Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Britain's queen mother is out of the hospital now. She's getting ready to celebrate her 101st birthday tomorrow. In fact, this weekend also marks the summer opening at Buckingham Palace.</s>LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: That is where hundreds of thousands of tourists will, for the first time, be able to tour the gardens, as well as the palace state rooms. And CNN's Richard Quest, he will joining us for a live chat about the whole thing, but first here's his report on the tour of the royal residence.</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hiding behind the most famous house in the land, the most private garden in London, forty acres of grounds that, until now, have only been used by the royal family and their guests. This year, though, 300,000 visitors will get the chance to see the trees and shrubs planted by centuries of royals.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:: The significant part of the garden the public will see is that it's an oasis for wildlife. The grass around the lake is only cut twice a year, like a meadow, and this has caused the natural lakeside environment to flourish. So recent reports planted around 350 different species of wildflowers. And there's a huge amount of wildlife that actually is nurtured by that environment.</s>QUEST: It costs $15 to tour the palace. The $2 million raised will be used for the conservation of these rooms and the artworks. The royals haven't a trick. The path through the gardens goes right through the Gate Shop, another chance to raise cash. (on camera): Standing in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, it is indeed hard to imagine that we're in the center of the major city. Just the distant rumble of traffic, the old siren, the planes overhead, give the game away. For the 300,000 tourist who will visit this summer, this is indeed a chance to see the gardens and how the monarchy lives. Just don't expect to see the queen. She's already moved on to other home, Damoral (ph) Castle. Richard Quest, CNN, Buckingham Palace.</s>STOUFFER: But you can expect to see Richard Quest right here because he joins us now to talk more about that big tour.</s>HARRIS: Hey, Richard, what was the biggest hit for you once you did get a chance to go inside there and see things?</s>QUEST: Oh, the rooms are really quite spectacular. There's no getting away from that. The throne room with the room with the letters "E" and "R" and "P" for Philip on the other chair, really Quite remarkable. But you know, at the end of the day, you all want to take something home, and I'm delighted to say that Buckingham palace or "Buck House," as its known, has really got in on that. Let me show you one or two of the little things that you might have as a souvenir. Now how would you like to have a couple of these? These are Buckingham Palace mints. You can either have the finest milk chocolate or you can have the finest mint chocolate. They go nicely after dinner. But look at this, this the real cream de la cream. It's a box of short red biscuits. It costs about $6. There you are. There are real shortbread. Proving that her majesty likes to have a cup of tea with her shortbread, they also sell your queen mugs. This one has got the royal coat of arms on this swarky (ph)</s>HARRIS: It's a bit rusty, I must say.</s>QUEST: Well, not to worry. "Evil to him who evil thinks," and it's also copyrighted to her majesty, the Queen Elizabeth II, and the two together make a perfect opportunity. Now, Leon, even though the flag was flying above the palace, which means that the queen is in residence at the moment, she didn't come down to offer us tea and biscuits.</s>HARRIS: But at least you got away with the queen's mug, you know. That's a great day if you get to go home with the mug of the queen.</s>QUEST: Absolutely. You know, it's quite extraordinary the gardens, the sheer amount of wildlife that's right in the heart of London -- birds, ducks, all sorts of things, wandering around the lawns, was really a most remarkable experience. And for somebody who's British, who's never -- let's face it, never been further than those iron gates on the outside, to actually be allowed in, even if I had to pay $15 on a good day, is really something. And of course you have to quite appreciate the importance, because The White House has always been open. Buckingham Palace has only been open for the last nine years. It's only open for eight weeks in the summer, and it really is quite a treat one way and another.</s>HARRIS: I must admit, the only ducks we've seen at the White House have been lame ducks. Richard Quest, thanks for the tour. We appreciate it. We'll talk later on. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com