Clarence House, the home of the Queen Mother for fifty years until her death last year, was partially opened to the public on 6 August.

The Prince of Wales moved into Clarence House on 5 August, on the anniversary of his late grandmother’s birth and promptly moved out again to allow the doors to be thrown open for public tours until 17 October.

Re-decoration and rebuilding costs have been publicly funded at a cost of around £4.5m.

Prince Charles used £1.6m of his own money for extra costs and the decoration of a set of rooms for his sons, Princes William and Harry and his companion, Camilla Parker Bowles.

Clarence House was built between 1825 and 1827 and has not been refurbished since 1947.

Under Prince Charles’s refurbishment scheme – designed by Robert Kime – new works of art have been introduced but the arrangement of the rooms and furniture is mostly the same.

To preserve the intimate atmosphere there are no ropes separating tourists from artefacts, but uniformed guides are in every room to keep an eye on the family silver.

A gift shop will offer paste replicas of the Queen Mother’s pearls along with gifts specially commissioned to recreate her spirit. Visitors will be able to buy, for example, a box of “violet creams” chocolate and champagne flutes reminiscent of those she used at dinner.

Only the ground floor public rooms will be included in the public tour with the Prince of Wales' private apartments remaining closed.

Visitors will be taken round by guides in parties of about 18 at a cost of £5 per person.

All 46,000 tickets for this summer’s tours sold out by midday the day before opening. Details: +44 (0)20 7930 3141.