,” said Sally Goodsir of the Royal Collection Trust, which manages the royal palaces told the media.

The Buckingham Palace Gardens are now open and visitors will be able to see the gardens’ 156-meter herbaceous border, its beehives, and plane trees planted by and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and picnic on its manicured lawns while treating themselves to some royal-themed picnic accessories such as a blanket and cotton napkins. The Royal Collection Trust has designed many things to sell in the garden which includes a sandwich bag, adorned with corgis, carriages, cupcakes and soldiers, a Buckingham Palace hand sanitizer, cotton napkins, a picnic blanket, and a reusable water bottle, among other items.

Sharing the news, the Royal Collection Trust’s Instagram handle announced, “A limited number of tickets have just been released for our summer opening of Buckingham Palace Garden (9 July – 19 September 2021). Don’t miss this unique chance to picnic on the Palace grounds. Be quick though, tickets have been very popular, so book now to avoid disappointment. “

The palace is also partway through a 10-year £369 million refit to replace electrical wiring and as well as refurbish other aging infrastructure.