The state rooms of Buckingham Palace open tomorrow for the summer, giving the public its brief annual peek inside at royal opulence. At £12.95 a ticket and £25 a T-shirt in the gift shop, we should be funding more lavish times ahead. It's an eye-opening visit, and quite well done, with staggering numbers of courteous and helpful staff (well, so far).

An audio guide takes you through, occasionally descending into royal agitprop - this is, subjects, a working palace. After pointing out a whopping 3ft solid silver and gold cake stand commissioned by one of the mad King Georges and decorated with statuettes of his dogs, it adds severely that all these trinkets serve a purpose in entertaining diplomats. The first bannister you see cost £200,000 (it's gold), but no prices are put on the Rembrants or other more portable objects.

The tour leads through a series of galleries, anterooms, staircases, ballrooms, chambers, and finally, just as you hit your chandelier limit, exits via a path through the gardens. On the other side of the rope today, a herd of contented corgis were roaming the vast lawns at will.

· The State Rooms are open from July 31 to September 26. Tickets are timed, last admission 4.15pm. £12.95 adults, £11 concessions, £6.50 children, £32.50 family (2 adults, 3 kids). Advance tickets from www.royal.gov.uk, booking fee applies.