Life at Buckingham Palace is life in a glasshouse. But you don’t have to refer to the Yellow Press if you want to take a look behind the scenes. Quite officially, you are allowed to visit nine of the 775 opulent rooms – but only when the Queen is not at home.

A flag on the roof shows you whether she is or not. If you see the red-gold-blue Royal Standard, you can forget about a visit. But if the Union Jack is on, you can step inside. Inside precious paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt as well as valuable antiques wait for you. Outside, you can see the gardens with its varied species – and you can watch the famous Changing of the Guard every second day at 11:30.

If you’ve always wanted to see the march of the fur caps you should join the tourist crowds. But the question remains open whether they can guard Buckingham Palace as well as they can present their rifles. Every year mentally confused persons, protestors against nuclear power or tourists on their wrong track get behind the walls, after all, to take a stroll. But despite all these security gaps the guards are still THE attraction of the Empire.